UNLV Men, BYU Women Continue to Lead UCI/Nike Cup

The UNLV men and BYU women continue to lead following the second day of competition at the UC Irvine/Nike Cup Friday night at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.

Rachel Grant of BYU won the 400 IM with a NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 4:18.37. Heather Denman of San Jose State won the 100 fly with a ‘B’ cut of 53.97, just shy of an automatic qualifying time. Denman also won the 100 back with another ‘B’ time of 54.86. Marva Harpak of UNLV swam a ‘B’ time of 1:49.10 to win the 200 free. Margaret Doolittle of Nevada won her second event of the meet as she swam a ‘B’ cut time of 1:03.02 in the 100 breast.

On the men’s side, UCI senior Randall Tom (Wailuku, Hawaii/Seabury Hall) won his second event of the Nike Cup as he swam ‘B’ cut time of 46.48 in the 100 fly. The UNLV men had the top collegiate finish in four of the remaining six events.

The UC Irvine/Nike Cup will conclude Saturday with prelims beginning at 9:00 a.m. and finals at 6:00 p.m. at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach.
 
Men’s UCI/Nike Cup Standings Following Day Two
1. UNLV                                    860
2. Air Force                               714.5
3. BYU                                      594.5
4. UC Irvine                                478
5. UC San Diego                        456.5
6. Pacific                                   318.5
7. Cal State Bakersfield              315.5
8. Cal Baptist                            294
9. Cal State Northridge               213
10. Concordia-Irvine                    187
11. Grand Canyon                      181
12. Chapman                             62
13. La Verne                              26
14. Soka                                   13.5

Women’s UCI/Nike Cup Standings Following Day Two
1. BYU                                      700.5
2. San Jose State                      622
3. UC San Diego                        590.5
4. UNLV                                    557
5. Nevada                                  530
6. Pacific                                   377
7. Loyola Marymount                  266
8. New Mexico                           251
9. Pepperdine                            231
10. San Diego                            225
11. Alaska-Fairbanks                 198
12. UC Irvine                              196
13. Air Force                             161.5
14. Cal Baptist                           141
15. Cal State Bakersfield            137.5
16. Cal State Northridge             110
17. Concordia-Irvine                    88
18. Grand Canyon                      56
19. Soka                                   44
20. Chapman                             14
21. La Verne                              12
 

The UNLV men's swimming and diving team remained in first place at the 2008 UC Irvine/Nike Cup thank to posting the top collegiate finish in four of the day's seven events, while the Rebel women moved up one place to fourth after winning two events.

Nick Blank, Andrew Morell, David Seiler, and Thomas Andolfsson won the day's first event for UNLV, swimming the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:30.50. Blank followed that performance by winning the 400 IM in 3:59.45.

Morrell has the second-highest time in the 100 breast, and best by a college swimmer with a time of 56.13. UNLV ended the day by winning the 800 free relay, thanks to Kier Maitland, David Seiler, Calan Eldridge, and Kyle Virva, who touched the wall in 6:42.12.

UNLV's 860 points put them well ahead of second place Air Force (714.5), while BYU is third at 594.5.

On the women's side, Marva Harpak became the first Rebel to win an individual event in the meet, posting a time of 1:49.10 in the 200 free. Lisa Gillespie, Bailey Kuestermeyer, Friderika Szel, and Harpak then won the 800 free relay in a time of 7:28.65.

UNLV now has 557 points after two days of action. BYU remained in first with 700.5, and was followed by San Jose State (622) and San Diego State (590.5).

The three-day meet concludes on Saturday.

Air Force: Falcons Wrap Up Day Two at UCI/Nike Cup
 
With highlights on both the men’s and the women’s sides, the Air Force swimming teams finished day two of competition at the UCI/Nike Cup, hosted by UC?Irvine at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. The men remain in second place in the team standings with 714.5 points, behind conference foe UNLV, while the women are in 13th place with 161.5 points.
 
The highlight on the men’s side was a first-place finish by senior captain Bryan Avery (Mililani, Hawaii), who won the 200 freestyle with a mark of 1:39.09. Two other Falcons finished in the top 10 in the event, as Sean O’Keefe?(Jr., Lake Oswego, Ore.) placed seventh after turning in a mark of 1:40.60 in the prelims, while sophomore Eric Robinson (Lakewood, Colo.) finished eighth, notching a time of 1:41.33 in the preliminaries
 
The Air Force men had several other top-10 finishes, including three in the 100 breaststroke. Greg Edmonds?(Jr., Fairfax Station,?Va.) led the way in that event, finishing sixth after clocking in at 58.03 in the prelims.?Senior Spencer Butt (Sterling, Va.) recorded a mark of 57.99 in the preliminaries before placing seventh, while sophomore Josh Hammervold (Sugar Land, Texas) recorded the fastest time of the day in the event for the Falcons, clocking a time of 57.84 in the finals to take ninth place.
 
There were two Falcons in the top 10 of the men’s 400 IM, led by senior Nick Dixon (Canton, Mich.), who placed sixth with a time of 4:05.55. Meanwhile, freshman Cole Smith (Charlotte, N.C.) also landed in the top 10, finishing ninth with a mark of 4:09.62.
 
Senior Kai Yamashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii) added a sixth-place showing in the 100 back, clocking in at 51.11, while sophomore Benjamin Gunn (Gainesville, Ga.) recorded a time of 49.42 in the 100 butterfly to finish ninth in the event.
 
The Falcons also had an impressive showing in the 200 medley relay, as the team of Yamashiro, Butt, Chris Morin (Jr., Crown Point, Ind.) and Robert Dawson (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) combined for a mark of 1:32.97.
 
On the women’s side, several swimmers advanced past the preliminary round to score points for the Falcons. Sophomore Kaeli Kluesner?(Denver, Colo.) was the top individual finisher for the Air Force women, placing 18th in the 400 IM.?Her mark of 4:34.62 was a personal-best and ranks eighth in the Falcons’ all-time record book. Meanwhile, junior Becky Gleason (Ballwin, Mo.) placed 21st in the event, following a preliminary mark of 4:36.64.
 
Senior captain Jane Hwang (Irvine, Calif.) turned in the Falcons’ top time in the 200 free, clocking in at 1:54.26 to finish 19th. Meanwhile, classmate Laken Stogner (Bowdon, Ga.) placed 23rd in the event after recording a mark of 1:55.37 in the prelims.
 
Two more Air Force swimmers advanced to the evening races following their performance in the preliminaries. Freshmen Alison Ceranski (Marinette, Wis.) and Katharine Ernst (Folsom, Calif.) both moved to the finals after clocking times of 59.04 and 59.32, respectively, earlier in the day.
 
The Falcons also had a strong finish in the 800 freestyle relay, as Stogner, Cassie Fletcher (Fr., Durham, N.C.), Lauren Delaney (Fr., Panama City, Fla.) and Hwang clocked in with a mark of 7:54.60 to place 10th.
 
The Nike Cup concludes tomorrow with preliminaries starting at 9:00 a.m. (PT).