The Nevada women and Pacific men continue to lead at the UNLV Invite.
UNLV Press Release
LAS VEGAS - UNLV won a pair of events as it finished up action on the second day of the UNLV Winter Invite on Friday from Buchanan Natatorium.
UNLV stands in second in the women's team standings with 553 points, trailing Nevada, Reno's first place score of 628. The Rebel men are in third with 556, while Pacific leads with 744 and Cal Baptist is second with 593.
In the night's first event, the 200 medley relay, UNLV's women's squad of Kyndal Phillips, Kristina Hendrick, Goezde Tekin and Sophia Carnevale placed third in 1:42.56, while the men also placed third in 1:30.44, thanks to Forrest Beesley, Tom Paco-Pedroni, Avi Cohen and Or Sabatier.
In Friday's first individual event, Hendrick earned a fourth-place finish with a time of 4:25.41 in the 400 IM. Four scored in the top eight in the men's race, with Francis Van Wynsberghe posting a runner-up finish in 4:03.95. Chris Havton was fourth (4:08.70), Christian Sobczak sixth (4:12.64) and Ethan Klein seventh (4:13.70).
Phillips finished in third place in the 100 fly for the Rebel win, touching the wall in 54.13, and Cohen was also third in the men's race with a time of 49.79.
The 200 free saw Ida Schutt post a fourth-place time of 1:50.03. In the men's race, Paco-Pedroni turned in a runner-up finish in 1:37.55, and Beesley also finished in the top eight, placing seventh in 1:40.69.
The night's first Rebel win came in the 100 breast, with Carnevale swimming 1:02.15. Mackenzie Logan meanwhile finished in 1:05.62 to post a seventh-place mark. Van Wynsberghe was the top finish for the men, placing eighth in 57.51.
UNLV added another win in the 100 back with Phillips taking first place honors in 54.90. The Rebel men went 5-6-7 in the race, thanks to Beesley (50.83), Or Sabatier (51.84) and JP Piotrowski (52.19).
The night closed out with the 800 free relay. Schutt, Phillips, Carnevale and Hendrick finished in second in 7:25.90, and Brenton Sayers, Paco-Pedroni, Kasey Foley and Beesley were also second in 6:42.09.
In the day's diving action, Alyssa Arnett won the women's 1-meter with a score of 262.15. Kourtney Clark was fourth (198.15), Chrysoula Gatsios fifth (196.90) and Katie Bezte sixth (195.95). Robert Morgan placed third (248.90) and Alexander Rojas fourth (231.65) for the men's squad.
Pacific Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - After setting new Pacific records in the men's 50 Free and the women's 200 IM yesterday, the Tigers were back at it again, with Makoa Haneberg breaking his own school record in the 100 Back with a 47.50. Haneberg's previous record was 48.15, set last year as a freshman. The men's 200 Medley Relay team also set a school record with a blazing 1:26.27.
The Tigers finished the day in first in total points on the men's side and third on the women's side.
Pacific won three events on the individual side for the men as well as the 200 Medley Relay and the 800 Free Relay. That record-breaking 200 Medley Relay team consisted of Haneberg, Yahav Shahaf, Stewart Harrison, and Mitchell Ongstad. The 800 Free Relay team of Neil Franka, Georan Meendering, Curtis Klein, and Miles MacKenzie swam a 6:33.35, beating out second place by almost ten seconds.
Harrison also won the 100 Fly individually, swimming the Tigers' fastest time of the year with a 48.29. That was one of seven new season-bests for Pacific in the ten individual events tonight alone. Harrison finished just four-tenths of a second off the program record with that time.
MacKenzie also took home an individual win with his 1:36.68 time in the 200 Free. That time was the best for any Tiger this year and a second-and-a-half behind the school record set in 1995.
For the women, Whitney Jorgensen and Kenna Ramey both won their individual events. Jorgensen won the 400 IM after setting a new school record in the 200 IM last night. Jorgensen's 4:16.26 was two seconds off the school record, set in 2008.
Ramey won the 100 Fly with her 53.77, the fastest of the year for the Tigers. The school record-holder in that event, Ramey came within a second of the best time in Tiger history.
Taylor Hosmer also put up one of the fastest times of the year for Pacific with her 1:49.95 in the 200 Free, taking third place. Hosmer combined with Jillian Hatch, Becca Aguilar, and Jorgensen to take third in the 800 Free Relay with a 7:30.65.
Semaj Walker also set a season-best for the Tigers. The freshman swam a 1:04.85 in the 100 Breast.
In the 200 Medley Relay, the women's team of Isabella Green, Vaiva Gimbutyte, Walker, and Ramey took second with a 1:42.21 time.
The UNLV Invitational wraps up tomorrow with the third day of events.
Fresno Pacific Press Release
LAS VEGAS, Calif. – Bavindeep Basra lowered her own school record in the 400 IM on Friday as Fresno Pacific continued competition at the UNLV Winter Invite. The Sunbirds also totaled two event wins and 16 lifetime bests throughout the day.
"Tonight was another very good session for us," said head coach Josh Christensen. "We had many lifetime bests, a school record and a few other swims that rank inside the top-5 in program history."
Basra swam to a record-time of 4:22.40 in the 400 IM early in the evening to set the tone for the finals. It lowered her own school record that was set last year (4:23.16) and also goes down as an NCAA B-cut. The Sunbirds also received points from Laura Fornshell in the race, who took seventh at 4:29.77 and moved to third quickest in the FPU record book.
Daria Belova continued to impress for the Sunbirds in the 100 fly, taking second with a time of 54.13 for a B-cut. She also swam well in the 100 breast to take second with a time of 1:02.95 (B-cut), while teammate Mireya Ortega jumped into the FPU record book at fifth all-time (1:07.19) in the event.
FPU also received a strong swim from Olga Melnikova, who took sixth in the 100 backstroke race with a time of 57.58. The mark is good for fifth all-time at FPU.
The finals started with the women's 200 medley relay of Basra, Belova, Madison McGinnis and Olivia Hynes taking fifth at 1:43.25, which is good for an NCAA provisional mark.
"Olivia finished off the evening with a big time trial in the 50 free to end the session," noted Christensen. "That swim should qualify her for NCAA's."
The women are currently tied with California Baptist with 440 points, while Nevada is in the lead with 628 points.
For the men, the Sunbirds were well represented in the 100 breaststroke event, led by Maxim Shcherbakov in first with a time of 54.13 (B-cut). Matheus Misquito followed in fifth (56.93), Alex Shibata was sixth (56.96) and Nazar Podolchuk took seventh (57.30).
The other victory on the day came from Duston Gragg, who totaled 289.70 points to win the 3-meter diving event to sweep both boards.
Luka Barisic delivered points for the Sunbirds and took third in the 100 back at 49.68, which lowered his mark in the record book at third. Kyle Jones placed third in the 400 IM with a time of 4:06.87, while Zach Koch took fifth in the 100 butterfly with a touch of 50.12 for FPU.
The men's 200 medley relay of Barisic, Shcherbakov, Koch and Austin Hussain also swam to a second-place finish with a time of 1:29.74, which is good for an NCAA provisional mark.
The Sunbirds are in fourth with 494 points, while Pacific leads with 744 points.
"Overall, we're having a great meet," noted Christensen. "We need to be mentally tough on the third day tomorrow and finish the job."
The Sunbirds close out the three-day meet on Saturday.
