Falcons in first place after day one at WAC Championships

Feb. 25, 2016

The Air Force men's swimming and diving teams are in first place after day one at the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Feb. 24, in Houston, Texas. Air Force has 116 points, two points ahead of second place Grand Canyon. Wyoming is in third (87), followed by UNLV (77), CSU Bakersfield (76), North Dakota (63) and Seattle (50).

In the first men's event of the day, the Falcons placed second in the 200 medley relay as the team of Devon Davis, Michael Barnosky, Steffen Mount and Jordan Dahle posted a time of 1:26.03, just .65 behind the winning team from Grand Canyon.

Senior Nathanael Zillweger won the WAC Championship on the 3-meter springboard with a season-best 360.45 points. The 2015 WAC Diver of the Year was third on the 3-meter last season. Junior A.J. Eckebrecht was fourth on the 3-meter with 306.55 points and sophomore Nicholas Piontek was seventh with 258.10 as three Falcons made the finals.

In the final men's event of the day, the 800 free relay, the team of Jordan Dahle, Kevin Jackson, George Frank and Andrew Faciszewski placed second with a time of 6:26.92, just .58 seconds behind Grand Canyon's winning team.

"It was a great night for us," head coach Rob Clayton said. "We are in the lead, largely because of the divers. The divers were fabulous. Nate and AJ were tremendous as usual. Nate won it and that's why he has been the diver of the year. A big key for us was Nick Piontek. He scored 50 better than he ever had and made it to the final. That was huge for the team. We set three school records in the pool. Jordan Dahle, in the 800 free relay, had a split of 1:36 and put us in front, but unfortunately we couldn't hang on. We still broke the school record by three seconds and just missed winning the event. We also set a school and service academy record in the 200 medley relay. We are off to a great start. This was just the first skirmish in a three-and-a-half day war. We have to come back in the morning ready to go."

The meet continues on Thursday, Feb. 25. The WAC will be streaming the finals of all four nights. Viewers can watch for free by going towww.wacsports.com/live.

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