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Related Material
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Championship Preview.pdf
Weekly Release and Top Times.pdf
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2004 Championship PreviewDENVER - The 14th Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship takes place on Wednesday, February 25 through Saturday, February 29, at the Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio. Six of the 10 WAC schools will be in attendance. Defending champs and seven-time WAC Champion SMU, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada, Rice and San Jose State all sponsor a womens program.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, relay finals begin at 6:30 p.m. Each day, swimming preliminaries begin at 11:00 a.m. with the diving preliminaries at 1:00 p.m. The finals begin each night at 6:30 p.m.
Schedule of Events
Palo Alto College will play host to the championship for the fifth-straight season. The Natatorium was designed as a world-class aquatic facility. The connected swimming warm-up, diving pools, competition-height spring boards, and the diving platforms meet national championship qualifications.
2003 TEAM RESULTS1. SMU, 1006.6
2. Nevada, 659.0
3. Rice, 506.5
4. Hawaii, 487.5
5. Fresno State, 403.5
6. San Jose State, 344.0
FRESNO STATE - The Bulldogs suffered only their second losing record in 16 seasons, finishing 3-6 in dual meets. Fresno State finished fifth a season ago, registering 403.5 points. Head coach Tom Millichs team is led this season by junior, Melissa Johnson. She owns the teams top times in each of the freestyle spints. She recorded times of 24.48 in the 50, 52.47 in the 100 and 1:53.51 in the 200. Senior, Lindsay Taunton will look to gain points for the Bulldogs in the diving competitions.
HAWAII - The 25th-ranked Rainbow Wahine look to knock SMU off the pedastal this year, as Hawaii has been ranked in the top 25 for most of the season. The fourth-place Wahine finish in 2003, was just 19 points shy of bronze. Hawaii finished the regular season amassing 14 dual wins, tied with Nevada for the conference leader. Freshman Nicole Mackey and senior YingJuan Zhen are both ranked nationally in the 100 backstroke, posting top 20 times. Sophomore Jessica Affleck looks to take the title in the 1,650 freestyle, as she leads the conference by over 30 seconds with a time of 17:06.10. Juniors Yan Chen and Maggie Roberts look to pick up medals in the individual medley and diving events, respectively.
NEVADA - The Wolf Pack picked up 14 wins this season, moving head coach Mike Sharders school record to 45-10 in dual meets. Nevada, who has finished second in back-to-back years, looks to be the first to take the top honors from SMU in eight years. The Wolf Pack have three WAC dual wins in 2003-04, defeating Fresno State twice and San Jose State. Freshman Larissa Van Der Linde, leads the Wolf Pack in both the 50 and 100 free, posting top times of 24.11 and 52.43, respectivley. Junior Sarabeth Schweitzer grabbed three WAC Swimmer of the Week awards this season, as she leads the team in the 200 butterfly (2:07.69) and the 400 I.M. (4:39.92).
RICE - The Owls have placed third in each of the past five WAC Championships, doing it without a diving program. Rice gathered four wins this season, two against Miami and Louisiana State. Points will be spread out amongst a number of Owls. Freshman Laura Healey owns the teams top time in the 50 and 100 free at 23.97 and 52.54, respectivley. Junior Lauren Hill is among the WACs best in three events, posting times of 2:19.11 in the 200 backstroke, 2:05.56 in the 200 I.M. and 4:26.38 in the 400 I.M. Look for Elaine Lee and Jackie Corcoran to gather points in the butterfly and distance freestyle events, respectivley.
SAN JOSE STATE - The Spartans are led by senior diver Tracy Harkins. Harkins, comes into 2004 looking to regain her title as platform champion, as she took the titles in 2001 and 2002. She was the lone Spartan to take home gold last year when she won the one-meter. Senior Lura Wilhelm has been leading San Jose State this season, as she owns the teams top spot in the 100 and 200 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 200 I.M. Both Wilhelm and Alana Lella picked up two golds against Loyola Marymount, helping the Spartans to one of their best wins of the season.
SMU - The No. 9 Mustangs return to San Antonio looking for their eighth-straight WAC title, winning 16 golds last year. The Mustangs only dual losses this season came against No. 3 Georgia and No. 5 Texas. SMU is without 2004 two-time national champion, Flavia Rigamonti. She owns the WAC record in the 1,650 freestyle at 15:45.93. The Mustangs have been led this season by 2003 WAC Swimmer of the Year, Georgina Lee, who is nationally ranked in the top 20 in four events. She leads the conference in the 200 free, 100 and 200 butterfly, and is in the top four in the 100 and 500 free. Sophomore Laura Pomeroy and freshmen Leanne Darling and Celina Lemmen all own top spots in the WAC in their respective events. SMU, who placed fourth in the 2003 NCAA Championships, registered over 1,000 points in last years conference meet, the first team to ever post over a grand.
Results for the 2004 WAC Championship will be available each night at the conclusion of that evenings events. They will be posted on www.wacsports.com. For more information on WAC Swimming and Diving, records and all-time championships, visit wacsports.com or contact Joe Menaugh at (303) 799-9221 x207.