Laramie, Wyo. (Feb. 25, 2019) – The Cowboy Swimming and Diving teams will travel to Houston, Texas for the 2019 Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship this week, running Feb. 27-March 2. The competition will take place in the CRWC Natatorium, on the campus of the University of Houston. Preliminaries will start at 9:30 a.m. MT each day, followed by finals in the evening sessions, beginning at 5 p.m.
 
"UNLV is still a contender in several events. Grand Canyon has some of the best swimmers in the entire country and have a group that will go to the NCAA's," head coach Dave Denniston said. "The big one is newcomer Cal Baptist. They stack up the most evenly with us in terms of having depth and that's how we won last year with athletes scoring in the second, third and fourth spots. That's where I think we will have some significant battles."

Last season, UW claimed its first conference title in 59 years, finishing with a total of 851 points to win the 2018 Western Athletic Conference Championship under then first-year head coach Dave Denniston. UNLV came in second with a score of 780. Grand Canyon placed third with 630 points, followed by Air Force in fourth with 447 points. Grand Canyon holds the top time in nine different individual events this season. Mark Nikolaev holds the fastest time in the 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly, while Daniil Antipov owns the top time in the 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM. Wyoming and Cal Baptist hold the top spot in two events.
 
The Cowboys have proven themselves in head-to-head competition against the top talent in the conference this season. They are 3-1 in conference duals, with three of those victories coming against the other top three teams in the WAC, knocked off Air Force 179-121 back on Oct. 19. In the Pokes' double dual against Cal Baptist and Grand Canyon on Jan. 5, UW dominated CBU, 163.5-136.5, but lost a close one 157-143 against the Lopes. In its final dual match, UW narrowly beat the Rebels, 150-146.
 
Wyoming currently has ten swimmers than rank in the conference's top 10 lists in at least one event. Six Cowboys have posted a top-10 time in two or more events. Junior Seth Borgert and freshman Ryan Netzel lead the way with four top 10 times. Borgert holds the conference best time in the 500 and 1650 freestyle, while sitting third in the 1000 freestyle and the 400 IM. Netzel ranks in the top five in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle and eighth in the 200 freestyle. Senior Liam Holt is ranked among the top ten in the 100, 200 breaststroke and the 200 IM.
 
"I think we are in a good spot that we will be battling to get in to the top eight in the preliminaries. We will try hard to excel in the morning swims to get in to finals and at that point it's anyone's game. If we can succeed at that our depth should shine through. We also have a few people that could win some events this year. Seth (Borgert) has changed his body this season and put himself in a good position. We have a strong freshmen class with people like James Bouda and Ryan (Netzel) that can step up for us."

There are five events where the Pokes have at least three swimmers in the top 10. UW's strongest events may be the 500 and 1000 freestyle along with the 100 and 200 breaststroke. In the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Mitchell Hovis holds the eighth-best time (55.62), Holt is right behind in ninth (55.69) and senior David Murphy owns the tenth-fastest time (55.79). In the 200 breaststroke, Holt ranks (2:00.89) and senior Laine Johansen ranks ninth (2:03.19) along with Hovis in tenth (2:03.40).
 
Senior diver Ryan Russi will look make a huge impact for Wyoming again this season. The senior from Murietta, Calif. has won WAC Diver of the Week honors four times this season. He was the runner-up in both the 1-meter and 3-meter at the 2018 championship and fifth in the platform.
 
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