Men's Swim Defeats UC San Diego

Saturday, January 4

La Jolla, CA

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

158.00

104.00

UC San Diego

Iegor Lytvenok

1/4/2014 5:45:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Lytvenok wins three individual events

The Grand Canyon University men's swim team opened up the 2014 portion of their schedule with a 158.00 to 104.00 victory over UC San Diego at the Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla, Calif. The women dropped duels to the host Tritons (181.00-111.00), San Diego State (235.00-58.00), and Boise State (232.50-60.50).

The men took the top-two spots in five events and swept the top-three in one. Iegor Lytvenok led the men's efforts with three individual wins today, while Ivan Nechunaev, Illya Glazunov, and Stanislav Sakiko each had two individual victories.

The men's 200-medley relay squad of Everton Kida, Tom Wahlers, Nechunaev, and Glazunov won the event with a mark of 1:31.84, the fifth-best time in the Western Athletic Conference.

GCU took the top-two spots in the 200-free, led by Saiko's first place finish in 1:38.97, which ranks in the top-10 among conference swimmers. John Feely took second, four seconds behind his teammate. The men had a similar finish in the 100-back behind Lytvenok's swim of 51.00 seconds. Kida came in a close second at 51.47 seconds.

Saiko become a double-winner after also taking first in the men's 500-free with a mark of 4:34.92.

Aslan Burbayev led the field in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 57.83 seconds. Nechunaev won the men's 200-fly with a time of 1:52.40, tied for the eighth-best in the conference.

The 'Lopes had another 1-2 finish in the men's 50-free with Glazunov (20.60) picking up the win. Alexandr Dmitriyenko finished second, just .06 seconds behind Glazunov.

GCU had a strong showing in the men's 100-free, with Glazunov (45.81), Jacob Lambros (46.98), and Michael Branning (47.20) claiming the top three spots.

Lytvenok picked up an additional first-place finish in the men's 200-back after touching the wall in 1:52.93. Feely finished second with a time of 1:53.58.

Nechanaev continued his winning ways after taking first in the 100-fly with a time of 48.17 seconds, the fifth-fastest among WAC swimmers. Dmitriyenko took second, just over two seconds behind.

Lytvenok and Nechunaev went 1-2 in the men's 200-IM with times of 1:52.70 and 1:52.97.

In all, the men set five pool records; 200 free, 500 free (Saiko), 50 back (Kida), 100 fly (Nechunaev) and the 200 medley relay (Kida, Wahlers, Nechunaev, Glazunov).

"A very good meet for the men, even though we had some tough training over the Christmas break," said head coach Steve Schaffer.

For the women, Hannah Kastigar picked up the win in the 200-fly after touching the wall in 2:03.10, the third-best mark in the conference. Kastigar finished third in the women's 200-IM with a time of 2:06.54.

Inha Kotsur took fourth in the women's 1000-free with the eighth-best time in the WAC, touching the wall at 10:34.24.

Jovanna Koens posted a top-five finish in the 50-free with a mark of 23.89 seconds, which ranks in the top-10 among conference swimmers.

"The women faced the two best teams they have ever competed against and got a good look at where we have to go to be a good D-I team," said Schaffer. "Hannah really stepped up to get an overall win in the 200 fly. Our girls raced well despite the very tough competition."

Both squads will be back in action on Jan. 10-11 when they travel to Grand Forks, North Dakota for duels against North Dakota. Fans can check www.gculopes.com for complete results.

"The kids get a day off, then three days of practice and then we head off to North Dakota on Thursday," added Schaffer. "Tough competition there, along with cold most of us have never experienced."

Click here for complete results from today's meet