BYU campus briefs

Published: Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009 12:46 a.m. MDT

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SWIMMING: At Provo, Preseason Mountain West Conference No. 1 picks battled it out Friday night at the Richards Building pool for the first MWC dual meet of the season with the BYU women (1-0) beating UNLV (0-1) 213-87 and the Rebel men (1-0) coming out on top of BYU (0-1) 171-122.

In front of over 500 fans the Cougars kicked off the conference season at home against UNLV with three pool records broken on the night, two going to senior Natasha Menezes.

"We knew this meet was going to be tough," BYU head coach Tim Powers said. "They beat us off the walls in almost every race, but besides that we swam very well, having a good showing in every event."

The women started out the night gaining an early lead in the 200-medley relay, winning the event with a time of 1:46.15. Candice Smith

started out in the breaststroke with Sara Jayne Christiansen Baldwin in the breaststroke, Kirsty Ferrell in the fly and Aleesha Miller finishing off the relay in the free.

The men's 200 free was one highlight of the night with John Kendrick behind UNLV's Kyle Virva for most of the race. It came down to the last few yards with Kendrick out-touching Virva with a time of 1:40.47, .12 seconds ahead of second place.

Smith won the next event for the Cougars in the 100 back with a time of 57.09. The Rebel men swept the first three places in the 100 back with Keil in fourth (53.58).

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The Cougars will be back in the water Saturday at 11 a.m. to welcome Arizona State to the BYU campus.

SWIMMING: Both teams came out with stellar performances Saturday to defeat the Sun Devils of Arizona State. The BYU men won with a score of 154-88 while the women scored 151-92.

"This weekend was a great experience for us," said BYU head coach Tim Powers. "I thought we swam well, although we didn't push as hard toward the end. We want to race strong whether we are ahead or not."

Sophomore Brandon Watson came out with two wins on both of the boards while senior Tawni Jones also won on both boards. "Brandon has picked up where he left off before his mission," said Powers.