Cougars Fare Well In Championship Of Shootout

IRVINE -- The BYU men's and women's swimming and diving teams fared well in the Championship Round of the Big West Shootout Saturday. The men defeated Washington (76-63), Pacific (98-40) and the University of California at Santa Barbara (89-49), while the women defeated Washington (73-65) and the University of California at Santa Barbara (76-62), but fell to Pacific (57-81).

All-American Arunas Savickas and teammate Gary Tan once again led the BYU men's squad. Savickas won three individual events, the 100, 200 and 500 free, winning the 500 free by nearly 13 seconds. Tan won two individual events for the second consecutive day, winning both the 100 and 200 back. Tan also finished second in the 100 fly, just one-tenth of a second behind the winner. BYU's Nick Tobler and Mike Mullen also competed well. Tobler won the 100 breast and finished second in the 200 breast, while Mullen won the 50 free. The Cougars 200 medley relay team also swam to a first-place finish.

Tamber Covington and Heidi Lietz led the BYU women's team for the second consecutive day. Covington captured first in both the 100 and 200 breast while Lietz swam to another first-place finish in the 50 free. Amy McClellan finished second in the 200 back, just a half-second behind the winner.

The BYU divers dominated at its end of the pool. For the men, Viraj Patil, Justin Wilcock and Aaron Russell finished 1-2-3 on both the 1-meter and the 3-meter board. On the women's side, Rachelle Routsong and Anna Tutunnikova finished 1-2 on the 1-meter board while Tessa Clark and Routsong finished 1-2 on the 3-meter board.

The BYU women's swimming and diving team travel to Albuquerque to face New Mexico and Northern Arizona, Nov. 9, and to participate in the New Mexico Invitational, Nov. 10-11, while the men have the week off.