Day Three Results (PDF)
Saturday Heat Sheets (PDF)
 
PHARR, Texas – UNLV men’s and Northern Arizona women’s extended its leads after the third day of the 2024 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships. The Rebels are out in front with 681 points, while the Lady Jacks boast 572.5 points.
 
During the afternoon session, a women’s team diving exhibition took place between California Baptist, Idaho, Northern Arizona and New Mexico State. Northern Arizona’s Mackenna Stocker, Grace and Margaret Wesche scored 270 points to place first. New Mexico State came in second with 262.05 points, California Baptist had a 257.50 mark to finish third and Idaho placed fourth with 236.25.
 
Fridays finals began with the men’s 400-yard individual medley with UNLV’s Michael Breithart touching the wall first with a time of 3:47.37, while teammate Colby Raffel placed second with a 3:49.56 mark. Air Force’s Camden Swigart took third (3:50.40).
 
New Mexico State’s Lindsay Puhalski took gold in the women’s 400-yard individual medley with a 4:14.32 mark. Northern Arizona’s Madison Rey claimed silver with a time of 4:16.25. Idaho’s Ginger Kiefer earned bronze with a mark of 4:17.78.
 
UNLV’s George Ratiu placed first in the men’s 100-yard fly with a time of 46.21. Wyoming’s Gavin Smith finished second with a 47.01 mark and California Baptist’s Tyler Mansheim took third with a time of 47.17.
 
California Baptist’s Sofia Maksimova earned her second gold medal of the championship in the women’s 100-yard fly with a time of 52.54. Northern Colorado’s Katelyn Bergin finished second with a mark of 53.44. Grand Canyon’s Paula Martinez placed third with a time of 53.57.
 
Wyoming’s Quin Cynor finished first in the men’s 200-yard free with a 1:34.34 mark. Cameron Castro of UNLV placed second with a time of 1:35.42. Grand Canyon’s Grzegorz Wanat took third with a mark of 1:35.81.
 
On the women’s side, Northern Colorado’s Elizabeth Mayer placed first with a time of 1:48.89 in the 200-yard free, while teammate Kyra Rabess finished second with a 1:49.09 mark. New Mexico State’s Naomi Slee and Katie Rink tied for third with a time of 1:49.10.
 
In the men’s 100-yard breast, UNLV’s Adnan Beji took gold for the second consecutive year with a time of 52.70. Grand Canyon’s Jonathan Rom claimed took silver with a 53.59 mark. Air Force’s Thomas Nagle placed bronze with a time of 53.68.
 
Grand Canyon’s Maria Brunlehner placed first as she broke the conference all-time record in the 100-yard breast with a time of 1:00.18, the previous record was set in 2005 (1:00.74). Brunlehner finished first for the third consecutive year becoming the fourth swimmer to three-peat the event, joining Katie McClelland (SMU, 1997-1999), Jessica Legge (NM State, 2013-15) and Hope Williams (NAU, 2019-2021). Raphaela Nakashima of Grand Canyon finished second with 1:01.56 and Northern Colorado’s Maria Erokhina took third with a mark of 1:01.96.
 
Grand Canyon’s Alex Volkov finished first with a 46.23 mark in the men’s 100-yard back. UNLV’s Wikus Potgieter placed with a time of 47.01, while teammate Tatsuki Inoue took third (47.21).
 
In the women’s 100-yard back, Grand Canyon’s Paula Martinez took first with a time of 53.75. Northern Arizona’s Sophie Velitchkov finished second with a 54.39 mark. Utah Tech’s Mary Cross placed third with a mark of 54.48.
 
In the men’s platform diving, California Baptist’s freshman Mario De Valle took gold after he completely shattered the conference meet record scoring 473.40 points, the previous record was set in 2015 (330.90). Gael Jiminez of California Baptist claimed silver with a mark of 343.20, while UNLV’s Dima Tereschenko earned bronze with 342.85 points.
 
UNLV’s Witkus Potgieter, Adnan Beji, George Ratiu and Bryson Huey won the men’s 400-yard medley relay for the second consecutive year with a time of 3:08.18. Wyoming placed second with a mark of 3:10.48. Grand Canyon took third with a 3:11.08 mark.
 
Grand Canyon’s Briana Rittenbach, Raphael Nakashima, Paula Martinez and Maria Brunlehner finished first in the women’s 400-yard medley relay with a mark of 3:37.93. Northern Arizona took second with a time of 3:39.59. California Baptist placed third with a 3:42.35 mark.
 
The 2024 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships resume Saturday with the men’s and women’s 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly prelims beginning at 10:30 a.m. CT. The women’s platform dive will begin at 12:15 p.m. CT. Finals for these events along with the men’s and women’s 1650 free and 400 free relay will commence at 3:40 p.m. CT.