LONG BEACH -- BYU and other top swim and dive teams in the country went for round two on the second day of the Anteater Shootout hosted by UC Irvine, the women bringing home five out of six wins and the men coming out on top of Air Force.

“I thought we swam pretty well today,” BYU head coach Tim Powers said. “Our freshmen and guys coming back from missions did a good job, they’re learning what it takes to swim Division I competition.”

The women were on top of all the teams except Stanford while the men were defeated by UNLV and Hawaii.

All-American diver, Tawni Jones flipped her way to a first place title in the 1-meter competition with a point total of 270.75. Jones has yet to lose on the 1-meter board this season. She also placed second on the 3-meter with a score of 252.30 behind Hawaii’s Rachel Bartlow.

It was neck-and-neck for the women’s 400 free relay to finish off the two-day competition. BYU led the entire race, coming down to the last swimmer, where Stanford (3:23.77) out touched the Cougars (3:25.88). “Our relay team has a good shot at going to nationals,” said Powers.

Natasha Menezes, who won the 200, 500 and 1650 free in Friday’s competition placed second in the 200 free (1:50.65) behind Kate Dwelley of Stanford. Menezes also finished fourth in the 500 free (4:54.31). “Her 500 free time was very good for this time of the year,” Powers said.

Aleesha Miller and Kirsty Ferrell went 3-4 in the 50 free behind two Stanford swimmers while Rachel Grant finished third in the 200 fly (2:01.75), fourth in the 200 IM (2:03.94), a personal best.

Leilani Roberts finished fourth in the 100 free (52.37), while Stanford swept the first three places. Freshman Candice Smith finished second in the 200 back with a time of 2:00.97, only .02-seconds behind Stanford.

For the men, Ron Morris finished second for the Cougars on the 3-meter board with a point total of 290.45, behind Stanford’s Brent Eichenseer. Freshman Sam Hatch finished third in the 1-meter competition with a score of 278.95.

Coming off the Mountain West Conference male Swimmer of the Week, John Kendrick finished third in the 1000 free behind John Mendoza and Kier Maitland of UNLV with a time of 9:33.06. Kendrick also finished third in the 500 free with a time of 4:37.86, with freshman teammate Stott Bushnell right behind him in fourth place with a time of 4:38.35. “Stott did really well in the 500 today, he is a nice addition to our team,” Powers said.

Jacoby Jacobsen finished fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:54.99 and second in the 200 back (1:51.86), as Vytenis Slenys finished third in the 200 breast with a time of 2:07.33.

The swimmers and divers will take a two-week break and then the swimmers will travel back to Long Beach for the Nike Cup while the divers will head to Tucson, Ariz. for the Wildcat Invitational Nov. 20-22.

PROVO -- Both the men’s (1-0) and women’s (3-0) swim and dive teams will travel to Long Beach, Calif. for the Anteater Shootout Friday and Saturday at the warm and sunny Anteater Aquatics Complex.

“We’re looking forward to it and so are the kids,” said BYU head coach Tim Powers. “It’s good that the kids are excited because that usually translates into good swimming.”

Not only will the swimmers and divers compete against all the teams, but will use the competition as a dual meet against UNLV. Eight teams will compete on the men’s side, including host UC Irvine, Air Force, Cal Poly, Hawaii, UC Davis and Cal State Northridge. For the women, a total of 11 teams will compete including Stanford, Cal Poly, Hawaii, Idaho and Pepperdine Friday with UC Davis, UNLV, BYU, Cal State Northridge and San Diego.

Friday the BYU men will be scored in dual meets against UC Davis, UNLV and Cal State Northridge in one pool and UCI, Air Force, Cal Poly and Hawaii in the other pool. The top two teams from each pool will compete Saturday.

The BYU women will compete with UC Davis, UNLV, Cal State Northridge and San Diego in one pool with Stanford, UCI, Cal Poly, Hawaii and Idaho in the other pool. The top three women’s teams from each pool will compete together Saturday.

“Stanford on the women’s side will be very tough,” said Powers. “Hawaii and UCI have also always been good competition.”

Not only are the swimmers and divers excited for the southern California sunshine, many of them are excited to compete in front of family and friends. “It will be good for them to be there and swim in front of their families,” said Powers. “One of our divers, Ron Morris, is from about 20 minutes from there—he has a chance to show off.”

Mountain West Conference Swimmers of the Week, John Kendrick and Rachel Grant will be back in the water to add Cougar points to the score. Kendrick won both the 500 (4:45.63) and 1000 free (9:45.73) events while Grant won three individual events against TCU including the 100 fly (56.22), 200 IM (2:05.67) and 200 fly (2:01.30), as well as finishing first in the 400 IM (4:27.95) against UNM and TCU.

MWC Diver of the Week, Tawni Jones, also looks forward to lengthen her 1-meter win streak to three, helping the Cougars come out with another win. Jones won both the 3-meter (297.90) and 1-meter (297.90) events against TCU, also winning the 1-meter (299.80) competition against UNM and NAU.

The Cougar women are coming off of three victories against TCU, UNM and NAU, while the Cougar men are also undefeated with one win against in-conference TCU.

Last year, the men competed in the Lincoln Shootout against UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge and Hawaii, coming out on top against each team except Hawaii.

The meet will begin Friday at 12:00 p.m. and Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Updates will be posted here on www.byucougars.com/swimming_diving/.

For more information on the Anteater Shootout, please see http://ucirvinesports.cstv.com/sports/c-swim/spec-rel/110308aaa.html.