DENVER ? Following the holiday break, three WAC schools return to the water for competition, while the other five will have another week off to prepare for future competitions. Boise State and Hawai?i both travel to Federal Way, Wash., to compete in the Husky Invitational Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The San Diego Toreros will make the trip to Atlanta, Georgia to take part in the USS SC Nationals Nov. 29-Dec. 2. Idaho, New Mexico State and Northern Arizona will all host their next opponents, with the Vandals welcoming conference foe Nevada on Dec. 7, the Aggies playing host to Grand Canyon and Texas Permian Basin and the Lumberjacks bringing in the New Mexico Lobos. San Jose State will travel to Stockton, Calif., on Dec. 8 to take on Pacific.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ? San Jose State senior Brie Marhenke has been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week, for the week of Nov. 12-18. This is the third WAC Athlete of the Week honor for Marhenke this season.
Marhenke, a native of Carmichael, Calif. (Oregon State), turned in a pair of individual second-place efforts in NCAA B cut times, and also added three top-six relay finishes, leading the Spartans to finish fifth among 22 schools at the UC Irvine Nike Cup in Irvine, Calif. Marhenke finished as the runner-up in the 50-yard freestyle by a narrow .06 seconds behind the first-place swimmer, registering a season-best time of 23.09. She also took second-place in the 100-yard freestyle event with another season-best time of 50.60 seconds, also good for a NCAA B cut time in the event. As of Nov. 19, according to CollegeSwimming.com, Marhenke ranks tied for 17th nationally in the 50-yard freestyle (23.09) and 32nd nationally in the 100-yard freestyle (50.60), and is currently the top-ranked swimmer in the WAC in both events. Marhenke also anchored the fourth-place Spartan 200-yard freestyle relay who timed a season-best 1:35.60, as well as the 400-yard medley relay, which clocked another season-best time of 3:53.65.
Other nominees included: Becky Triemstra of Northern Arizona earned top honors in two events as the Lumberjacks narrowly fell to Pac-10 foe Washington State, registering a win in the 800-meter freestyle with a time of 9:20.76 and touching the wall first in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:34.36.
BOISE STATE NOTCHES RECORD-SETTING RELAY PERFORMANCE ? The Bronco 200-yard medley relay team of Johanna Wubbena, Tara Hahto, Allison Hall and Jenny Nowatzke registered a school-record time of 1:52.14 in the double-dual meet against Utah and San Diego State.
SAN JOSE STATE’S MARHENKE RECORDS NCAA B CUT TIMES ? Senior Spartan co-captain Brie Marhenke turned in a pair of NCAA B cut times in her two individual second-place finishes at the UC Irvine Nike Cup on Nov. 17. Marhenke sprinted the 50-yard freestyle in 23.09 seconds, falling under the NCAA B standard of 23.29 seconds. She also registered a 50.60 second 100-yard freestyle time, also good for the NCAA B Cut standard. As of Nov. 19, according to CollegeSwimming.com, Marhenke ranks tied for 17th nationally in the 50-yard freestyle (23.09) and 32nd nationally in the 100-yard freestyle (50.60), and is currently the top-ranked swimmer in the WAC in both events.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State returns home from Salt Lake City, Utah after the Broncos fell in two close meets to Utah, 156-126, and San Diego State, 168-132 on Nov. 17 ... the Broncos set a school-record time in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:52.14 ... several Broncos recorded career-best times, including Laruen Keele in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.86), Kim Nelson in the 100-yard freestyle (55.29) and 500-yard freestyle (5:27.41), Ashley Cecil in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.40) and LiAnne Choitz in the 100-yard butterfly (1:03.42) ... the Boise State 200-yard freestyle relay team also notched the second-fastest time in school history with a mark of 1:41.12 ... up next, Boise State will have Thanksgiving weekend off to prepare for the Husky Invitational in Federal Way, Wash., on Nov 29-Dec. 1.
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 one-meter springboard with a total of 275.95 and also finished third on the three-meter with a final score of 282.00 ... Stephanie De Lima also took fourth place on the platform with a score of 234.80 ... this weekend, the Rainbow Wahine travel to Federal Way, Wash. to compete in the Husky Invite and also to Columbus, Ohio for the Ohio State Diving Invite.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho fell short in a pair of conference duals when the Vandals dropped close meets against Northern Arizona and New Mexico State on Nov. 9-10 ... 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 on Nov. 3 ... 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 on Nov. 10 ... 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 led Washington after 14 events, but eventually fell to the Pac-10 foe in a narrow 157-137 defeat on Nov. 16 ... the Lumberjacks were led by senior Becky Triemstra, who touched the wall first in both the 800-meter freestyle (9:20.76) and the 400-meter freestyle (4:34.36) events ... Northern Arizona freshman Kim Kopra won the 100-meter breaststroke (1:13.79), while sophomore Rachel Foe captured the 50-meter freestyle (27.06) ... the Lumberjacks also took both diving events with senior Natalie Hughes posting the top score on both the one and three-meter diving events ... up next, the Lumberjacks will take two weeks off in preparation to host the New Mexico Lobos on Dec. 6.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego returns home from the UC Irvine Nike Cup where the Toreros finished in the middle of the pack at 12th out of 22 teams ... the Toreros captured four top-15 individual marks, four top-15 relay finishes, and another three top-25 individual marks ... the San Diego 400-yard medley relay team finished with a team-high 11th-place in a time of 4:05.31, while the 200-yard medley relay notched 12th-place with a time of 1:51.54 ... Joy Miller also recorded a team-high 11th-place in the 200-yard butterfly and 13th-place in the 100-yard butterfly event ... the Toreros return to the water on this weekend when they head to the USS SC Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State returns home from the UC Irvine Nike Cup after a fifth place finish out of 22 teams ... the Spartans were led by senior co-captain Brie Marhenke, who continues to turn in top times in the sprint freestyle events ... Marhenke recorded NCAA B cut times in both the 50-yard freestyle (23.09) and the 100-yard freestyle (50.60) events ... San Jose State swimmers recorded a total of 76 season-best times in individual events at the UC Irvine Nike Cup, while five Spartan relay teams registered season-best marks ... up next, the Spartans will take another week off in preparation for the trip to Stockton, Calif., to take on Pacific.
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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