LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 23, 2021) – The Cowboy Swimming team will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. this week for the 2021 Western Athletic Conference Swimming Championship, while the Diving Team will compete at the Aquatic Complex in Flagstaff, Ariz. The four-day competition is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at the Buchanan Natatorium, on the campus of UNLV. The men's diving competition is set for Thursday-Saturday.
 
"Our men's team has been hit pretty hard this year with COVID and roster limitations," head coach Dave Denniston said. "Once again our freshmen have stepped up and proven to be tough racers. In a lot of ways, this has become a rebuilding year for our men's team, but I expect some big time drops and look forward to seeing how the meet shakes out."
Last season, Wyoming placed fourth with a total score of 539. Air Force won the title a year ago with a total of 864 points followed by UNLV with 692 and Grand Canyon with 559.50 points.
 
Wyoming currently has four swimmers that rank in the conference's top 10 lists in at least one event and 13 overall in the top 15. Among those is junior Ryan Netzel who is the runner-up in the 1650 free from a year ago. He currently ranks sixth in the event with a time of 15:52.85 and is tenth in the 500 free with a mark of 4:34.54. Senior Mitchell Hovis is seventh in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:02.08, which he ranks tenth in school history in the event. He is ninth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 55.78, which he placed seventh in the championships a season ago. Fellow senior Austin Crump is 14^th in the 200 free with a time of 1:39.90.
 
Newcomer Harry Tjaden is sixth in the 200 butterfly and the 1000 free with times of 1:51.30 and 9:41.24, respectively. Fellow freshman Max DeYoung is eighth in the 50 backstroke (23.35) and 11^th in the 100 back (50.92). Freshman Luke Walker heads in to the championships with the eighth best time in the 400 IM (4:02.51) and 13^th in the 200 backstroke (1:52.48).
 
Sophomore Daniel Cumnock-Francois is seeded seventh in the 1000 free with a time of 9:45.25 and the 1650 free in a time of 15:55.88. Fellow sophomore Andrew Rodriguez is 12^th in the 200 back with a time of 1:52.01 and 15^th in the 100 back (51.46). Last season, he finished seventh in the 200 IM and 200 backstroke. Sophomore Caleb Worshek is 12^th in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:05.21.
 
In the 400 IM, sophomore Thomas Diaz is tenth entering the week with his time of 4:04.26, while he is 12^th in the 200 fly in a time of 1:52.22. Junior Miller Browne is 14^th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:53.07 and sophomore Cameron Murphy is also 14^th in the 400 IM with his time of 4:07.27. Freshman Andrew Columbus is 11^th in the 1650 free with his time of 16:38.26 and 13^th in the 200 fly in a season-best 1:52.29.
 
On the diving side of the competition, the Cowboys will be led by senior Elijah Chan, junior Brendan Byrnes, sophomore Payton Lee and freshman Juan Gonzalez. Byrnes leads the Cowboys in the 1-meter and platform with scores of 302.05 and 276.38. Gonzalez has the top score in the 3-meter with a career-best 317.65, while he has a best score of 271.20 in the platform. Chan has a top score of 1-meter was 262.15 and 286.25 in the 3-meter.  Lee had a season-best 255.95 in the 1-meter and 261.80 in the 3-meter.
 
Follow @wyo_swimdive for updates and live stats.