Wyoming Press Release
Wyoming swimming and diving earned victory on both the men’s and women’s side Saturday afternoon at the Buchanan Natatorium. The Cowgirls won by a score of 195-103, while the Cowboys defeated the Rebels, 169-131.
The Cowgirls placed first in 12 of the dual’s 16 events, led by four Wyoming women who earned multiple individual victories. Sophomore Samantha Burke notched the top time in the 100 back (56.92), one one-hundredth of a second faster than her teammate, senior Abby Sullivan. Burke went on to win the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.47. Sophomore Isobel Ryan tallied her first victory in the 50 freestyle (24.13) and then matched the performance in the 100 freestyle (52.30). Junior Maria Harutjunjan once again swept the breaststroke events, clocking in at 1:02.91 in the 100 and 2:17.38 in the 200. On the boards, freshman Karla Contreras placed first on both the 1-meter (307.80) and the 3-meter (307.65).
“I thought today went really well,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “The divers were unbelievable and I’m so proud of their efforts today. Karla’s scores were outrageous. On the women’s side, we came out firing in the relay and then dominated the 1000 freestyle. Across the middle of the meet we really laid it on them and pulled away. The women were outstanding and it was one of the better meets I’ve been a part of. For the men, I thought we would perform better today but we still had some great performances. Wade Nelson swam really well and Gabe Rooker went nuts. All in all, I thought it was a great meet and it’s a new season as we get ready for conference championships.”
The Cowboys earned nine first-place finishes during the meet and also had four individuals with multiple victories. Senior Ryan Ball recorded a season-best time in the 100 backstroke (51.19) and then repeated in the 200 backstroke (1:49.07). Senior Gabe Rooker swept the breaststroke events, with times of 54.21 in the 100 and 2:00.11 in the 200. Junior Wade Nelson placed first in the 200 butterfly (1:49.87) and then dominated the field in the 400 individual medley (3:58.36), finishing more than six seconds faster than his competition. Redshirt-sophomore diver Ryan Russi led the group of Cowboy divers which finished with the top three scores in both events. Russi’s scores of 304.70 on the 1-meter and 323.95 on the 3-meter both marked new season bests.
UNLV Press Release
The UNLV men's and women's swimming teams closed out their dual meet seasons on Saturday with a loss to Wyoming on the Rebels' Senior Day. In the men's meet, UNLV fell by a score of 169-131, while the Rebel women were handed a 195-103 setback.
"This is obviously not the way we hoped to end our dual meet season," said UNLV head coach Ben Loorz. "But the team swam hard today and showed a lot of life. Our sprint men continue to impress, as do our freshmen women. The senior twins, Kristina and Kimberly Hendrick, were particularly good today as well."
The first win of the meet came from Jan Kutnik in the men's 1000 free, thanks to a time of 9:27.93. The Rebels then swept the 200 free, with Ida Schutt taking first in the women's event 1:53.92 while senior Tom Paco-Pedroni won with a time of 1:39.78 in the men's race. The next win for UNLV was provided by senior Kimberly Hendrick, as she claimed the 200 fly in 2:04.82. Senior Kasey Foley won his first race of the day when he turned in a time of 20.76 in the 50 free, while teammate Or Sabatier was second in 20.82.
Paco-Pedroni notched his second win of the meet when he took the 100 free in 44.38, and Sabatier would post his second runner-up finish of the afternoon after touching the all in 45.70. Kutnik became second double-event winner for UNLV when he swept the distance events by winning the 500 free in 4:36.81. The men provided the next victory as well when Avi Cohen placed first in the 100 fly in 49.60, followed by Dylan Tarazona in second in 50.31.
Kristina Hendrick joined her sister as winners on Saturday as she led a 1-2 finish in the 400 IM after posting a time of 4:27.07. Schutt took second in 4:27.45. UNLV ended the meet with a win in the 400 men's free relay, thanks to the squad of Forrest Beesley, Sabatier, Foley and Paco-Pedroni that posted a first place time of 2:59.87.
Also on Saturday, the UNLV diving corp wrapped up action at the Air Force Diving Invitational. On the men's 1m board, Robert Morgan would finish 13th with a score of 242.75, while Alexander Rojas placed 20th (192.90). Both also competed on the platform, with Morgan placing 15th (162.15) and Rojas recording a 17th place score (117.50).
The best finish of the invitational for the Rebels on Saturday came from Alyssa Arnett on the women's 3m board. She scored 268.55 in the preliminaries before posting a 235.30 in the finals to earn an eighth place finish. Mykayla Fielding was 19th (240.95), Katie Bezte placed 39th (216.30) and Kourtney Clark recorded a 49th place score of 202.25.
Next up for the Rebels is the Mountain West Women's Swimming & Diving Championship Meet, held in San Antonio, Texas on Feb. 15-18. The men will be in action the next week, Feb. 22-25 at the WAC Championship Meet held in Houston, Texas.
"For us the primary goal is, and always has been, performing at our peak at Conference and NCAAs," said Loorz. "We have worked extremely hard this year, and expect big things from the taper process."
Today was the final home meet for 10 Rebel seniors: Foley, Murilo Gustineli, Paco-Pedroni, Brenton Sayers, both Hendrick sisters, Josefine Hippi, Janelle Nguyen, Gozde Tekin and Kelsey Wuoti
"We had some great moments today as we honored our large senior class, and also the retirement of our long-time announcer Brock Fraser," said Loorz. "They will all be missed."
