The UNLV men won their fourth consecutive Mountain West Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championship with 800 team points, while the BYU women won their seventh overall women's team title in nine years with
763 points Saturday night at the Oklahoma City Community College Aquatics Center.
For the men, BYU finished second with 642.50 points, followed by Wyoming (629), Air Force (531), TCU (472) and Utah (352.50).
On the women's side, UNLV followed the Cougars with 622 points. Utah was next at 579, followed by Wyoming (574.50), Colorado State (359), TCU (276.50), New Mexico (262), San Diego State (161) and Air Force (151).
Awards were announced at the conclusion of the meet. UNLV senior Richard Hortness and TCU junior R.J. Hesselberg were named MWC Swimmer and Diver of the Year, respectively. UNLV's Jim Reitz was voted as men's swimming coach of the year, while Wyoming's Ben Herdt was named men's diving coach of the year and Johan Claar (UNLV) earned the men's Senior Recognition
Award. UNLV's Kim Bonney brought home two awards this year, as she was named Conference Women's Swimmer of the Year and earned the Senior Recognition Award. BYU's Tawni Jones was awarded MWC Diver of the Year. Wyoming head coach Tom Johnson and BYU's Keith Russell were named MWC Women's Swimming and Diving Coach of the Year, respectively. The All-MWC team will be announced on Monday, March 3.
NOTES:
UNLV senior Kim Bonney broke the women's 200 breaststroke all-time Conference record with a preliminary round time of
2:14.15. The record didn't last long, as she set another MWC all-time mark in the finals of the 200 breast, swimming a time of
2:13.95. Both of Bonney's times automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship. Wyoming's Jessica Fruhwirth and BYU's
Jamie Bloom swam B-cut times of 2:16.86 and 2:16.96, respectively, in the finals.
Wyoming junior Aimee Stinson won the women's 1,650 freestyle in an NCAA-B cut time of 16:52.52. Stinson finished third in the
previous two championship meets.
UNLV freshman Kier Maitland led a quartet of NCAA-B cut finishes, as he paced the field with a 15:14.31 clocking to win the
men's 1,650 freestyle. Rebel teammates Johan Claar (the 2007 champion) and John Mendoza were the next two to finish the race
with times of 15:16.46 and 15:20.88, respectively, while Air Force's Sean O'Keefe finished in 15:24.43.
UNLV seniors Timothy Christian (1:46.49) and Devin Phillips (1:47.27) finished 1-2 in the 200 backstroke, followed by TCU's
Jonathon Berrettini (1:47.95), Air Force's Kai Yamashiro (1:48.47) and BYU's Jacoby Jacobson (1:49.16) to round out the top-five.
Christian's time was a provisional cut mark.
The UNLV women swept the top-three spots in the 200 back finals. Junior Amanda Weinbrecht swam a provisional time of
1:59.46 to win the race, with junior Ana Dangalakova (2:01.28) coming in second and Lisa Gillespie (2:01.50) coming in third. In
the consolation final, Utah's Elizabeth Gunderson also qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships with a time of
2:00.80.
UNLV junior Richard Hortness broke the MWC all-time record in the 100 freestyle with a provisional time of 43.52. Along with
his victories in the 50 and 200 free, Hortness has won the Sprinter's Cup, which goes to a swimmer that wins all three sprint
events in a competition.
Utah freshman Natalie Edge won the women's 100 freestyle in an NCAA-B cut time of 49.76. Edge is the fourth consecutive Ute
woman to win the 100 free individual title. The top-six finishers in the race all had provisional times.
UNLV junior Jonas Andersson swam his second automatic qualifying time of the championship, as he defended his 200
breaststroke title with a time of 1:57.03. Wyoming's Alex Larkin (1:59.35) and TCU's Cameron Allred (2:00.54) turned in NCAAB
cuts as they finished second and third, respectively.
Wyoming junior Matt Urich completed his sweep of the butterfly events as he won the 200 butterfly in a provisional time of
1:46.72. Urich was the runner-up in both fly events at last year's championship. UNLV sophomore Daniel Egly also provisionally
qualified for the NCAA Championships with a 1:48.03 clocking.
Utah freshman Kwan Ling Yu became the third consecutive Utah diver to win the platform event. She tallied 218.60 points to
bring home the victory. The Utah women have now won four platform diving events as members of the MWC.
TCU snapped UNLV's three-year reign as the men's 400 freestyle relay champion, swimming a B cut time of 2:58.16 to win this
year's title. The Rebels also had a B-cut time (2:58.26), as did third-place BYU (2:58.52).
The UNLV women surpassed BYU's all-time Conference record time of 3:22.47 (last year's championship), turning in a time of
3:21.27 to win the 400 free relay. The Rebels, Utah and BYU all swam NCAA-B cuts.
MEN'S INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Swimming Coach of the Year: Jim Reitz, UNLV Diving Coach of the Year: Ben Herdt, Wyoming Swimmer of the Year: Richard Hortness, UNLV Diver of the Year: R.J. Hesselberg, TCU Senior Recognition Award: Johan Claar, UNLV
WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Swimming Coach of the Year: Tom Johnson, Wyoming Diving Coach of the Year: Keith Russell, BYU Swimmer of the Year: Kim Bonney, UNLV Diver of the Year: Tawni Jones, BYU Senior Recognition Award: Kim Bonney, UNLV
