Nevada Sophomore Scarlett Ferris Breaks 24-Year-Old School Record in the 50 Free

Nevada Wolf Pack vs. UNLV Rebels

• January 17, 2025
• Lombardi Pool, Reno, Nevada (University of Nevada)
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Dual Meet
• Altitude Adjustment (4,505 Feet)
• Full Meet Results (PDF)
• Team Scores
  • Nevada W 140 – UNLV W 101

The Nevada women moved to 5-0 in dual meets this season, celebrated seven seniors, grabbed three points for the Silver State Series Trophy, beat their in-state rivals UNLV, and saw one of the oldest school records on the books fall in a momentous dual meet on Friday in Reno.

The win for the Wolf Pack snapped a four-meet losing streak to UNLV.

Sophomore Scarlett Ferris was a big contributor to the effort, including winning the 50 free in a new school record of 22.65. That broke the old record of 22.66 that was set in 2000 by Nevada Hall of Famer Jia Lin Sun. Sun would go on to finish 7th (in short course meters) at that year’s NCAA Championship meet.

Ferris entered the meet .01 seconds away from the record, having swum 22.67 at the Phil Hansel Invitational in Houston in November. Her best time as a freshman was 23.04.

Ferris is from Scotland and her best time in long course is 28.04 from 2023. She sat out the 2024 long course season and hasn’t swum a long course 50 free since starting at Nevada, so her long course progression remains-to-be-seen.

She also won the 100 back in 52.50, which is faster than any swimmer in Wolf Pack history other than herself – she swam 51.49 last year to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Ferris swam three races, with the other being the leadoff leg on Nevada’s winning 200 medley relay, splitting 24.05 in the backstroke. That Nevada relay finished in 1:39.99.

Ferris doesn’t swim on the team’s 400 free relay, but even without her they were able to win in 3:21.46 to bookend the meet. The relay included a 48.90 anchor split from junior Enkhkhuslen Batbayar, which overcame a 1.2 second deficit to give the Wolf Pack an exclamation point at the end of the meet.

Nevada won 9 out of 13 races in the short-schedule meet, with Batbayar being jointly or wholly responsible for three of those. Besides the relay win, she also grabbed wins in the 200 free (1:47.55) and 500 free (4:53.08). Batbayar has been a big addition for the Wolf Pack this season after representing her native Mongolia at the Olympic Games over the summer.

Nevada did most of their work in the front-half of the meet, leading 65-46 after the 50 free. UNLV fought back in the middle section, though, grabbing three straight swimming wins.

Freshman Grace Wharton won the 200 IM in 2:03.64, sophomore Maria Mendez won the 100 fly in 53.90, and junior Erika Carlson won the 100 free in 50.14.

Ferris’ 100 back win would stop that streak, and the Rebels would get only one win the rest of the meet when Heather Gardner won the 100 breast in 1:02.97. She had a fast front-half split of 29.18 and was able to hold off Nevada’s Sara Mihalic at the end of the race.

Other Winners:

• Nevada freshman Keira-Lee Allott won the 1000 free in 10:08.51. While that’s not a best time, the NCAA altitude conversion puts the swim at 9:57.11, which would be 8.5 seconds better than her fastest time.
• Nevada junior diver Bailey Hedra swept the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events.

Nevada will attempt to end the season undefeated next week on the road against San Jose State. The UNLV women still have a two-day dual against Wyoming next weekend and a dual against Grand Canyon on February 1 before beginning championship season.