The Wyoming men’s swimming and diving team accomplished something last Saturday that they hadn’t in 59 years. They won a conference championship.

The Cowboys topped the field at the 2018 Western Athletic Conference Championship under first-year head coach Dave Denniston with 851 points. After three runner-up finishes in the previous four years, UW beat second-place UNLV by 71 points in the team rankings.

The last conference title came in 1959, when Wyoming won the Mountain States Conference, also known as the Skyline Conference.

The Cowboys won with their depth, as they finished first in only three events over the four days of competition in Houston, TX. Sophomore Scotia Mullin won the three-meter and platform diving, while senior Wade Nelson captured the only swim title in the 400 individual medley.

Mullin claimed the conference crown on the three-meter board last Wednesday evening with a season-best 349.50 points to beat junior teammate Ryan Russi, who took second with 329.40 points.

Mullin came back on Friday night and defended his title in platform diving. His winning score of 393.20 points was more than 50 points ahead of the runner-up.

Nelson made it four wins in the last five years at the conference meet for the Cowboys in the 400 IM. He topped the field in a season-best time of 3:45.92. It was the second straight win in the event for Nelson, who joined his older brother Ryan Nelson, who won the same event in 2014 and 2016.

Denniston was named the WAC Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the meet. Diving coach Kyle Bogner was awarded the WAC Diving Coach of the Year honor, while Mullin was named Diver of the Year. It marked the second straight year that Bogner and Mullin claimed their accolades.

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