Selfless Green Valley grad making splash with UNLV team

Steve Reyes / Special to the Home News

Green Vally High graduate Jeff Ellingsen, who is now a senior with the UNLV men’s swimming team, does some freestyle laps during practice.

By Jared Harmon

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 4:48 p.m.

Steve Reyes / Special to the Home News

Green Vally High graduate Jeff Ellingsen practices with the UNLV men's swimming team.

Green Valley High graduate Jeff Ellingsen knows he made the right decision.

A senior on UNLV’s men’s swimming team, Ellingsen is so dedicated to helping the Rebels capture a fifth straight Mountain West Conference crown this year that he voluntarily relinquished his scholarship so the program could sign a top swimmer from Canada.

Ellingsen, a former walk-on who was put on scholarship for his final year, still has most of his expenses paid through the Millennium Scholarship, which gives tuition money to students who graduate from Nevada high schools with a 3.0 or better grade point average.

“I thought, ‘Why not give the scholarship to someone else who wants to come here and get an education and experience all the stuff I have?’ I’ve gotten so much out of my time (with UNLV),” he said.

Ellingsen only had one year of serious training with the Boulder City-Henderson Heatwave club team during his senior year of high school.

Since then, he has shed time off his 100 and 200-yard backstrokes and become an integral part of UNLV’s four-time championship squad.

“Jeff is that rare combination of a great athlete and a great leader,” UNLV coach Jim Reitz said. “He demonstrates that with his work ethic. It doesn’t help to tell people what to do; it helps to run out ahead and show them yourself.”

As a freshman, Ellingsen came to the Rebels with a personal best of 53.5 seconds in the 100 backstroke. He has whittled that time down to a team-best 48.92 while adding a 1:47.77 in the 200 back.

While pushing the Rebels to a fifth conference title and a top 15 finish at NCAA Championships are the ultimate goals, Ellingsen said he would like to set the conference record in both backstroke events (they stand at 48.16 and 1:45.60, respectively) while earning All-American honors.

“Jeff came in as a freshman at the lower end and has turned himself into a real player through sheer hard work,” Reitz said. “I think he can absolutely become an All-American. He’s done everything he needs to get to that point. He just has to stay at it.”

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or jared.harmon@hbcpub.com.