'Lopes Sweep Duel at Incarnate Word

Monday, December 16

San Antonio, TX

All Day

Grand Canyon

1309

1042

UIW Invitational

Hannah Kastigar

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

12/18/2013 6:07:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Kastigar, Lytvenok collect three individual wins over three days

The Grand Canyon University men's and women's swim teams today wrapped up action at the UIW Christmas Invitational hosted by Incarnate Word at The Aquatic Center at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas. Leading throughout the entire meet, the Antelopes' women won their duel by a margin of 1162.5-1006.5, while the men defeated the Cardinals 1309-1042.

"Our kids were awesome," said head coach Steve Schaffer. "This is an excellent win for both the men and women. They definitely exceeded my expectations and set the table for an even better showing at the Western Athletic Conference championships back here in February."

Inha Kotsur finished third in the women's 1650-free with a time of 17:39.43, while Luke Phillips was second among the men after touching the wall at 16:20.45.

Hannah Peseau and Stacey Wymer went 2-3 in the women's 200-backstroke after clocking in at 2:05.15 and 2:06.10.

Iegor Lytvenok won the men's 200-back with the fastest time among Western Athletic Conference swimmers by nearly four seconds with a mark of 1:44.16 to claim his third individual win of the meet. That time also established a new GCU school record.

Jovanna Koens won the women's 100-free with a time of 51.06 seconds, the second-fastest among WAC swimmers. Illya Glazunov was second on the men's side at 44.06 seconds, the third-best in the conference, while Michael Branning came in third at 44.64 seconds.

In the 200-breaststroke, Molly Graves finished second after clocking in at 2:26.03, while Kathleen Robertson (2:26.62) and Aime Osterberg (2:28.58) were just behind her in third and fourth place.

For the men, Youssef El Kamash came in second at 2:04.27, followed by Tom Wahlers in third at 2:04.65.

The 'Lopes took four of the top five spots in the women's 200-fly, led by Hannah Kastigar's time of 1:58.06 to finish first and claim the fastest time in the WAC by nearly two seconds. It was the third individual win for Kastigar at the meet as she also set a GCU school record in the event.

Rebecca Coan (2:00.93), Diana Volk (2:10.40), and Kayla Clark (2:14.64) rounded out the top-four in the event.

On the men's side, Ivan Nechunaev won the 200-fly after touching the wall at 1:47.67, the third-best mark in the conference.

Kastigar, Catherine Polito, Samantha Magnani, and Koens won the women's 400-free relay by over six seconds, finishing the event in 3:25.33 to currently hold the second-fastest time in the WAC. GCU's men's squad of Mazen El Kamash, Michael Branning, Lytvenok, and Illya Glazunov were also victorious in the event, touching the wall in 2:56.12 to also claim the second-best mark in the conference and the top-time in school history.

GCU will open the 2014 portion of their schedule when they travel to La Jolla, California on Jan. 4. The men will compete against UC San Diego, while the women will square off against the Tritons, San Diego State, and Boise State.

Click here for complete results for the UIW Christmas Invitational.