LAS VEGAS -- The No. 21 BYU men's swimming and diving team defeated UNLV and Florida State on Friday at the Buchanan Natatorium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and improve to 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference and 4-0 overall in dual meet competitions.
The Cougars bested the Rebels by a score of 145-90, and out swam Florida State by placing first in 11 of 13 events and posting a 148-92 score on the night.
"We swam some of the fastest times in the county," said men's head coach Tim Powers. "It is nice to go the road and get a good win like that."
Going into the final events the Cougars were already up by more than 80 points. Powers decided to use some of the team's exhibition swimmers but the Cougars still managed to increase their lead.
On the women's side, the Cougars dropped both of their dual meets on Friday with UNLV defeating the women 139-103, and the No. 23 Florida State squad also defeated the Cougars by a score of 192-50. The BYU women are now 1-3 in conference and 3-4 overall in dual meet competition.
PROVO -- On Friday, the BYU men's and women's swimming and diving teams will be back in action together for the first time since opening their home dual meet season against Utah two weeks ago. This time the Cougars will be facing off against UNLV and Florida State in the dual meet competition.
After a strong showing at both the Pacific Invitational and the Utah dual meet, the BYU men are ranked No. 21 in the nation by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. The Cougars only loss this season was to No. 2 Stanford at the Pacific Invitational.
The meet begins at 5 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, Nov. 22, in the Buchanan Natatorium at UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Cougar Recap
The BYU women's team is coming off a dominating performance at the Lobo Invite in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 8-9, where the Cougars came out on top of the six team field by more than 100 points. On Thursday, Nov. 7, the women lost a close contest to the University of New Mexico (132-112), but recorded victories over Northern Arizona (139-104), and San Diego State (128-113).
Team captain, senior Amanda Grant, provided much of the strength and leadership for the Cougars during the three-day, two meet span, and earned Mountain West Conference Swimmer of the Week honors in the process. Grant won two individual events, placed second in two events, and also recorded two third-place finishes. In addition she was a member of all four winning relay teams for the Cougars at the two meets.
The men's team has not competed since its home opening win over the University of Utah (161.5-81.5) on Nov. 1. At the meet the Cougars captured nine of the 13 events against the Utes, including two first-place finishes by senior Jeff Mason in the 100 and 200-yard freestyles.
Measuring the Opposition
This season the UNLV women are off to a strong start going 3-0 in dual meet competitions against conference competitors, while the Cougars are 1-2. For the men, BYU (1-0) will be the Rebel's first conference opponent. Last year at the MWC Championships, the men's and women's teams for both BYU and UNLV finished first and second respectively.
The Rebel women defeated Colorado State on Nov. 16 by a three-point margin (151-148). The Rebels won 11 of 16 events at the meet including strong performances in the 500 and 1000-yard events where UNLV went 1-2 in both events.
The Florida State women are currently ranked No. 23 in the nation after impressive wins over UCLA, Pacific, and Alabama. The Seminoles are now 4-1 on the year after Tuesday's loss to No. 3 Florida.
As for the men, they also lost to No. 8 Florida on Tuesday by a score of 143-100. It was the men's teams first loss of the season. In the 50 free the Seminoles went 1-2-3-4 with junior Michael Paulus leading the team with a time of 21.19.
