Lopes Come Up Short at BYU

Saturday, January 31

Provo, UT

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

103

159

BYU (Swimmers)

Iryna Glavnyk

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

1/31/2015 1:48:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

Men, Women Defeated in Duals Saturday in Provo

The Grand Canyon University men's and women's swim teams dropped duals at BYU Saturday in Provo, Utah. The Antelope women were edged by the host Cougars, 131.5-130.5, while the GCU men fell 159-103.

"I am very proud of our women," said head coach Steve Schaffer. "We knew this would be a tough meet, especially at altitude. They fought for every point throughout the meet and kept it close enough for us to have a shot to win on the last relay. Jovanna Koens swam a monster anchor leg and caught BYU at the touch for her 4th 1st place finish of the day, but unfortunately BYU tied us and we needed to win outright to win the meet."

Hannah Kastigar added three first-place finishes to her 2015 resume, touching the wall first in the 100-fly (56.26 seconds), 200-fly (2:02.96 seconds) and 200-free (1:53.73). Iryna Glavnyk also had a strong showing Saturday, recording a trio of top finishes. Glavnyk came in first in the 200-back (2:03.45), 200-IM (2:07.64) and 100-back (56.27 seconds).

Jovanna Koens took home a pair of first-place finishes in the 50-free (24.05 seconds) and 100-free (52.77 seconds). Vangelina Draganova (2:24.32) and Daria Talanova (2:25.27) finished second and third, respectively, in the 200-breast.

The quartet of Glavnyk, Draganova, Kastigar and Koens collected a time of 1:46.54 in the 200-medley relay, placing first in the relay. In the 200-free relay, Marina Fonseca, Jade Howard, Rebecca Coan and Koens tied for the fastest time with their time of 1:36.74.

Iegor Lytvenok notched the fastest time in the 200-back (1:44.78) and 200-IM (1:47.27), while finishing second in the 100-back (48.48 seconds). Both of Lytvenok's times are season and WAC-bests and his 200-back time is a new pool record. John Feely came in third in the 200-back with his time of 1:52.92 and Aslan Burbayev was third in the 100-breast (57.62 seconds).

"One very bright spot for our men was Iegor Lytvenok," said Schaffer. "He had some truly amazing swims - all season-bests and his 200-back was a pool record and with the 1.2 second altitude adjustment, his time was just a half a second off of what qualified for NCAA's last year."

Stanislav Saiko raced to a top finish in the 200-fly (1:42.33) and came in second in the 100-fly with his time of 49.78 seconds. Saiko's time in the 200-fly is the fastest recorded time in the WAC this season. Illya Glazunov clocked times of 20.62 seconds and 46.44 seconds for a pair of runner-up finishes in the 50-free and 100-free, respectively.

Jacob Lambros, Tanner Brotherton, Mazen Elkamash and Glazunov came away with a first in the 200-free relay after accumulating a time of 1:22.84.

"I know everyone is looking forward to the next three weeks as we begin to rest for the WAC Championships," concluded Schaffer.

The Lopes will now be off until the WAC Championships which will be held in San Antonio Feb. 25-28. Fans can visit www.gculopes.com for more information on the swimming and diving season.

Saturday's results can be seen here.