Feb. 1, 2012

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The LMU swimming team will travel to Las Vegas, Nev. for a dual meet against UNLV on Saturday at 12 p.m. That dual meet will be the final tune-up for the Lions before heading to the MPSF Championships from February 15-18.

The Lions are coming off one of their best team swims of the year, defeating a pair of opponents in a double dual last weekend on the strength of team depth. LMU defeated MPSF-foe Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Baptist in Bakersfield, Calif. last Saturday. The Lions defeated CSUB, 156-124, and bested Cal Baptist, 161-129. The Lions won just four events over the course of the day, but through a solid team effort that included a 1-2 finish over both CSUB and Cal Baptist in the final 200 freestyle relay, managed to best both opponents. Kjirsten Magnuson, Tammy Choy and Yvonne Le all claimed individual victories while LMU's 200 freestyle relay also took top honors. Magnuson won the 50 freestyle in 24.11, Choy won the 200 backstroke in 2:05.54, and Le took the 100 butterfly in 59.17. Finally, the team of Magnuson, Camille Hopp, Noelani Vargas and Jill Dahle combined to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:38.50.

UNLV last competed on January 21 when it traveled to Santa Barbara, Calif. to compete against UC Santa Barbara, dropping a 166-134 decision. Jessica Heim was a triple winner in the meet, taking first in the 500 free (5:03.61), 1000 free (10:23.00) and the 200 fly (2:06.35). Rachel Dixon swept the sprint free events, winning the 50 free in 24.35 and the 100 free in 53.66, while Mariah Skeen placed first on both the 1-meter (281.10) and 3-meter (239.32) boards.

After competing against UNLV, LMU will take a week off from competition before competing at the 2012 MPSF Championships in Long Beach, Calif. UNLV will head to its own conference championship on February 22.