Grand Canyon Battles Against Air Force

Friday, November 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Air Force

Photo by: Deb Schaffer

11/6/2015 5:52:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon University men's swimming and diving team continued their season today against Air Force. In a close meet that went down to the final two events, GCU fell just short 129-114.

In the CollegeSwimming.com polls, Air Force is ranked at 32, while GCU is ranked 39. In the CSCAA rankings, the teams were tied at 28^th, marking the first time the Lopes have received votes in the poll since entering Division I.

"This was a great meet," said head coach Steve Schaffer. "Air Force has been swimming great all season and today was no exception. We knew it would be a nail biter down to the end and our guys put up a good fight, but in the end we just didn't have the depth that Air Force had, and lost a couple of events I thought we could have won. We got a good look at what it is going to take for us to be in the hunt for the WAC Championship in February."

Grand Canyon won the opening 200-medley relay with a time of 1:29.50, to beat Air Force's A squad by 0.18 of a second. The team consisted of Mark Nikolaev, Youssef Elkamash, Daniil Antipov, and Illya Glazunov.

Nikolaev had a strong time of 47.39 in the 100-back to earn first place. Antipov continued on his success in the relay by winning the titles in the 200-free (1:40.86) and the 100-butterfly (49.20).

"Some of our guys really stepped up to keep us in the meet," continued Schaffer. "Mark was outstanding today picking up an NCAA B cut in his 100-back and swimming excellent relay legs. Daniil had two great wins in the 200-free and the 100-fly, and his fly leg in the Medley Relay put us in the lead to stay."

Iegor Lytvenok also had first place finishes for GCU. He won the 400-IM with a time of 4:00.08 and came back to win the 500-free with a time of 4:34.72.

"Iegor won the 400-IM and then sneaked in for the win in the 500-free as well," said Schaffer.

In diving, Michael Bidak took the top slot in the 3-meter with a score of 296.85, followed closely by Cody Rankin at second with a score of 295.35. Todd Alden also placed fourth with a score of 261.15.

Bidak also placed second in the 1-meter (232.10). While Rankin finished third at 262.88 and Alden fourth at 257.55.

"Our divers did a very good job with Mike setting new team records in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, and Todd and Cody both had solid performances," continued Schaffer. "They served notice that they will be a big factor at the WAC Championships, where diving can make a huge difference in the team race."

"Both the men and women will start resting up as we prepare for our mid-season taper meets at the Northwestern TYR Invitational and then the U.S. Winter Nationals," concluded Schaffer. "I think we will do very well in both meets."

Next up on the schedule is the Northwestern TYR Invitational Nov. 20-22 in Evanston, Ill. A full recap will be available at www.gculopes.com.