LAS VEGAS— The highly-touted Colorado Mesa University swimming and diving teams swept the 400-yard individual medleys and the 100-yard backstroke events while the Maverick women claimed three other runner-up finishes on a quite productive Day 2 of the UNLV Invitational, which continued here in the Rebels' Jim Reetz Pool inside the Buchanan Natatorium on Monday.
 
After winning the 200 IM on Sunday, Ben Sampson won both the 400 IM and 100 Back with impressive times to lead the Maverick men.  Meanwhile, Benedict Nagy claimed her second individual medley relay win in as many days while Agata Naskret won the women's 100 back.  They were each on a second place Maverick relay while Lauren White took second in the 100 back after Sophia Bains finished third in the 400 IM.
 
CMU's men, ranked fifth in Division II, scored 291 team points throughout the day as they surged past Division I Hawai'i into second place of the team standings, which include seven teams, six from the Division I ranks, with 545 1/2 points.  The host Rebels lead the way with 738 ½ while Hawai'i is now in third with 515 after holding a 17-point advantage over the Mavs heading into the day.
 
Meanwhile, the CMU women, ranked first in Division II, scored 256 points throughout the evening increasing their meet total to 478.  They are solidly in third place behind UNLV (727 ½) and Hawai'i (605 ½) and well ahead of Cal Baptist (307) and four other Division I squads.
 
The Mavs combined to qualify 18 swimmers for the "A" finals in the ten individual events contested during the morning session.  They also had nine other consolation final qualifiers setting the stage for big team points in the evening, which the Mavs delivered in a strong way throughout the night.
 
Women's Swimming
 
Naskret, Elli Williams, Kiara Borchardt and Ada Qunell started the night with a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay, touching in 1:40.90, just shy of Hawaii's winning time of 1:40.77.  White, Juliette Benson, Anna Beck and Izzy Powers also combined for 18 of the 52 points on the Mavs' "B" team which finished in 1:45.10.
 
Nagy then dominated the field in the 400 IM, an event she won three times at the Mountain West Conference Championships at the University of Nevada before joining the Maverick squad this year.  The CMU record-holder and NCAA Division II leader set an all-conditions season-best of 4:16.57, just off her altitude-adjusted school-record time of 4:11.96 (4:16.96-actual) from last month.
 
Meanwhile, Bains finished third in 4:22.97 as the Mavs scored 36 more team points.
 
The Mavs also received another strong effort from Borchardt, who placed fourth in the 100 fly with a time of 55.15 seconds.  Borchardt had set a personal-best and improved NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying time of 55.14 in the morning prelims.  Anna Beck also scored in the event, taking 15^th with finals time of 57.60 after posting a preliminary round time of 56.59.
 
The Mavs also took the top three spots in the bonus "C" final with Sydnee O'Neil and Tori Bartusiak sharing the heat win in 57.33 seconds ahead of Amber Siverts, who touched in 57.49 seconds.  Siverts had a slightly quicker and season-best time of 57.48 in the prelims.
 
CMU had three "A" finalists in the 200 free as Katerina Matoskova placed fifth in 1:51.17 while Qunell (1:52.33) and White (1:54.69) placed seventh and eighth during a busy evening session after posting faster times in the prelims.
 
Bartusiak then won the "C" final in the 100 breast with a season-best time of 1:05.20 as the Mavs' lone representative in that event.
 
Naskret and White then went 1-2 in the 100 back, which saw the Mavs rack up 53 team points.  Naskret was clocked in 53.24 seconds while White touched in 55.09.  Matoskova also finished sixth in 56.06 seconds after finishing the prelims in 55.93.
 
Beck also placed 14^th with a consolation final time of 57.42 seconds, her new career-best by more than a half a second.
 
The Mavs then completed the swim session with a strong second place finish in the 800 free relay as Qunell, Nagy, Matoskova and White combined for a time of 7:25.94.  White brought the Mavs home in 1:51.05 in her fourth swim of the night.  Naskret, Bains, Siverts and Powers also finished seventh in 7:38.26 as the CMU "B" team contributed 24 more team points.
 
Men's Swimming
 
Sampson was once again the star of the night, winning both of his individual events while helping the Mavs place third in both the 200 medley and 800 free relays.
 
He combined with freshmen Max Ayres, Xander Zappas and Jameson McEnaney for a medley relay time of 1:27.62 as McEnaney posted a solid 19.67-second relay split as the freestyle leg.  Andrew Scoggin, Mauricio Posadas, John Walgast and Aziz Ghaffari also finished fifth in 1:29.55 on the Maverick "B" squad.
 
Minutes later, Sampson dominated the 400 IM in 3:48.04, winning by 3.45 seconds.  Teammate Jacob Troescher also had a solid seventh place finish in 4:01.24 after qualifying in 4:00.46 during the morning.
 
The Mavs also received another 11 of their 43 team points from the event out of the consolation final as Gavyn Tatge placed 11^th in 4:03.20 just ahead of Luka Samsonov, who finished 12^th in 4:03.68.  Both had gone slightly faster in the morning with Tatge touching in 4:02.57 while Samsonov qualified in 4:03.53.
 
CMU then added 14 ½ team points in the 100 fly as Zappas timed for seventh in 49.46 seconds after earning an "A" final lane with a preliminary round mark of 49.31 seconds.  Meanwhile, Austin Patterson placed 14^th with a time of 49.99 seconds.
 
Ghaffari then took third in the 200 free, finishing in 1:37.10.  The Mavs also won both the "B" and "C" finals as McEnaney took the consolation final in 1:39.04 while Gavin Anderson won the bonus heat in 1:42.03.
 
The Mavs were even better in the 100 breast, qualifying three swimmers for the "A" final and another in the consolation heat.  Posadas ended up fourth in 55.92 seconds after qualifying in 55.78.  Meanwhile, Marcos Otero placed seventh in 56.16 seconds after turning in a morning time of 55.85, his best as a Mav to move into a tie for seventh in program history.  Ayres finished eighth in 57.13 and had qualified in 55.98.  Aron Jonsson also scored, placing 11^th in 56.51 seconds after qualifying with a morning session mark of 56.36.
 
Sampson then came back to take the 100 back by a full second in 46.95 seconds while Scoggin placed fifth in 48.41 to join him in the "A" final.  Meanwhile, Samsonov and Jeremy Koch made the consolation final.  Samsonov finished 12^th in 49.99 seconds while Koch was 14^th in 50.80.  They were both slightly quicker in the morning, with qualifying heat times of 49.85 and 50.46, respectively.  Samsonov now ranks tenth in CMU history with his preliminary round time after transferring from Nova Southeastern this fall.
 
The Mavs then wrapped up the swim session with a third place time of 6:38.30 in the 800 free relay, posted by Ghaffari, Sampson, Walgast and McEnaney.  Ayres, Samsonov, Troescher and Koch also took eighth as the CMU "B" squad touched in 6:50.44.
 
Diving
 
Four Maverick men combined for 37 team points in the 1-meter competition as Jax Juarros scored 259.15 points in his six finals round dives to place fifth.  Isaiah Cheeks finished seventh with 240.85 while Ty Mitton (226.35) and David Roethlisberger (185.05) finished 11^th and 12^th.  Cheeks had scored 269 points in the afternoon preliminary round while Roethlisberger had scored 199.80.
 
Meanwhile, Jenna Hurley placed seventh in the women's 3-meter event, scoring 215.15 points in the finals after tallying 229.75 in the preliminary round.  Sophomore teammate Kenya Myer placed eighth with a finals score of 191.05.  She had scored 231.60 in the prelims.
 
Up Next
 
The meet will wrap-up on Tuesday with a preliminary swimming session at 9:30 a.m. PST (10:30 a.m. Mountain) followed by the finals at 5 p.m. PST (6 p.m. Mountain).  The list of events include the 1650 free, 100 IM, 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly and the 400 Free Relay.
 
The Maverick divers have completed the 2023 portion of their season.