LONG BEACH -- BYU's Jorge Azevedo set a current national- and school-best time of 47.70 in the 100 fly, leading the men's swimming team to a third-place finish Saturday at the annual Speedo Cup Invitational in Long Beach, Calif. Last week's MWC Swimmer of the Week Brett Allen followed in sync, marking the fourth best time in the country in the 50 free at 19.91 and setting another Cougar record.

"These guys times are as close to automatically making it to the NCAA's as possible," said men's swimming coach Tim Powers. "The team is looking great and we're just getting faster."

The men brought in ten top-five finishes on the weekend along with an additional six top-ten. Freshman John Kendrick added to the Cougar scoreboard taking third in the 1650 free at 15:50.11 and fifth in the 500 free at 4:31.08. Allen also brought in a third-place time of 44.76 in the 100 free, just .30 seconds behind second place.

The women also finished third, racking up points across the board with 14 top-ten finishes including a fifth place in the 200 and 400 free relays and the 400 medley relay. This week's MWC Swimmer of the Week, freshman Leilani Roberts, had the highest finish on the weekend for the women taking third in the 100 free at 51.54. Senior Natasha Jones contributed with a fifth-place finish in the 200 back at 2:04.03, while sophomore Jamie Bloom came in fifth at 1:06.67 in the 100 breast. Sophomores Tara Bradshaw and Angela Goodson added two sixth-place finishes in the 400 IM at 4:32.49 and the 100 fly at 57.47, respectively.

"A third-place finish doesn't diminish the fact that we had a solid meet all around," said women's swimming coach Stan Crump. " There were a lot of good things happening out there this weekend and I'm proud of the girls' performance."

Back at home the divers hosted and dominated the BYU Diving Invitational with sophomore Ron Morris taking first in all of the men's events and sophomore Angela Nelson taking first in all of the women's.

"It was good competition and I saw some good diving," said diving coach Keith Russell. "And the divers keep on learning, and that will just make us better."

The Cougars will have the remainder of November and December off from competition. MWC contest will pick up Jan. 4 when the men host Washington at home.

(Full results from the Speedo Cup Invitational can be accessed by going to http://www.swim.uci.edu/2005speedocup.html.)

PROVO -- The BYU diving team will host conference rivals Colorado State and UNLV for the BYU Invitational Nov. 18-19 at the Richards Building Pool, while the swimmers head back to sea level to compete in the final meet before Christmas Break at the annual Speedo Cup Invitational Nov. 17-19 in Long Beach, Calif.

The Cougar men's and women's swimming and diving teams defeated UNLV in their first conference meet Nov.11 at home, with the divers taking first in every event except the women's 3-meter board, which they hope to redeem this weekend. The Cougars will also feel out CSU before the Rams return to Provo for conference contest Jan. 20.

The BYU Diving Invitational will be free and open to the public. Competition will begin Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and continue Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday's competition will include a platform contest.

"We're excited for a chance to compete and see what we're up against this season," said diving coach Keith Russell. "It will be a fun experience for everyone involved."

The swimmers will compete trial style at the Speedo Cup against 13 other men's teams from across the nation and 21 women's teams, including Stanford, UC Irvine and Pepperdine. MWC opponents Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico and SDSU will also participate in the invitational.

After starting the season 6-0 and ranked no. 19, men's swimming coach Tim Powers said he expects his team to compete well, but looks to modify the line up.

"It will be a good chance to try out some new combinations," Powers said. "We'll have a good workout."

Women's swimming coach Stan Crump said he anticipates a top-five finish from his team, and possibly an NCAA-qualifying time from junior Brittany Davis in the 200 back. Davis has made qualifying times in the 200 back the past two seasons, but never at Speedo Cup.

"All indications are the team will swim pretty good," Crump said. "Our goal is to get better every meet, and if we make NCAA qualifying times, all the better."

Teams participating in the Speedo Cup are:

Men: Air Force, UC Irvine, Stanford, UC Davis, Cal Poly, UC San Diego, Occidental, La Verne, UC Santa Cruz, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Chapman, Cal Baptist, Soka

Women: Air Force, UC Irvine, Stanford, Colorado State, New Mexico, Nevada, San Jose State, Pepperdine, San Diego, Loyola Marymount, UC Davis, Cal Poly, Alaska-Fairbanks, UC San Diego, Occidental, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne, UC Santa Cruz, Chapman

Order of Events

Thursday, November 17

200 Free Relay

500 Free

200 IM

50 Free

400 Medley Relay

Friday, November 18

200 Medley Relay

400 IM

100 Fly

200 Free

100 Breast

100 Back

800 Free Relay

Saturday, November 19

1650 Free

200 Back

100 Free

200 Breast

200 Fly

400 Free Relay