UNLV and Northern Arizona won their first ever WAC Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday night at the Palo Alto College Aquatic Center in San Antonio, Texas. UNLV’s championship marked the first for a men’s team in the WAC since the 1999-2000 season. Northern Arizona, in its 10th year as an affiliate of the WAC, had finished in second place four previous times.
On the men’s side, UNLV finished with 767 points followed by Wyoming (702), Air Force (625), Grand Canyon (503), North Dakota (390), Bakersfield (335) and Seattle U (193). For the women, Northern Arizona had 743 points followed by Idaho (642), New Mexico State (528), Bakersfield (442), Grand Canyon (438), North Dakota (364), Northern Colorado (349) and Seattle U (154).
For the men, Bakersfield junior Mitchell Huxhold earned WAC Swimmer of the Year honors. Wyoming’s Derek Campbell was named the WAC Diver of the Year. UNLV head coach Jim Reitz earned the WAC Coach of the Year award, while Air Force’s Stan Curnow was voted Diving Coach of the Year. Air Force’s Andrew Faciszewski was awarded Freshman of the Year.
On the women’s side, Idaho junior Rachel Millet was voted the WAC Swimmer of the Year. Her teammate, Mairin Jameson, was the Diver of the Year. Northern Arizona head coach Andy Johnson earned the WAC Coach of the Year, while Idaho’s Kelly Gufford was the Diving Coach of the Year. Grand Canyon’s Hannah Kastigar was awarded Freshman of the Year.
In the first race of the night, Bakersfield’s Mitchell Huxhold broke a 27-year-old WAC record in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 14:47.18, earning an NCAA automatic qualifying time by one one-hundredth of a second. Northern Arizona’s Kendall Brown repeated as WAC champion in the 1650 for the women with a time of 16:33.27. The Lumberjacks swept the top three spots as Emma Lowther placed second and Caitlin Wright took the bronze.
Grand Canyon’s Iegor Lytvenok won the 200 backstroke in 1:43.48, breaking the WAC record set in 1998 by Brigham Young’s Arunas Savickas (1:44.13). The Antelopes swept the event as Iryna Glavnyk won the women’s 200 back in 1:57.46, just beating New Mexico State’s Terrin Seaver (1:57.57), yesterday’s 100 back winner.
In the men’s 100 freestyle, UNLV’s Tom Paco-Pedroni just missed setting a new WAC meet record with a time of 42.70. It was an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Idaho’s Rachel Millet won her second individual gold for the women with a time of 50.08 in the 100 free.
North Dakota’s Austin Smith also became a double winner, sweeping the breaststroke events with a WAC-record time of 1:56.15 in the 200. Last year’s silver medalist in the women’s 200 breaststroke, Northern Arizona’s Jordan Burnes, improved this year to take the gold with a time of 2:13.35, an NCAA B cut. Her teammates, Urte Kazakeviciute (2:14.99) and Stirling Smith (2:16.39) finished second and third, respectively.
In the 200 butterfly, Wyoming’s George Eglesfield took first place with a time of 1:45.22, setting a new WAC meet record and NCAA B cut. Idaho’s Jamie Stervis repeated as the women’s 200 butterfly champion with an NCAA B cut time of 1:56.77, nearly two seconds faster than last year.
Idaho swept all three diving events as Paige Hunt won the platform diving with a score of 265.55.
UNLV won the men’s final event of the evening with a time of 2:52.86 in the 400 free relay, setting another new WAC and pool record while establishing an NCAA automatic qualifying mark. The team consisted of Samuel Lameynardi, Tom Paco-Pedroni, Giacomo Gremizzi and Dillon Virva. Bakersfield closed out the meet with a victory in the women’s 400 free relay. Michaela Paige, Paola Hernandez, Lauren Kaufman and Kelsey Lange swam a time of 3:21.03.
