UNLV Athletics Notebook: Olson named MWC Golfer of the Month

By Ryan Greene

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008 | 6:44 p.m.

UNLV junior golfer Eddie Olson was selected by the Mountain West Conference as its Golfer of the Month for September.

Olson, an Aptos, Calif., native, opened the season by leading UNLV to a second-place finish at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo. He finished third overall in a field of 96 golfers, and shot under par in all three rounds. He carded a total count of 209 (69-74-70, seven-under par) at the Eisenhower Blue Course.

Three of Olson's six rounds played in September were in the 60s, and five of the six were under par.

On the season, Olson is the MWC's lowest scorer by average, coming in at 70.00. Ranked 31st individually, Olson has the Rebels ranked ninth nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.

This is the first MWC Golfer of the Month award for Olson.

The Rebels' next action is Oct. 13-14 at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Ala.

UNLV men picked first, women second in MWC preseason swimming polls

The four-time defending league champion UNLV men's swimming and diving team is projected to take its fifth straight crown, while the women were picked to finish tied with Utah for second in the Mountain West Conference preseason coaches polls.

The UNLV men grabbed a slim edge over BYU for first, as both teams took three first place votes each, but the Rebels received 23 total points, compared to the Cougars' 21. The Rebels are led by the league's top distance group, highlighted by Kier Maitland, who was the 1650 free champion in the league as a freshman last season.

The BYU women were picked first with 63 points and eight first place votes. UNLV got the other first place vote and had a total of 54 points. Utah also received 54 points. The women return one conference champ from a year ago in Amanda Weinbrecht (200 back), while Bailey Kustermeyer and Ana Dangalakova are also expected to pace the women's squad.

The season starts for the UNLV women on Friday, Oct. 24 against Colorado State at 2 p.m. at Buchanan Natatorium. The men start things up on Nov. 7-8 at the UC Irvine Shootout.