BYU Men and Women Take Early Lead at Inaugural Swimming and Diving Championships

Cougars dominate diving competition in first day of competition. (2/16)

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Feb. 17, 2000

*Note - we apologize for the delay in posting the results...experiencing massive internet and server problems. Results will be posted after each night of competition.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - The Brigham Young University men's and women's swimming and diving teams are in first place after one day of competition at the inaugural Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships being held in Oklahoma City, Okla. The four-day event is being held at the Aquatic Center on the campus of Oklahoma City Community College.

The BYU men collected 137 points, 48 points ahead of second-place Air Force (89). Utah is in third with 87 points, followed by UNLV (80) and Wyoming (52). On the women's side, the Cougars' point total of 133 is 22 more than second-place Utah (111). Wyoming is in third with 84 points, followed by Colorado State (75), UNLV (66), Air Force (59), New Mexico (52) and San Diego State (25).

In the women's 200-Yard Free Relay, BYU captured first with a time of 1:34.26 and edged out UNLV and its time of 1:34.89. Colorado State came in third with 1:36.05, followed by Utah in fourth-place with 1:36.16.

For the men in the 200-Yard Free Relay, UNLV swam to a first-place finish with a time of 1:20.97, followed by second-place Air Force at 1:21.21. Utah and Wyoming tied for third with 1:23.24 while BYU ended up at 1:23.27.

BYU dominated the 1-Meter Diving action on both the men's and women's sides. For the women, BYU senior Rachel Smith-Kunkel had a first-place score of 442.85, while Cougar sophomore Anna Tutunnikova finished in second with 407.20 points. Utah's Jill Comin placed third with 389.15.

The men were led by BYU freshman Aaron Russell with a score of 515.25, followed by Cougar senior Devan Porter at 503.30 and sophomore Viraj Patil with 502.85.

Rounding out the day of competition with the 200 Yard Medley Relay, UNLV captured first-place on the men's side with a time of 1:29.39, followed by BYU (1:30.41) and Air Force (1:31.92). For the women, Colorado State swam to the title with a time of 1:44.11. BYU finished in second at 1:44.27, followed by UNLV (1:29.39).

Competition continues tomorrow through Saturday in Oklahoma City, Okla.