THIS WEEK IN WAC SWIMMING ? On tap this week, four WAC schools take to the water, while four others have the week off to prepare for future competitions. Boise State makes the trip to Salt Lake City to compete with Utah and San Diego State on Nov. 17, while the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks host Pac-10 foe Washington State on Nov. 16. Both San Diego and San Jose State will travel to Long Beach, Calif., to participate in the UC Irvine Nike Speedo Cup at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool. Hawai?i and New Mexico State have two weeks off before heading back to the water, while Idaho and Nevada both have three weeks off before the next competition.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ? Northern Arizona senior Danielle Borth has been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week, for the week of Nov. 5-11. This is the first career WAC Athlete of the Week honor for Borth.
Borth, a native of Seattle, Wash. (Issaquah), captured first-place in both diving events as she helped Northern Arizona earn dual meet wins against WAC opponents Idaho and New Mexico State, for a perfect 2-0 start in league competition. Her winning total on the one-meter was 289.88 points, while her score on the three-meter diving event totaled 307.28 points. Borth earned both wins with scores that qualify for the NCAA Zone E Regional Championships, which will be held in March in Oklahoma City. Her first-place scores in both events currently rank first in the WAC this season. Borth guided the Lumberjacks to a perfect 2-0 start in WAC competition.
Other nominees included: Morgan Denny of Boise State earned top honors in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events, finishing the 200-yard backstroke a full 19 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, and also anchored the winning 200-yard medley relay team as the Broncos defeated the College of Idaho and Mesa College on Nov. 10 ... Kelly Conrad of New Mexico State dominated the sprint freestyle events as she finished first in both the 50 and 100-meter freestyle events and anchored the 400-meter freestyle relay that broke the Northern Arizona pool record in the double-dual meet with WAC foes Idaho and Northern Arizona.
BOISE STATE FRESHMAN HAS BIG DAY IN CALDWELL, IDAHO ? Bronco freshman Morgan Denny had a career day against the College of Idaho and Mesa State College as she garnered two first place finishes and anchored the winning 200-yard medley relay team for Boise State. Denny clocked winning times in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events, finishing a whopping 19 seconds ahead of the second place finisher as she clocked a time of 2:15.44 in the 200-yard backstroke.
NORTHERN ARIZONA POOL RECORD BROKEN BY BOTH IDAHO AND NEW MEXICO STATE ? In the tri-dual meet at Northern Arizona with Idaho and New Mexico State, the Vandal 400-meter freestyle relay team of Alyson O’Brien, Katie Kolva, Sara Peterson and Anna Humphrey turned in a time of 3:59.42 on Nov. 9, breaking the Wall Aquatic Center pool record that stood before the meet. The next day, the New Mexico State team of Meghann Percy, Stephanie Peacock, Carolyn Bohm and Kelly Conrad finished the 400-meter freestyle relay in a time of 3:57.97, a full two seconds faster than the time Idaho turned in the day before. The Aggies now hold the pool record at Northern Arizona in the 400-meter freestyle relay.
NORTHERN ARIZONA’S BORTH QUALIFIES FOR NCAA ZONE DIVING REGIONALS ? Senior Lumberjack diver Danielle Borth qualified for the NCAA Zone E Regional Championships to be held in March in Oklahoma City when she turned in two first place finishes against WAC opponents Idaho and New Mexico State. Borth totaled 289.88 points in the one-meter diving event and 307.28 points in the three-meter diving event, both scores that earn her a spot in the NCAA Zone Diving Regionals. Her scores on both the one and three-meter diving events are the best in the WAC so far this season.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State returns home from Caldwell, Idaho after two solid performances as the Broncos defeated the College of Idaho, 156-80, and Mesa State College, 151-97 ... the Broncos earned the top spot in nine of the 14 individual events ... the Broncos were led by several freshmen, including Nathalie Rohling, who took first place in both the 500 and 1,000-yard freestyle events, and Rachael Mesiner, who notched a pair of victories as she touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley ... junior Kelly Knapp earned the “Bronco Award” at the meet when she notched a lifetime best time in both the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events ... up next, Boise State prepare to hit the road to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes and the San Diego State Aztecs on Nov. 17.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai?i returns home from two days of competition at the USC Trojan Diving Invitational in Los Angeles, Calif., and the Lincoln Aquatics Shootout at UC Irvine on Nov. 2-3 ... at the USC Trojan Diving Invitational the Rainbow Wahine were led by sophomore Emma Friesen who won the 1-meter springboard with a total of 275.95 and also finished third on the 3-meter with a final score of 282.00 ... Stephanie De Lima also took fourth place on the platform with a score of 234.80 ... the Rainbow Wahine will have a few weeks off in preparation for both the Husky Invite and the Ohio State Diving Invite, which take place the last weekend in December.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho fell short a pair of conference duals when the Vandals dropped close meets against Northern Arizona and New Mexico State ... the Vandals lost to the Lumberjacks by a score of 163-126 and came up short against the Aggies, 167-127 ... the freshmen duo of Alyson O’Brien and Anna Humphrey led the way with three first place finishes, with O’Brien touching the wall first in both the 200 and 400-meter freestyle events and Humphrey winning the 100-meter backstroke ... the Idaho 400-meter freestyle relay team also turned in a winning effort with a time of 3:59.42 ... up next, the Vandals will have the rest of November to prepare for their first home conference dual meet of the season against WAC foe Nevada.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada comes off a pair of double-dual meets in Lincoln, Neb., where the Wolf Pack took on Nebraska, Nebraska-Omaha and Iowa ... the Wolf Pack were victorious over both Nebraska-Omaha and Iowa, but fell short to the Huskers in both meets ... Michaela Schmidt was a double individual winner for Nevada on Nov. 2, placing first in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events ... Schmidt was also a member of the winning 400-yard medley relay team ... the Pack won nine of 16 events on Nov. 3 and were led by sophomore Margaret Doolittle, who was a triple individual winner, coming in first in the 100-yard breaststroke and twice in the 200-yard breaststroke ... the Wolf Pack’s next action is Dec. 7-8 when they travel to Moscow, Idaho to take on the Vandals.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State earned its first WAC victory of the season with a split in the double-dual meet at Flagstaff, Ariz., when the Aggies defeated Idaho but fell to host Northern Arizona ... the Aggies set a pool record in the 400-meter freestyle relay when the team of Meghann Percy, Stephanie Peacock, Carolym Bohm and Kelly Conrad shattered the Wall Aquatic Center pool record at Northern Arizona with a near three-second improvement of the record set by Idaho the previous day ... the Aggies were led by freshman Kelly Conrad with a pair of wins in both the 50 and 100-meter freestyle events ... Conrad also anchored the winning 400-meter freestyle relay that broke the pool record ... the Aggies are off the rest of the month until they return home to host Grand Canyon and Texas Permian Basin on Dec. 1.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona continued its strong start to the season, capturing wins in eight of 16 events to defeat both Idaho and New Mexico State in a tri-dual meet ... the Lumberjacks defeated the Vandals, 163-126, and beat the Aggies by a score of 164-131 ... Northern Arizona now stands at 6-1 for the season and 2-0 in WAC competition ... the Lumberjacks were led by freshman Kim Kopra and senior Danielle Borth, who were both double-individual winners ... Kopra touched the wall first in both the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke events, while Borth won both diving events with scores that qualified for the NCAA Zone Regional Championships in March ... up next, the Lumberjacks will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 16 as they host Pac-10 foe Washington State.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego returns home from the Lincoln Aquatics Shootout in Irvine, Calif., where they competed against Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge ... the Toreros split wins at the meet, beating Cal State Northridge, 63-48, before falling to Loyola Marymount, 58-53 ... at the two-day event, the Toreros tallied 13 top ten finishes, and 15 finishes in the top-15 ... freshman diver Monica Oddo led the charge for San Diego with a second place finish and 232.30 points in the one-meter diving and a fifth place finish in the 3-meter event with 222.40 points ... Courtney Weigand finished in fourth place in the 1,650-meter freestyle with a time of 17:49.41 ... the Toreros return to the water on Nov. 15 for the always competitive three-day Speedo Cup event in Long Beach, Calif.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State finished the last week of October with a 2-1 record in a trio of home dual meets, including a pair of wins over conference foe Idaho and a loss to Washington State ... Spartan athletes won 13 of the 16 events against the Vandals on Friday and 12 of 16 events on Saturday ... senior co-captain Brie Marhenke continued her dominance in the sprint freestyle events, winning both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events with times of 23.93 and 52.26, respectively ... joining Marhenke as two-time individual event winners on Friday were fellow seniors Amanda Carr and Jillene Golez, with Carr taking both distance freestyle events and Golez sweeping the butterfly distance events ... after a three-week break, the Spartans will head to the annual Nike Cup in Long Beach, Calif. on Nov. 15-17.
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
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