December 6, 2014, Las Vegas, NV – The Arizona State University (ASU) women and the University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV) men were the winners in a Mountain West vs PAC-12 cross-conference duel meet yesterday at Buchanan Natatorium. With a total of 10 event wins, the ASU Sun Devil women walked away with their first team victory of this season, 188-111. The opposite turn of events occurred on the UNLV side, where the Rebel men earned wins in 11 events, topping ASU, 185-109
The ASU women took both relays yesterday, winning the 400y freestyle relay in a time of 3:25.30 and the 200y medley relay in 1:43.34. On the flip side, UNLV carried both relay wins on the men’s side, prevailing in the 400y free relay in a time of 3:00.95 and the 200y medley relay in a time of 1:30.50
ASU’s Anna Olasz earned wins in both the 1000y freestyle (10:13.04) and the 500y freestyle (5:02.25) events, while on the men’s side it was Joseph Riggert who logged two freestyle wins. Riggert earned the top spot in the men’s 200y freestyle in 1:40.75 and he also touched the wall first in the men’s 500y freestyle with the top time of 4:34.64.
Sun Devil Jorie Caneta swept the women’s breaststroke events, clocking a 1:03.46 in the 100y and 2:18.18 in the 200y breaststroke distances, respectively. On the men’s side, the breaststroke events were split; ASU’s Christian Lorenz and Thibaut Capitaine 56.87 tied for the 100y race, while Christian Lorenze (alone this time) logged the win in the 200y breaststroke distance in a time of 2:03.72.
UNLV’s Jessica Wong earned the win in the women’s 200y race in her time of 2:00.60. Wong’s times earlier this season hovered around the 2:01 mark, so a dip under 2:00 looks to be in her near future. She would then proceed to win the 200y IM event, clocking a time of 2:06.37, about a second faster than she was a month ago.
Also earning multiple wins for the Rebels was Henrique Machado, who earned victories in the 100y backstroke (49.49) and the 200y backstroke (1:49.43). He was the only swimmer of both fields to dip under the 50-point and 1:50 time marks in each distance, although his 100y performance from the Mizzou Invitational was notably faster, earning Machado an NCAA “B” cut in 46.39 at that meet.
Balint Batka also scored big against ASU yesterday in the two butterfly races, winning the 100y butterfly in 49.53 and the 200y butterfly in 1:48.32, although, like Machado, Batka was much slower than back at the MIzzou Invitational in November. At that meet, Batka’s 100y fly time was 48.84, while his 200y fly was 1:45.78 (NCAA “B” standard).
The UNLV Rebels next host their Winter Invite next weekend, December 12-15th. The ASU Sun Devil women host Oregon State in Tempe on January 3rd, while the ASU men host Brigham Young on January 10th.
Full Meet Results Available Here