LAS VEGAS— The Colorado Mesa University men's swimming and diving team swept the first two relays and went 1-2-3 in the 50-yard freestyle while taking three of the top four spots in the 1-meter diving event to open up a sizable 145-point lead over host UNLV and three other NCAA Division I opponents after the first day of the UNLV Finis Invitational on Monday here at the Rebels' Buchanan Natatorium and Jim Reitz Pool.
 
The Mavericks, the lone NCAA Division II team in the 5-team men's field, scored 381 ½ points through the first day and six events of the 3-day meet.  UNLV is second with 226 ½ while Cal Baptist (188) and Wyoming (186) are locked in a tight battle for third ahead of the University of the Pacific (132).
 
The Maverick women also had a host of solid efforts, including runner-up finishes by the 400-yard medley relay team and Jenna Hurley on the 3-meter diving board, and are in third place out of seven teams with 204 ½ points, just 30 behind Tulane. 
 
UNLV leads by 108 ½ with 343.
 
The Mav women are ahead of three Division I squads in Cal Baptist (166), Wyoming (154) and Pacific (81).  Alaska, the only other Division II team in the meet, has seven points.
 
The Mav men got the evening session off to a quick start in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a winning time of 1:19.06, just a quarter-second off CMU's new school record time from last month's TYR/CMU Invitational.  Guillaume Guth, Richard Schmiedefeld, Oskar Sawicki and Marcos Otero all posted sub-20 second splits in the win.
 
Guth then came back to win the 50 free in 19.88 seconds after posting a preliminary round mark of 19.69.  Sawicki (20.07) and Schmiedefeld (20.14) were second and third, respectively, while Otero tied for fifth in 20.31 seconds.
 
Sawicki and Guth were also a part of the Mavs' winning 400 medley relay squad, that Luka Samsonov and Aron Jonsson led-off.  The quartet combined for a time of 3:10.52 as Guth tracked down Rebel counterpart Lucas Diermayr on the final lap to give the Mavs the win.
 
In diving, Ryan Campbell claimed second with a solid 6-dive score of 318.95 points.  David Roethlisberger, who was fifth in the preliminary session, took third with 266.30 points while Jax Juarros finished fourth with 265.70 as the Mavs qualified all five of their men for the 8-man diving final while scoring 72 points in the event.
 
In women's diving, Hurley scored 265.50 points to eclipse the NCAA Division II Championship qualification standard, assuring her a spot in the pre-championship qualification meet.  Emma Lence also reached the evening final and placed eight with 228.45 points.
 
Talia Datilio also won the consolation final with 260.80 points, finishing one spot ahead of Kenya Meyer, who scored 230.50 in the consolation final.
 
Elsewhere, Ada Qunell, Tori Bartusiak, Taylar Hooton and Reagan Horn finished third in the women's 200 free relay with a time of 1:33.35.
 
Olivia Hansson then took fifth in the 500 free in 4:56.33, just ahead of Hanna Sasivarevic's time of 4:56.36.  Qunell also finished second in the consolation final and tenth overall in 4:58.54, adding a NCAA "B" cut time to her resume while swimming the event for the first time this season.  Sydnee O'Neil also posted a season-best of 5:03.99 to finish 15^th overall while Haven Hinkle added a team point with a 16^th place time of 5:04.85.
 
Bartusiak led three Maverick women in the 200 IM "B" final, placing 13^th overall in 2:06.68.  Hansson was 14^th in 2:07.19 just minutes after her 500 free effort while Abby Uhl tied for 15^th in 2:08.03.
 
Notably, Kendyll Wilkinson won the "C" bonus final in 2:05.95, just of the NCAA "B" standard of 2:05.36.

Horn was the Mavs' lone representative in the 50 free evening heats, placing 13^th overall in 24.01 seconds.
 
Hooton, Antonia Leese, Kiara Borchardt and Qunell then capped the evening's swimming events with a second-place time of 3:40.56 in the 400 medley relay.  The mark is a season-best and improved NCAA Championship qualifying time.
 
Uhl, Georgia Hatzenbeller, Anna Beck and Horn also posted a solid time of 3:48.45 as the Mavs' "B" squad took sixth overall.
 
In other men's events, Jonas Friess led a trio of Maverick men in the "A" final of the 500 free.  The German junior placed fifth in 4:30.33.  Conrad Fawcett was sixth in 4:31.06 while Gavyn Tatge took eighth in 4:36.06.  All three had gone quicker in the morning session.
 
Freshman Micah Moore led four Maverick men in the 200 IM final, placing third in 1:49.06. Jonsson was fourth in 1:49.49 while Samsonov took fifth in 1:50.56.  Otero rounded out the group, gliding to an eighth place finish while Miles Moran won the consolation final in 1:50.83.
 
The meet will resume on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. PST (10:30 a.m. Mountain).