LAS VEGAS – The University of Denver men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened a weekend of a pair of double duals in Las Vegas on Friday night at Buchanan Natatorium. DU's men swept UNLV and UC Santa Barbara, while the women narrowly fell to UNLV and lost to UCSB.
Team Scores
Men's Scores
Denver 91, UNLV 57
UCSB 102.5, UNLV 45.5
Denver 81.5, UCSB 66.5
Women's Scores
UNLV 76, Denver 72
UCSB 77, UNLV 71
UCSB 93, Denver 55
Denver's women opened the meet with a victory in the 400 medley relay.
Heidi Bradley, Brandi Vu, Josie Valette and
Lauren Moden combined for a time of 3:45.93 in the victory. The women's 400 medley win is the third of the season for the Pioneers.
The men also claimed victory in the opening relay as the quartet of
Neil Wachtler, Cy Jager, Adriel Sanes and
Cameron Auchinachie turned in a time of 3:19.28. DU's men's win was its second in the event this year.
Annelyse Tullier led Denver in the first individual swim of the night, taking second in the 300 free with a time of 2:55.13. On the men's side,
Colin Gilbert earned a podium spot, reaching the final wall in 2:36.63.
Denver had three men earn spots in the top five of the men's 200 IM as
David Mihalic,
Patrick Groters, and
Blayze Jessen took third, fourth and fifth with times of 1:54.12, 1:54.19 and 1:54.98, respectively.
Wachtler recorded Denver's first individual win of the night, taking the 50 back by 0.17 seconds with a time of 22.96.
Moden got the Denver women back on the podium in the ninth event of the evening, finishing second in the 100 IM, clocking in at 58.31. In another sprint,
Kylie Cronin also earned a podium finish with a 25.81 in the 50 fly.
Peter Webster and Sanes finished 1-2 in the men's 50 fly with times of 22.48 and 22.60, respectively.
In the final relay of the night,
Hugo Sykes, Auchinachie, Gilbert and
Kyle Ewoldt took the top spot in the men's 800 free relay, turning in a 6:42.82. The victory is the first of the season for the men's in the 800.
Vu continued her early season breaststroke success with a second place finish on Friday night, swimming the 50 in 29.66.
Jager's 25.83 in the final race of the evening was good enough to earn the top spot in the 50 breast to cap off the men's double dual victory.
While the Denver swimmers were in Vegas, the DU divers began competition in Los Angeles at the 2019 UCLA Diving Invite. The prelims scores from this meet count towards tomorrow's double dual in Vegas. On the men's side,
Alex Morgan took 14
th in the 1-meter with a score of 265.60 in the prelims and 499.80.
Sammy Walker led Denver's women with a 32
nd place finish, totaling a 223.80.
Friday Night's Event Wins
Women's 400 Medley Relay – Bradley, Vu, Valette, Moden – 3:45.93
Men's 400 Medley Relay – Wachtler, Jager, Sanes, Auchinachie – 3:19.28
Men's 50 Back –
Neil Wachtler – 22.96
Men's 50 Fly –
Peter Webster – 22.48
Men's 800 Free Relay – Sykes, Auchinachie, Gilbert, Ewoldt – 6:42.82
Men's 50 Breast –
Cy Jager – 25.83
UP NEXT: The Pioneers will be back in action tomorrow morning in Las Vegas with the same double dual. First swim is set for 11 a.m. MT. Denver will be back in action next weekend when they head to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech in a two-day dual.
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