WAC races end with women in 3rd, men in 4th

Wednesday, February 17

St. George, Utah

Grand Canyon

WAC Championships

Photo by: WAC

2/27/2021 9:19:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

GCU divers push women past Northern Colorado on final day

By: Mark Oshidari

Results

LAS VEGAS – The WAC Championships concluded with the Grand Canyon women's swimming and diving team completing an incredible run for a third-place finish on Saturday. The GCU men's swimming and diving squad finished in fourth place.

"With just nine swimmers and two divers, just over half of a full scoring squad, we finished in third place on the women's side," Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer said. "This was the same result as last year, a truly remarkable achievement."

GCU senior diver Tasmin Stewart finished third in the consolation final of the diving competition held at Northern Arizona. Freshman Lizzy Mcknight placed third on the 1-meter board at the WAC Championships and tied for second on the 3-meter. She was also 4th on the platform. Poole won the consolation finals at the WAC Championships on the 1-meter and finished 16th on the 3-meter board.

The nine GCU swimmers had a strong showing last week at the WAC Championships in St. George, Utah.

On the men's side at NAU, freshmen Isaac Poole, Nicholas Gunn, Reece Robles and Thomas Wesche scored points in the consolation final for the Lopes on the platform.

For the swimming competition in Las Vegas, sophomore Mikhail Lyubavskiy raced to a time of 15 minutes, 33.68 seconds in the 1,650 freestyle for a fifth-place finish to get the final day started for the Lopes.

Junior Florent Janin finished third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.85.

In the 200 butterfly, junior Adrian Curbelo finished third with a time of 1:48.32.

The meet came to a conclusion with the GCU 400 freestyle relay squad netting a third-place finish. Juniors Dawson Sloan, Mazen Shoukry, Samuel McKenzie and Janin raced to a time of 2:55.12.

Day 3 recap

Powered by a fourth-place finish on the 1-meter board by freshman Lizzy Mcknight and an 11th-place finish by senior Tasmin Stewart, the Lopes trail Northern Colorado by 16 points for third place in the conference meet. Saturday's platform diving at Northern Arizona will determine if the GCU women finish third or fourth.

Also at NAU for the conference diving competition, freshman Thomas Wesche finished fifth on the 3-meter board to score points for the Lopes.

In Las Vegas for the men's swimming races, GCU junior Adrian Curbelo finished runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 47.39 seconds, just .05 seconds off the winning time.

Sophomore Mikhail Lyubavskiy finished third in the 400 individual medley with a time of 3:51.59 seconds.

In the 200 freestyle, the Lopes finished sixth (junior Samuel McKenzie) and seventh (sophomore Griffin McKean).

The night concluded with the 400 medley relay of McKenzie, junior Alonso Carazo Barbero, Curbelo and junior Dawson Sloan recording a time of 3:16.52.

The GCU men enter the final day of the championships in third place, but only six points ahead of fourth-place Wyoming.

Saturday swimming events are the 1,650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay. The final diving event is the men's and women's platform.

Day 2 recap

The GCU men's swimming team recorded a runner-up finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay and a third-place finish in the 50 freestyle.

Through two days, the Lopes have 199.5 points, good for third place behind host UNLV (333) and Air Force (212).

The GCU women's swimming and diving team has reached 466.5 points to be in fourth place. GCU trails third-place Northern Colorado (499.4) after the first day of diving events.

The 200 freestyle relay team of junior Dawson Sloan, junior Samuel McKenzie, sophomore Omar Elsayd and junior Florent Janin finished in second place Thursday with a time of 1 minute 19.13 seconds. UNLV won the event with a time of 1:18.42.

In the finals of the 50 freestyle, Janin raced to a third-place finish with a time of 19.94. Reece Hmmens of UNLV won with a time of 19.91. Sloan also raced in the final and finished seventh with a time of 20.34.

GCU sophomore Mikhail Lyubavskiy finished sixth in the 500 free with a time of 4:25.20.

In diving, freshman Lizzy Mcknight finished in a tie for second place with 279 points on the 3-meter board.

Freshman Reece Robles finished sixth on the men's side with 278.4 points on the 1-meter board.

Friday's slate includes the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay. For diving, the men's 3-meter board and the women's 1-meter board will conclude Friday's action.

Day 1 recap

The highlight of the two-event night was the GCU 800-yard freestyle relay team. Junior Dawson Sloan, freshman Jacob Folsom, junior Samuel McKenzie and junior Florent Janin placed third with a time of 6 minutes 33.15 seconds. UNLV, the meet host, won the relay with a time of 6:21.70.

In the opening event, the Lopes recorded a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Junior Kainan De Jesus, sophomore Amir Haviv, junior Adrian Curbelo and Janin raced to a time of 1:27.65. The host Rebels won the event with a time of 1:25.45.