DENVER ? Five WAC teams take to the pool this weekend, looking to make waves of their competition. San Jose State travels to Boise State to take on the Broncos in the first WAC matchup of the season. In its first action of the season, Nevada heads to Stockton, Calif. to compete at the Pacific Invitational. Both New Mexico State and San Diego are hosting their annual Alumni Meets in preparation for the rest of the season.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State returns home from the Rocky Mountains after first falling to Colorado State, 142-89, and Denver, 180-62, then bouncing back to beat Colorado School of Mines, 196-42, and Air Force, 159-83 ... the victory over Air Force marks the Broncos first win over another Division I school ... the Broncos were led by freshman Tara Hahto, who took the individual title in the 200-yard breaststroke, second-place in the 100-yard breaststroke and third-place in the 200-yard IM ... freshman diver Nicole Morton led Boise State with a second-place finish in the one-meter event with a score of 195.80, just two points shy of the lead ... the Broncos broke school records in both the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays ... up next, Boise State entertains conference foe San Jose State on Oct. 19-20.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai?i comes off two season-opening dual meets with the Sun Devils of Arizona State, falling 177-123 on Sept. 28, and 159-122 on Sept. 29 in Honolulu ... the Rainbow Wahine were led by newcomer Emma Berry, who captured first place in five of her six entries ... Berry touched the wall first in the 1,000-freestyle, 500-freestyle and 400-IM on Sept. 28, and in the 400-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle on Sept. 29 ... sophomore Emma Friesen took both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard with scores that qualified her for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional in March ... the Rainbow Wahine will have the month of October off in preparation for both the Lincoln Aquatic Shootout and the USC Diving Invitational, which take place the first weekend in November.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho produced a solid performance against UCLA, but fell short on points, 158-278, to the Bruins ... the Vandals finished the day with 10 top-three finishes against the Bruins, including two second-place times submitted by a pair of true freshman ... Alyson O’Brien, swimming in her second collegiate meet, took second place in the 100-meter freestyle, clocking a time of 59.74 seconds ... fellow freshman Anna Humphrey earned a second place finish in the 200-meter backstroke, while senior JoJo Miller touched the wall second in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:44.52 ... the Vandals have a three-week break before they make another trip to California where they will take on the Spartans of San Jose State on Friday, Oct. 26.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada held its Blue and Silver Intrasquad meet on Friday, Oct. 5 at Lombardi Pool where the Silver squad edged the Blue team in a close 124-110 finish ... junior newcomer Courtney Eads won three individual events for the Blue team and sophomore Chelsea Sawyer won two events for the Blue squad ... senior Michaela Schmidt was a multiple-event winner for the Silver, placing first in the 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard IM ... Eads won the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, and 1,000-yard freestyle, while Sawyer captured the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events ... the Wolf Pack open the regular season Oct. 19-20 at the Pacific Invitational in Stockton, Calif.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State produced a solid outing in its season-opening weekend, as they hosted Northern Colorado and Rice in Las Cruces ... the Aggies took two victories from the Bears, winning 136-107 on Friday and 198-102 on Saturday, but stumbled against the Owls, falling 127-110 on Friday and 151-143 on Saturday ... the Aggies were led by freshman Kelly Conrad, who chalked up first-place ribbons in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events, and also anchored both the 200-yard medley and 400-yard medley relay teams to two first-place finishes ... the Aggie divers swept both diving events, with freshman Kristin Pickett taking the one-meter honors, while Carey Jameson won the three-meter ... this week, New Mexico State will host its annual Alumni Meet.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona held its 25th annual intrasquad Blue vs. Gold meet on Oct. 12, with the results coming down to the final event of the meet ... the Blue team touched the wall first in the 200-meter freestyle relay, claiming the title by a score of 53-51 ... the Gold squad won seven of the 12 events, but the Blue squad took first and second in several late events, putting them over the top ... Tami Binek and Danielle Borth were both winners of two individual events on the day ... Binek took first in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events, while Borth swept the one-meter and three-meter diving events ... up next, the Lumberjacks will travel to Forth Worth, Texas to take on TCU on Oct. 26, before heading to Denton, Texas for a double-dual meet with North Texas and Texas A&M.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego wrapped up its 2006-07 season with a seventh place finish overall at the WAC Championship meet in San Antonio ... the Toreros earned their best score in the three years they have been in the WAC earning 245 points ... top returners for the Toreros include junior Erin Voyles and sophomores Tina Levesque and Kristen Yoon ... San Diego will host its Alumni Meet on Oct. 20 ... the Toreros officially take to the pool on Oct. 27 when they head to Westwood, Calif. to compete with the Bruins of UCLA.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State posted five individual wins and swept the two relay events, splitting a home-opening double-dual meet in San Jose ... the Spartans cruised by UC Santa Cruz, 227-60, while getting out-pointed by UC Davis, 166-132 ... the Spartans were led again by Brie Marhenke, who swept the sprint freestyle events against both opponents, capturing first-place in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events, with times of 23.63 and 52.18, respectively ... the senior co-captain was also a member of the 200-yard medley and 220-yard freestyle relay teams that defeated both UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz ... this week, San Jose State will head to Boise, Idaho to compete with WAC foe Boise State on Oct. 19-20.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO SAN ANTONIO ? The 2008 edition of the WAC Championship returns to Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas. Nevada will look to defend its 2007 title in hopes of capturing its second WAC championship in a row. The championship will be held Feb. 20-23, 2008.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ? The 2008 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship will be held in Columbus, Ohio, March 20-22. Hawai?i tied for 27th in 2007.
2008 SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Zone Diving (5): March 13-15 or 14-16, 2008
Zone A: University of Buffalo (March 14-16)
Buffalo, New York
Zone B: Auburn University (March 14-16)
Auburn, Alabama
Zone C: Ohio State University (March 14-16)
Columbus, Ohio
Zone D: University of Houston (March 14-16)
Houston, Texas
Zone E: U.S. Air Force Academy (March 13-15)
Oklahoma City Community College
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Finals: March 20-22, 2008
Columbus, Ohio
McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion
Host: Ohio State University
For Ticket Information: 1-800-GOBUCKS