DENVER ? Only one WAC team competes this week, with Hawai?i looking to make waves of its competition, while the other seven teams will have the rest of December off to prepare for competitions in January. On Jan. 4, Idaho will travel to Kona, Hawaii to compete with California and Minnesota, while Northern Arizona makes the trip to Tucson, Ariz., to face Arizona, Oregon State and Washington. Hawai?i will host the Hawai?i Diving Invite on Jan. 4-5, in which Nevada will compete in, while San Jose State will dual with Cal State Bakersfield. Both Boise State and San Diego will be back in action on Jan. 5-6, traveling to Irvine, Calif., to compete in the UC Irvine Invitational. New Mexico State will host North Texas in Las Cruces, N.M., on Jan. 8.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ? Northern Arizona junior Tami Binek has been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week, for the week of Dec. 10-16. This is the first career WAC Athlete of the Week honor for Binek.
Binek, a native of Volcano, Hawaii (Waiakea/San Diego State), captured three first-place finishes, leading the Lumberjacks to a dual meet win over conference foe San Diego on Dec. 15. Binek was a part of the winning 200-yard medley relay team as Northern Arizona won with a time of 1:51.66. She went on to earn two individual wins, touching the wall first in both the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.14 and also in the 100-yard butterfly wit a time of 59.09. Binek also took second-place in the 200-yard freestyle event, coming in at 1:56.56.
Other nominees included: Kelly Conrad of New Mexico State led the 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished fourth and tied an Aggie school record, and also placed seventh in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events, helping her team to a fifth-place finish at the UNLV Winter Invitational ... Joy Miller of San Diego captured two first-place finishes and a second place finish against Northern Arizona, touching the wall first in both the 200-yard Individual Medley (2:14.91) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.16) and finishing second in the 100-yard butterfly (59.13) event.
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.
NEW MEXICO STATE RELAY TEAM TIES SCHOOL RECORD ? The Aggie 200-yard freestyle relay team of Kelly Conrad, Tessa Bain, Carolyn Bohn and Stephanie Peacock took fourth place at the UNLV Winter Invitational on Nov. 15-17, tying the Aggie school record in the event with a time of 1:36.28.
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, on 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, boasting a fourth-place finish on the three-meter springboard with a score of 314.40 ... up next, the Rainbow Wahine prepare 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, 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 on Dec. 7-8 ... the Wolf Pack won nine of 10 events versus the Vandals on Dec. 8 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 Dec. 7 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 the second day of competition ... 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
New Mexico State concluded the UNLV Winter Invitational on Dec. 17 with a fifth-place finish that included season-best performances and school record tying marks ... the Aggie 200-yard freestyle relay team of Kelly Conrad, Tessa Bain, Carolyn Bohn and Stephanie Peacock finished fourth overall, tying the Aggie school record in the event ... individually, Conrad led the way for the Aggies with a pair of seventh-place finishes in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events ... freshman Kirstin Pickett guided the Aggies in both diving events, finishing fourth in the one-meter and eighth in the three-meter ... the Aggies will take the holiday break to prepare for a home meet on Jan. 8 when North Texas visits Las Cruces.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona returns home after a win over conference foe San Diego, 174.5-106.5, on Dec. 16 ... the Lumberjacks won 10 of 16 events against the Toreros, improving to 8-2 on the season ... Northern Arizona was led by junior Tami Binek who captured two event titles in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly events, and sophomore Rachael Foe who touched the wall first in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard Individual Medley ... the Lumberjacks will spend a week training and will return to competition on Jan. 4 when they face Arizona, Oregon State and Washington State in Tucson, Ariz.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego comes off its conference opener with a 174.5-106.5 loss to Northern Arizona ... the Toreros were led by sophomore Kristen Yoon, who took first place in both the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard backstroke, with times of 1:02.00 and 2:09.70, respectively ... senior Joy Miller was also a double winner for San Diego, capturing two first-place and one second-place finishes in the 200-yard Individual Medley, 200-yard butterfly and 100-yard butterfly event, respectively ... the Toreros will train through the holiday in preparation for their next meet, returning to the water on Jan. 6 at the UC Irvine Relays in Irvine, Calif.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State returns home from Stockton, Calif., after a narrow 131-130 win over the University of Pacific ... the Spartans were led by senior co-captain Brie Marhenke, who continues to turn in top times in the sprint freestyle events ... Marhenke remains undefeated dual meets in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events this season ... the Spartans took both first and third-place in the final event of the meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to seal the one-point victory ... up next, the Spartans will take another lengthy break from competition through the holiday season before returning to action in Bakersfield, Calif., for a pair of dual meets on Jan. 4-5.
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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