Falcons in first place after day three of WAC Championships

Feb. 24, 2017

By Quinn Horner

HOUSTON, Texas -- With a strong night in the pool, the Air Force men's swimming and diving team surged into first-place on the third day of the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Friday, Feb. 24, in Houston, Texas.

The Falcons started the day 18 points behind Wyoming and ended the day with a 28-point lead over the Cowboys. Air Force leads the way with 526 points, Wyoming is second at 498, and Grand Canyon is third with 379.

The Falcons opened the night swimming the 400 IM with four cadets in the finals. Garret Glaudini captured bronze and the third fastest time in school history (3:50.86), followed by Andrew Faciszewski in fifth with a 3:52.55. Representing Air Force in the consolation final, Collin Green took 10th with a personal best of 3:54.20 and Zach Nelson was 13th with a 3:57.05.

Silver in the 100 fly went to Air Force's Steffen Mount with a 47.24, setting a new school record. Devon Davis, also in finals, took sixth in 48.22. Kevin Pollard (48.46) was 11th and earned a spot on the team's Top 10 list with the eighth fastest time in school history. Joey Gebhart was 13th in 49.25.

Just shy of his own new school record set Wednesday, Jordan Dahle took silver in the 200 free in 1:35.97. Joining Dahle in finals was Michael Hannigan (1:37.56) and Ben Brockman (1:37.72) who took fourth and fifth, respectively. Hannigan maintained his eighth place ranking on AFA's fastest time list, while Brockman made his first appearance taking the ninth spot on the all-time list. Lars Knutson rounded out the Falcon freestylers placing 18th in 1:41.71.

The 100 breaststroke was another golden event for the Falcons. Zach Knoche took charge from the start as he finished in 53.17 and became the second fastest 100 breaststroker in school history. Close behind was Kevin Fanter in fifth with a 54.03. Zach Nelson and Derek Brecht earned 10th and 11th place finishes in 55.57 and 55.63, respectively, now holding the ninth and 10th fastest times in school history.

All three Falcon backstrokers earned a spot in the finals with Davis and Gebhart swimming in their second final of the night. Davis won silver in 47.77, while Gebhart finished fourth in 48.74, and Kris Tillery took sixth in 49.25.

The 400 medley relay proved to be an exciting race for the Falcons as they came from behind to take gold and claim a new school record by 2.81 seconds. Davis, Knoche, Mount and Dahle combined for an impressive win with a time of 3:10.04.

"It was an amazing night for the Academy," said coach Rob Clayton. "We started out with a bang in the 400 IM and continued from there. Everyone showed up ready to go tonight. Our morning was good, giving Wyoming hope, but our night was fabulous. Certainly our highlight was Knoche winning the 100 breast after dropping a second and a half from only a year ago, stepping up to claim the title. Then we also came back to win the 400 medley and broke the school record. It was another amazing swim by all four guys. Knoche was the fastest breaststroker in the field and then Dahle just crushed it at the end to claim the championship for us. We're up by 28 points and in a good place. We have two more battles tomorrow and we need to win both in order to win the meet. We're certainly in position to defend our title if we just go out and do it. We're excited and ready for one last day of the championship."

The fourth and final day of the WAC Championship concludes tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 25, with the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving, and the 400 free relay. Prelims start at 10:30 am and finals at 6 pm.

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