Northern Arizona Women, UNLV Men Claim Western Athletic Conference Titles
The Western Athletic Conference wrapped up last weekend with decisive wins for the Northern Arizona women and UNLV men.
It was Cal Baptist that picked up the first win of the meet in the women’s 200 medley relay. Sofia Maksimova (24.78), Lynn Henke (27.93), Sara Svorcan (23.80) and Naya Koc (22.68) combined for a 1:39.19. UNLV picked up the win in the men’s event at the hands of Wikus Potgieter (21.60), Danny Beji (23.21), EmJose Avila Perez (20.62) and Daniel Nicusan (19.03), who swam to a 1:24.46, a tenth ahead of Cal Baptist.
Victoria Knapp won the 3-meter diving narrowly at 305.05 points while Mario Del Valle Jr. won the 1-meter diving at a 405.90 points.
The women’s 800 freestyle relay went to Northern Colorado in a 7:14.85. Elizabeth Mayer (1:49.40), MarYuki Trionfetti (1:48.83), Lora Konter (1:49.17), and Kyra Rabes (1:47.45) swam to victory over Northern Arizona by over a second. UNLV made it a relay sweep on day one. Kiril Stepanov (1:37.83), Ambrus Barcsak (1:34.40), Colby Raffel (1:35.51), and Cooper Kiel (1:35.43) took the top spot on the podium ahead of the Air Force in a 6:23.17.
Thursday
New Mexico State opened the first full night of competition with a women’s 200 freestyle relay win. Emily Dobbins (22.86), Dijana Mazumdar (23.09), Kira Brownell (22.94), and Katie Rink (22.76) won by .12 over Idaho in a 1:31.65. Cal Baptist picked up the win on the men’s side with a 1:16.77, an NCAA B-Cut. Remi Fabiani (18.82), Andrija Petkovic (18.78), Ian Mullen (19.62), and Brendan Man (19.55) ran away from the field for the win.
New Mexico State continued a strong night as Naomi Slee (4:48.65) won the women’s 500 freestyle. A mirror image took place in the men’s 500 freestyle as Cal Baptist’s Mark Kovacsics secured an NCAA B-Cut of 4:16.95. Kovacsics won by a dominant margin, as UNLV’s Raffel took second with a 4:22.87.
Idaho’s Ginger Kiefer prevailed in the women’s 200 individual medley at a 1:58.35, an NCAA B-Cut. Kiefer was the only swimmer to break 2:00 as Grand Canyon’s Fruzsin Macsok swam to a 2:00.65 for second. Nicusan won the men’s event for UNLV with a 1:43.96. The top four swimmers swam under the NCAA B-Cut.
Alejandro Vazquez took the 3-meter diving at 450.75 points for UNLV. Knapp won the 1-meter diving at a 280.60 points total for Northern Arizona.
Cal Baptist continued a strong night as Maksimova defended her 50 freestyle title at a 22.19. Coming off of the 200 freestyle relay, Fabiani nearly matched his leadoff time to take the win individually at 18.86.
Friday
Wyoming won its first event of the meet from Gavin Smith, who took the 100 butterfly in a 46.45. Six of the finalists came in under 47.00 for an exceptionally tight field. Northern Arizona’s Elsa Musselman won the women’s event with a 53.45.
Idaho’s Kiefer blitzed the field in the women’s 400 individual medley to take the win in a 4:13.43. The men’s event was a closer race, as three swimmers hit an NCAA B-Cut. Camden Swigart got Air Force a win with a 3:46.01. UNLV’s Raffel took second at 3:48.59.
New Mexcio’s Rink won the 200 freestyle in a 1:48.40, leading five of the eight finalists under 1:50. UNLV’s Barcsak won the men’s event, slipping under the B-Cut with a 1:35.32.
UNLV’s Nicusan led a field of five NCAA B-Cuts in the men’s 100 breaststroke. Setting a championship record at a 51.58, he won by nearly a second over teammate Beji. Grand Canyon’s Beth Young broke the championship record as well to take the win in a 1:00.76. Young led a 1-2-3 sweep for Grand Canyon.
New Mexico’s Dobbins won the women’s 100 backstroke at a 54.69. Fabiani won his second event of the meet to win the men’s event at a 45.40. Audrey Thordarson-Wehner won the platform dive event with 281.05 points.
Cal Baptist utilized Fabiani (46.20) just one event later. Along with Jonathan Reiter (51.74), Tyler Manshim (46.10), and Petkovic (42.31), the men secured a 3:06.35 to win the 400 medley relay and set a new conference record. Grand Canyon won the women’s event with a 3:38.50. Marta Guasp (55.18), Raphaela Nakashima (1:00.77), Paula Martinez (53.68), and Maria Brunlehner (48.87) won over Northern Colorado.
Saturday
Northern Arizona’s Casey Craffey hit an NCAA B-Cut to win the women’s 1650 in a 16:28.17. Her teammate Kylie Ney (16:32.41) took second. Kovacsics made it a distance sweep in the men’s event after his 500 free win with a 14:48.48.
Idaho’s Kiefer picked up another event win in the women’s 200 backstroke at a 1:55.07. Seattle got their first event win of the meet at the hands of Danie Kvedaris. The sophomore hit a 1:43.53 to narrowly take the 200 back over Tatsuki Inoue (1:43.74). Fabiani continued a fantastic meet in the 100 freestyle with a 41.83 to take best the field.
New Mexico’s Kodi Wiman won the women’s 200 breaststroke with an NCAA B-Cut of 2:12.42. UNLV’s Nicusan won the men’s edition at a 1:53.15. Beji made it a Rebel sweep for second (1:54.34). Del Valle Jr. won another diving event with a 409.05 points total on the platform.
Relay powerhouse Martinez won an individual event for Grand Canyon in the women’s 200 butterfly at a 1:58.38. Closing out his individual campaign in style, Wyoming’s Smith won the men’s 200 butterfly with a B-Cut 1:43.96.
Idaho won the final women’s event in the 400 freestyle relay. Sydney Heasmen (51.01), Madelyn Butler (50.15), Gracie Ruble (50.13), and Ella Haskins (49.05) combined for a 3:20.34 victory. Cal Baptist capped off a phenomenal meet with Fabiani (41.23), Petkovic (42.83), Man (43.97), and Mansheim (43.31) combining to a 2:51.34.
Women’s Final Team Standings
- Northern Arizona- 694.5
- New Mexico State- 534
- Grand Canyon- 529
- California Baptist- 475
- Idaho- 470
- Northern Colorado- 458.5
- Utah Tech University- 248
- Seattle- 191
- University of Texas, Rio Grande- 132
Men’s Final Team Standings
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas- 802
- California Baptist- 776
- Air Force- 638.5
- Grand Canyon- 531
- University of Wyoming-365.5
- Seattle- 238
