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BYU Leads Mountain West Conference After Day One

Feb 15, 2001

Oklahoma City, Okla. - Both the men's and women's teams from Brigham Young University lead after one full day of competition at the 2001 Mountain West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla.

The 15th ranked BYU men concluded the first day of competition with 120 points. A first-place finish by diver Justin Wilcock on the 1-meter springboard boosted the Cougars past second-place finisher Wyoming (100). Air Force (92), UNLV (91) and Utah (70) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. On the women's side, BYU leads with 124 points followed by Colorado State with 104. Utah, Wyoming and Air Force are neck and neck with 79, 76 and 74 points, respectively. UNLV (64), San Diego State (54) and New Mexico (52) follow in the sixth, seventh and eighth-place spots.

UNLV kicked off the men's side of competition with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:19.59. BYU trailed close behind with a time of 1:20.78. Air Force swam to the third place spot with a time of 1:21.61, followed by Wyoming (1:23.26) and Utah (1:25.29).

In the 1-meter diving finals, BYU took the first, second and fourth place spots. Sophomore Justin Wilcock finished the competition with 326.50, followed by teammate Aaron Russell with 320.55 points. Oscar Delgado of Wyoming took third with 275.20.

The men concluded the evening with the 200-yard medley relay. Air Force emerged victorious with a time of 1:29.55. BYU followed closely behind with a time of 1:29.62. UNLV finished third (1:29.78), Wyoming fourth (1:33.35) and Utah fifth (1:34.53).

The women of Colorado State got the first win of the championships with their come from behind victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.42. Utah followed with a time of 1:35.06 and UNLV swam into the third-place spot with a time of 1:35.14. BYU (1:35.58), Air Force (1:36.14), San Diego State (1:37.23), Wyoming (1:37.77) and New Mexico (1:38.77) filled the remaining spots, respectively.

In the 200-yard medley relay, BYU took the top spot with a time of 1:42.53, followed by Colorado State (1:43.88) in second and UNLV (1:44.45) in third. Utah women finished fourth with a time of 1:45.39 and San Diego State (1:46.47), Air Force (1:46.51), Wyoming (1:46.96) and New Mexico (1:47.88) rounded out the bottom half.

In the women's diving competition, five-time MWC Diver of the Week honoree Sarah Law claimed the top spot on the 1-meter board with a score of 250.15. BYU claimed the second and third place spots. Kellie Einfeldt took second with a score of 246.35, followed by teammate Anna Tutunnikova with 228.30 in third.

The 2001 Mountain West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships begin day two tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. with the men's and women's preliminary 500-yard freestyle competition. Finals begin at 6 p.m. The Mountain West Conference will be hosting the championships at Oklahoma City Community College tomorrow though Saturday.