Cougars in First after Day One of MWC Championships

OKLAHOMA CITY -- After the first day of the Mountain West Conference Championships, the three-time defending BYU men's and women's swimming and diving teams are in first place once again.

The No. 18 BYU men hold a commanding lead after the first day of competition with 139 points. Second place Air Force is 52 points behind the Cougars with 87.

On the women's side, the Cougars hold a two-point advantage with 101 points over second place Colorado State (99).

The Cougar men's 800-yard freestyle relay team once again captured the conference title and set a new MWC and BYU school record in the event along the way turning in a top time of 6:30.99. It was the Cougars' third title in the event in four years (2000, 2002 and 2003).

The BYU men's diving continued their dominance in the MWC by going 1-2-3 in the one-meter springboard event for the Cougars' first sweep of the championships. The Cougars have now swept the one-meter event for the third time in four years (2000, 2002 and 2003). It is also the second time in three years that Aaron Russell has won the event (2001, 2003).

For the women, two new school records were set in the first day of competition at the MWC Championships.

Senior Cortnee Adams set a new school record in the 200-yard freestyle with her lead off time in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Adams time of 1:49.34 broke the record set by Cherrill Haws back in 1997.

The Cougar women also set a new school record in the 800-free relay with a time of 7:25.98, shattering the previous record of 7:27.55 set six years ago.

The MWC Championships run through Saturday, Feb. 22 today competition begins with preliminary swims starting at 10:00 am (CST) and the finals beginning at 6:00 pm (CST).

Cougar Finishes
200-Yard Medley Relay
Women: 4th place           1:45.08
	   1)Kathryn Rappleye	2)Tamber Covington
	   3)Lyndi Juvan		    4)Nichole Burrows
Men: 2nd place	            1:29.79
     	1) Christopher Johnson	2) Adam Ware
     	3) Diogo Yabe			       3) Brent Parker
One-meter Diving
Women:  Kelli Einfeldt   2nd    266.55
	       Aubrey Low       5th    237.15
Men:	Aaron Russell   1st   303.85
	    Justin Beardall	2nd   287.05
    	Scott Randall	  3rd   269.95
    	Landon Trost	   7th   238.30
800-Yard Freestyle Relay
Women: 2nd place	    7:25.98*
   1) Cortnee Adams*(1:49.34)  2) Shannon Bloom
   3)   Amanda Grant		         4) Monica Ferrell
Men: 1st place 	6:30.99*#
	1) Jeffrey Mason		  2) Diogo Yabe
	3) Randy Belliston		4) William Betz
* indicates school record
# indicates MWC record