Oklahoma City, Okla. - UNLV men lead by a slim 8.5 points and the BYU women hold onto their lead after day three of the 2001 Mountain West Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla.

BYU cut into the Rebels 36.50-point lead going into the final individual event of the night, the 3 meter springboard. BYU had three competitors on the board compared to UNLV's one to close the gap. UNLV still emerged in the lead after the 3-meter event, 525 to 522.50.

Going into the final day of competition tomorrow, UNLV has 565 points. BYU trails by 8.5 with 556.50. Air Force sits comfortably in third with 378. Wyoming and Utah have 332 and 205 points respectively to finish fourth and fifth.

On the women's side, BYU holds tight to their first-place lead with 555.50 points. Colorado State is steady in second-place with 368. UNLV, Utah and Wyoming are contenders for third. UNLV is third thus far (315.50) Utah is fourth at 297 and Wyoming fifth at 291. San Diego State (241), Air Force (222) and New Mexico (158) round out the women's side in sixth, seventh and eighth-place, respectively.

Wyoming and Air Force men began the evening strong picking up the first five places in the 400-yard individual medley. Wyoming's Damian Storz finished first at 3:55.78 and Air Force's Matt Horner was second at 3:57.64. Jacob Weidert was third at 3:59.49.

UNLV men picked up first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth-place in the 100-yard butterfly. Rebel Doug Wake earned the gold touching the wall at 48.16. Rebel Piotr Krzyskow and Wyoming's Robert Boysen tied for second at 48.48.

UNLV's Jacint Simon earned an automatic NCAA qualifying mark with his first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:36.27. BYU's Jeffrey Mason clocked in second at 1:37.06 and teammate Robert Morris was third at 1:39.29.

Air Force's Matt Ihlenfeld claimed the gold in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 54.70. UNLV's Quincy Schmidt and BYU's Nicholas Tobler tied for second at 55.42.

BYU swept the first, second and third place spots in the 100-yard backstroke. Cougar Arunas Savickas claimed the gold with at time of 48.28. Teammates Gary Tan was second at 49.45 and Christopher Johnson third at 49.96.

BYU claimed the top two spots in the 3-meter diving competition. Cougar Aaron Russell earned the gold with a score of 560.00. Teammate Justin Wilcock finished second at 541.05. Wyoming's Oscar Delgado claimed the bronze with a scored of 526.85.

With UNLV holding a slim 2.5 point lead after diving, the final 800-yard freestyle relay was the chance BYU had to regain the lead for the night. The lead changed twice between UNLV and BYU before UNLV clocked in .10 faster than the Cougars at 6:31.59. BYU was second at 6:31.69. Wyoming finished third at 6:46.26, Air Force was fourth at 6:46.59 while Utah was fifth at 6:55.24.

On the women's side, Utah's Kristen Kaiser earned the gold in the 400 individual medley finishing at 4:23.00. BYU's Tamber Covington was second at 4:24.23 and Wyoming's Mabry Fiddler was third with 4:26.83.

Utah claimed gold in the next event, the 100 butterfly. Utah's Heidi Hausknecht finished at 54.58, UNLV's Sabrinna Ferrari was second at 55.54 and BYU's Heidi Leitz finished third at 55.76.

UNLV's Lorena Diaconescu earned an automatic NCAA qualifying mark by finishing the 200 freestyle first at 1:46.59. Teammate Alyson Noble clocked in second at 1:51.48. Colorado State's Sandy Leaycraft was right on her heals for third at 1:51.56.

BYU's Jennifer Tasker took gold in the 100 breaststroke finishing at 1:02.40. Teammate Amanda Grant was second at 1:03.89 followed by Madalina Tin of UNLV for third at 1:03.95.

Colorado State's Kristen Schneider earned gold in the 100 backstroke at 55.25 before San Diego State turned up the heat to earn the second and third-place spots. Aztec Megan Casillan clinched the silver, finishing at 56.67 and teammate Aletta Haff earned bronze at 56.86.

UNLV ended the women's competition for the evening with a gold in the 800-yard freestyle relay at 7:26.74. San Diego State bested BYU for second at 7:37.64. BYU finished third at 7:38.63.