DENVER ? Three WAC teams take to the pool this weekend, looking to make waves of their competition, while the other five teams will have the rest of December off to prepare for competitions in January. New Mexico State will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the UNLV Winter Invitational on Dec. 15-17. San Diego will host conference foe Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Dec. 15 in San Diego. Both Boise State and San Diego will be back in action on Jan. 5-6 when they travel to Irvine, Calif., to compete in the UC Irvine Invitational. Hawai?i will host the Hawai?i Diving Invite on Jan. 4-5, while New Mexico State will host North Texas in Las Cruces, N.M., on Jan. 8.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ? Nevada junior Courtney Eads has been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week, for the week of Dec. 3-9. This is the first career WAC Athlete of the Week honor for Eads.
Eads, a native of Upland, Calif. (Oregon State), won all five individual events in which she competed and anchored the Pack’s winning 800-yard freestyle relay, leading Nevada’s charge against WAC foe Idaho in Moscow. Eads was a triple-winner on Friday, touching the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard Individual Medley. She showed her versatility when she won the 1,650-yard freestyle event on Saturday with a time of 17:12.84, which currently ranks her as the top swimmer in the WAC in the event. Eads was also a repeat winner in the 200-yard freestyle and capped off her outstanding weekend by anchoring the leg of the winning 800-yard freestyle relay in the final event of the meet.
Other nominees included: Kim Kopra of Northern Arizona set an individual pool record and a relay pool record in helping the Lumberjacks notch a win over New Mexico, registering a win in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:24.88 and was a member of the 200-yard medley relay that touched the wall first with a time of 1:47.47 ... Brie Marhenke of San Jose State swept the sprint-freestyle events, leading the Spartans to their first-ever dual meet victory over Pacific, finishing first in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events.
IDAHO SNAPS NEVADA’S SEVEN YEAR WAC DUAL WINNING STREAK ? The Vandals brought down the defending WAC champion and ended Nevada’s seven-year WAC dual meet winning streak, beating the Wolf Pack 138.5-123.5 at the University of Idaho Swim Center in Moscow on Dec. 7. The loss for the Wolf Pack was the first WAC dual meet loss since a Nov. 4, 2001 loss to Fresno State in its first year in the WAC
LUMBERJACKS RECORD TWO POOL RECORDS ? Northern Arizona set two pool records as the Lumberjacks improved to 7-2 on the season with a 169-135 dual meet win over visiting New Mexico. The team of Claire Ferro, Rachael Foe, Kim Kopra and Tami Binek swam a winning and pool-record time of 1:59.94 in the 200-meter medley relay. Lumberjack freshman Kim Kopra also set a pool record in the 200-meter breaststroke in 2:41.70, a record which had previously stood for seven years.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State returns home from Federal Way, Wash., after the Broncos earned a 10th place finish in the University of Washington Husky Invitational Nov. 29-Dec. 1 ... the Broncos recorded more than 55 season bests and over 30 lifetime best efforts at the Husky Invitational ... Boise State was led by junior Katelyn LoFland, who set a Bronco school record in the 1,650-yard freestyle event, beating the previous mark by over three minutes ... the Bronco 400-yard freestyle relay team also recorded a school record time of 3:37.29 ... up next, Boise State will have the entire month of January off to prepare for the UC Irvine Invitational in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 5-6.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai?i returns home from both the Husky Invitational in Federal Way, Wash., and the Ohio State Diving Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 ... the Rainbow Wahine finished seventh out of 13 at the Husky Invitational ... Hawai?i was led by diver Emma Friesen at the Husky Invitational, as she boasted a fourth-place finish on the three-meter springboard with a score of 314.40 ... up next, the Rainbow Wahine have two weeks off in preparation for a mid-week competition on Dec. 19 when they host the Beavers of Oregon State in a dual meet in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho comes off a pair of dual meets against WAC foe Nevada, where the Vandals won their first dual meet of the season on Dec. 7, 138.5-123.5, before falling short to the Wolf Pack on Dec. 8, 112-74 ... the Vandals snapped Nevada’s seven-year WAC dual meet winning streak, dating back to Nov. 4, 2001 ... the Vandals set 10 new season-best times over, including senior Paige Lee who recorded two season bests in both the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:37.09) and 400-yard Individual Medley (4:39.59) ... up next, the Vandals will have the rest of December off to prepare for a double dual meet versus California and Minnesota in Kona, Hawaii on Jan. 4.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada returns home from Moscow after splitting two dual meets with conference foe Idaho ... the Wolf Pack won nine of 10 events versus the Vandals on Saturday and a total of 17 of 24 in the two days of competition ... the Wolf Pack were led by junior Courtney Eads, who won three individual events on Friday and another two individual events on Saturday, as well as anchored the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team ... senior Nonie Wainwright and sophomore Margaret Doolittle were also double winners on Saturday ... up next, the Wolf Pack will have the rest of December off to prepare for the Hawai?i Invitational in Honolulu on Jan. 5.
New Mexico State Aggies
In its final home meet of the season, New Mexico State defeated both Texas Permian Basin and Grand Canyon on Dec. 1 ... the Aggies were led by sophomore Meghann Percy with a pair of wins and two career best marks in the 100-yard backstroke event with a time of 1:00.28 and the 500-yard freestyle event with a time of 5:19.36 ... freshman Kelly Conrad captured the 200-yard freestyle event, while fellow freshman Alannah Lawrence won the 100-yard breaststroke event with a time of 1:05.16, good for the third-best time in the WAC ... the Aggies have a week of rest before traveling to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in the UNLV Winter Invitational on Dec. 15-17.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona comes off a win over the visiting New Mexico Lobos, 169-125, on Dec. 6 ... the Lumberjacks set two pool records, improving to 7-2 on the season ... the 200-meter medley relay team of Claire Ferro, Rachael Foe, Kim Kopra and Tami Binek swam a first-place and pool record time of 1:59.94 ... freshman Kim Kopra also set an individual pool record in the 200-meter breaststroke when she touched the wall first in a time of 2:41.70 ... Northern Arizona diver Natalie Hughes also recorded a solid performance, notching wins in both the one and three-meter events ... this weekend, the Lumberjacks will face WAC foe San Diego on Dec. 15.
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 this weekend when they host league foe Northern Arizona on Dec. 15.
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 make the trip to Stockton, Calif., to take on the University of 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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