Full Release in PDF Format
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Air Force seniors Michael Barnosky and Nathanael Zillweger completed competition at the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming & Diving Championships at the McAuley Aquatic Center on the campus of Georgia Tech, Saturday, March 26. Barnosky, who earned All-American honors in the 100 breast stroke on Friday, placed 35th in the 200 breast stroke on Saturday with a time of 1:58.31. Zillweger, who placed 49th on the 3-meter springboard on Friday, placed 46th on the platform on Saturday with 235.40 points. Barnosky's third-place finish in the 100 breast on Friday earned the Falcons 16 team points. Entering Saturday night's finals, the Falcons were in 24th place in the team standings.
UNLV senior Dillon Virva started off his final collegiate competition in record-setting fashion on Thursday night by winning the consolation heat of the 50 free to place ninth overall at the 2016 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. After placing 11th in the morning preliminaries with a time of 19.25, Virva came back on fire in the night finals, winning the B final in a new UNLV and WAC record time of 19.07, topping his previous mark of 19.09 and earning Honorable Mention All-America status. That time of 19.07 also would have placed him sixth in the championship final as well had he made the top-eight in the morning. Virva's ninth-place finish is the highest individual finish for a Rebel at the NCAA Championships since Jacint Simon was fifth in the 200 free at the 2000 championship meet, and the seventh overall top-nine individual finish in team history. Virva finished his final year at the NCAA Swimming Championships on Saturday at the 2016 NCAA Men's Swimming Championships. Virva swam in the 100 Free, and ended up tied in 33rd place with a time of 43.50. This time was a personal best for Virva in the event, an impressive way to conclude his time at UNLV. The UNLV men's team finished in 35th place for the NCAA Swimming Championships with 9 points for the weekend. This is UNLV's sixth time in the last seven years that they have finished in the top 35.
NCAA ZONES
Nine schools within the conference sent atleast one diver to the NCAA Zone meet. CSU Bakersfield sent Carlee Burks and Brayden Greenwald. NM State sent Lauren Reifel, Abby Watson and Mackinna Hauff. Air Force not only had a diver qualify but also a swimmer. Both Nathanael Zillweger and Michael Barnosky went to NCAA Zones. Zillweger on the platform and 3-meter springboard and Barnosky swam in the 100 breast stroke, 200 IM and 200 breast stroke. Next up, Idaho. Janelle Lucas, Nikki Imanaka and Maren Seljevold all qualified. UNLV's Lucas James is the lone Rebel on men's side who went. Senior Clayton Metcalf extended his season for North Dakota. Three divers from Northern Arizona qualified to NCAA Zones. That was Chelsea Jackson, Christina Torrente and Raquel Gonzales. Northern Colorado's Savanna Meadows and Wyoming's Kari Campbell, Keely Bishop and Jacob Rehmeier also all competed at the NCAA Zone “E†Diving Championships.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
After the first day of competition, defending women's champion Northern Arizona has the early day one lead while Air Force is in first place on the men's side.
Grand Canyon won the men's 200-yard medley relay (1:25.41) while Northern Arizona took the gold for the women in 1:41.45. Northern Arizona diver Alexa Geiger won the women's 1-meter crown with a score of 302.30. Grand Canyon swept the men's relay events on the night with a win in the 800-yard free relay (6:26.34) while CSU Bakersfield won the women's title with a time of 7:18.33. The evening ended with Nathanael Zillweger of Air Force winning the men's 3-meter with a score of 360.45, just shy of the WAC championship record.
The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks remained in first place with a commanding lead after day two of the 2016 Western Athletic Conference swimming and diving championships. On the men's side, Air Force is also in first place with a six-point lead over Grand Canyon.
On the women's side, the WAC crowned new champions in all five events. Northern Arizona's Kendall Brown won the 500-yard freestyle (4:50.88), NM State's Dorottya Lennert won the 200 IM (2:01.66), Grand Canyon's Jovanna Koens won the 50 free (22.92), Northern Arizona's Alexa Geiger won the three-meter diving (322.05) and Northern Arizona won the 200 free relay from lane one with a time of 1:31.58.
On the men's side, the champions of four of the five events won for the third year in a row. Grand Canyon's Iegor Lytvenok won the 200-yard individual medley (1:44.91), UNLV's Dillon Virva won the 50 free (19.26) after setting a new WAC record in the prelims (19.09), Air Force's Nathanael Zillweger won the one-meter diving after winning the three-meter the day before, and UNLV won the 200 free relay with a time of 1:18.25.
The Air Force men's swimming and diving team extended its lead after day three of the WAC Championshps led by Michael Barnosky's win in the 100-yard breaststroke. Barnosky set a new WAC record with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 51.98. UNLV senior Lucas James also broke a WAC record with a score of 344.80 on platform diving. Grand Canyon won its third relay of the meet with a time of 3:08.80 in the 400 medley relay.
Defending women's champion Northern Arizona held a commanding lead over New Mexico State with one day left in the meet. Grand Canyon's Estela Davis Ortiz was a double winner on the night with victories in the 400 IM (4:16.14) and the 100 backstroke (54.16). CSU Bakersfield won two events as Michaela Paige took gold in the 200 free (1:47.73) and the 400 medley relay won with a time of 3:41.85.
Air Force won its first ever men's WAC Swimming & Diving Championship while Northern Arizona took home the women's crown for the third straight year. The Falcons scored 771 to outdistance Wyoming who took second place while the Lumberjacks scored 807.5 points.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2016 WAC Swimming and Diving Championship traveled to Houston, Texas. Air Force won its first ever WAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship while Northern Arizona took home the women's crown for the third straight year. The Falcons scored 771 to outdistance Wyoming who took second place while the Lumberjacks scored 807.5 points. Several other awards were handed out on the evening.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2016 Swimming and Diving NCAA Championships travel to Atlanta, Mar. 24-26.