NAU Women & UNLV Men Continue Undefeated Streak at WAC Championships

2025 WAC Swimming & Diving Championships

• Feb. 26 – Mar. 1, 2025
• CRWC Natatorium – Houston, TX
• SCY (25 yards)
• Start times: Prelims – 10:30 am CT / Finals – 6:00 pm CT
• Defending champions:
• Men: UNLV (4x)
• Women: NAU (11x)
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Livestream Links
• Prelims / Finals
• Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap | Day 3 Recap
• Full Results

Women’s Recap

The NAU women won their 12th-straight WAC Championship title, wrapping up the competition by adding another individual victory to their tally and taking down a national record on Saturday.

NAU’s Casey Craffey kicked off night four by winning the 1650 free, capturing her fourth consecutive title in the event in a time of 16:28.17. The Lumberjacks had three swimmers land in the top eight, helping to rack up some extra points for the team; in addition to Craffey, Kylie Ney was the runner-up (16:32.41) and Francesca Criscione finished 7th (16:59.78).

Teammate Keegan Knott, who swam an exhibition race, posted a time of 18:58.23, which broke the Paralympic S-9 U.S. records in both the 1000 free (11:23.97) and 1650 free.

Idaho’s Ginger Kiefer logged her third individual victory of the meet, bringing home the title in the 200 back with a lifetime best 1:55.07. Kiefer dropped over a second from her previous best time of 1:56.43, which she had set just a few weeks earlier.

The excitement continued in the 100 free, as Cal Baptist’s Sofia Maksimova dethroned two-time defending champion Maria Brunlehner. Maksimova threw down a 48.76 to walk away with the win, while GCU’s Brunlehner turned in a 49.10 to take 2nd.

Final Team Scores

1. Northern Arizona – 694.5
2. New Mexico State – 534
3. Grand Canyon – 529
4. California Baptist – 475
5. Idaho – 470
6. Northern Colorado – 458.5
7. Utah Tech – 248
8. Seattle U – 191
9. UTRGV – 132

Men’s Recap

UNLV clinched the WAC Championship title for the fourth year in a row, just narrowly beating out Cal Baptist with 802 points to top the Lancers’ 776 points. The final session was filled with plenty of excitement, as a 27-year-old conference record was taken down to wrap up the meet with a bang.

CBU’s Remi Fabiani continued to shine on Saturday, etching his name into the record books once again. Fabiani shattered the 27-year-old conference record in the 100 free, throwing down a time of 41.83 to knock .29 off the previous record, set by Lars Frolander back in 1998. His performance marked the first sub-42 performance ever recorded in WAC history as he logged his third individual victory and second conference record of the meet.

Fabiani was joined by teammates Andrija Petkovic, Brendan Man and Tyler Mansheim to secure the victory in the 400 free relay, throwing down a time of 2:51.34 to blast into the wall nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up Grand Canyon (2:53.31).

UNLV’s Daniel Nicusan also took down his second conference record of the meet, winning the 200 breast in 1:53.15. Nicusan’s performance broke his own record of 1:53.65 that he set back in December, and he now holds the fastest times in the 100 and 200 breast.

CBU’s Mark Kovacsics successfully defended his title in the 1650 free, posting a lifetime best 14:48.48 to win his third straight championship in the event. He raced into the wall over 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Hayden Lambert, who turned in a time of 15:11.39.

Fellow Lancer Mario De Valle picked up his second win of the meet, prevailing in the platform diving event with 409.05 points.

Final Team Scores

1. UNLV – 802
2. California Baptist – 776
3. Air Force – 638.5
4. Grand Canyon – 531
5. Wyoming – 365.5
6. Seattle U – 238