Swimmers second at WAC Championships

     Review-Journal
      UNLV sophomore Erik Scalise broke the pool record in the 1650-yard freestyle and helped the Rebels to second place Saturday at the Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in San Antonio, Texas.
      UNLV compiled 521 points in the three-day meet at the Palo Alto College Natatorium. Southern Methodist won the WAC title with 715.5 points, and Brigham Young was third (440.5).
      Scalise's time of 15 minutes, 28.77 seconds was eight seconds better than sophomore teammate Petr Kratochvil, who finished second. UNLV freshman Wayne Linner was third in the event.
      UNLV's Tomasz was named Freshman of the Year at the meet. He placed third in the 200 backstroke, fourth in the 100 back and fourth in the 500 freestyle.
      SMU junior Lars Frolander was named the WAC's Swimmer of the Year for winning the 50 free, 100 fly and 100 free.
      Teams will find out next week which swimmers and divers with provisional times will qualify for the NCAA Division I Men's Championship, March 27-29, in Minneapolis.
      The women's meet is March 20-22 in Indianapolis. UNLV's Sheri Theisen has qualified for that meet.
      -- BASEBALL -- Brigham Young scored six times in the first two innings and cruised to a 12-2 victory over the UNLV baseball team at Wilson Stadium to capture the opening Western Athletic Conference series.
      The Cougars (6-3, 2-1 WAC) received a gift in the first inning when Troy Farnsworth reached on catcher's interference, wiping out a potential double-play ball. UNLV starter Mike Zipser ended up walking in two runs.
      Brigham Young scored three runs in the second, led by D.G. Nelson's two-run double.
      Zipser (3-2) lasted only 1 2/3 innings, giving up five earned runs and walking five.
      UNLV (13-8, 1-2) scored in the fourth on Kevin Eberwein's third home run of the season to cut the lead to 6-1, but the Cougars came back with five runs in the top of the fifth to put the game away.
      Brigham Young freshman Jeff Stone (3-0) earned the victory, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing five hits and two earned runs.
      Rebels freshman Ryan Ludwick, a standout at Durango High School, continued his strong start, going 3-for-4 to raise his average to .403 (31-77).
      UNLV begins its first road trip of the season Tuesday night with a two-game series at No. 19 Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. The Rebels return home Friday to start a three-game series against WAC foe and No. 2 Rice.