DENVER ? Four WAC teams are in action this week, rounding out regular season competition, while the other four teams will have several weeks off to prepare for the WAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 20-23. Idaho welcomes the Beavers of Oregon State on Feb. 2, while San Diego takes on cross-town rival San Diego State. New Mexico State makes the trip to Albuquerque on Jan. 31 to meet instate foe New Mexico Lobos, before returning home to take on WAC foe Northern Arizona on Feb. 2. Both New Mexico State and Northern Arizona will also head to Colorado Springs, Colo. for the Air Force Diving Invitational on Feb. 1. Boise State, Hawai?i, Nevada and San Jose State do not return to the water until the WAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 20-23.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ? Idaho senior Adriana Quirke has been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week, for the week of Jan. 21-27. This is the first career WAC Athlete of the Week honor for Quirke.
Quirke, a native of Eugene, Ore. (San Diego State), captured three first-place finishes, including two individual and one relay, leading the Vandals to a big win over WAC foe and instate rival Boise State. Quirke started the meet off quickly for Idaho, taking first in the 200-yard Medley Relay that earned first-place with a time of 1:48.51. She then registered new season-best times, touching the wall first in both the 100-yard backstroke (58.32) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:07.68).
Other nominees included: Tara Hahto of Boise State led the way for the Broncos against WAC foe Idaho, clocking two first-place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.12) and 400-yard Individual Medley (4:38.63) and a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:25.72) ... Becky Triemstra of Northern Arizona led the Lumberjacks to a dual meet win over Grand Canyon, earning first-place in both the 200-meter freestyle (2:10.71) and the 400-meter freestyle (4:34.71) ... Jillene Golez of San Jose State led the Spartans against Cal State East Bay, recording three victory performances in the 100-yard butterfly (59.91), 200-yard butterfly (2:09.90) and also contributed to the winning 200-yard medley relay (1:59.30) for the Spartans ... Kristen Yoon of San Diego captured three first-place finishes for the Toreros against Loyola Marymount, touching the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke (59.85), 200-yard backstroke (2:08.52) and the 200-yard Individual Medley (2:13.12).
NEVADA’S MINETTE SHATTERS WAC THREE-METER DIVING RECORD ? Nevada’s Candice Minette captured two first-place finishes in diving events in a dual meet against Boise State on Jan. 12. Minette won the one-meter event with a score of 310.40 and claimed the victory in the three-meter event with a career-high and school record-setting mark of 396.95. Her three-meter score also shattered the WAC record of 386.60, set by QiongJie Huang of Hawai?i in 2006.
BOISE STATE SETS THREE SCHOOL RECORDS ? Boise State won six events and set three school records Saturday, Jan. 26, in its dual meet against WAC foe Idaho. Kim Nelson took second-place in the 100-yard freestyle with time of 53.87 en route to setting the Bronco school record. Freshman Denise Green earned fourth-place in the 200-yard backstroke (2:10.84), recording a career-best and school record time. The 200-yard medley relay team of Denise Green, Tara Hahto, Allison Hall and Sammy Sanchez-O’Dell tallied the final Bronco record on the day, clocking a 1:49.14 in the event.
FRESNO STATE TO ADD SWIMMING & DIVING IN 2008-09 ? Fresno State Athletics Director Thomas Boeh announced on Jan. 8 the addition of two women’s sports in a move that reflects the University’s continued commitment to Title IX compliance.
The announcement marks the return of women’s swimming and diving which last competed in the 2003-04 academic year. This addition comes after the recommendations of the Gender Equity Plan Task Force, a 13-member campus-community panel charged by the University President John D. Welty to develop a new five-year gender equity plan that will guide the university to maintain Title IX compliance in its athletics program.
Boeh said he expects coaches to be hired and student athletes recruited in time for the teams to compete in the 2008-09 academic year. The intention for the new swimming and diving team will be to practice and compete at a Clovis Unified high school in the near term. The university master plan includes phased construction of a competitive aquatics center.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State won six events and set several school records in its dual meet against league rival Idaho, but fell 162.5-131.5 ... senior diver Jennifer Dorling, who notched a one-meter season-best and zone qualifying score of 309.85 to finish first in the event ... Dorling also dominated the three-meter event, tallying another zone qualifying mark of 281.20 for first-place ... freshman Tara Hahto was a member of the record-setting 200-yard medley relay, and also tallied two first-place in both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.12) and the 400-yard Individual Medley (4:38.63) ... up next, the Broncos will prepare for the WAC Championships, Feb. 20-23, in San Antonio.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai?i played host to the Rainbow Wahine Diving Invitational Jan. 18-19 in Honolulu ... Hawai?i was led by sophomore diver Raquel Bartlow, capturing the three-meter event with her best showing as a Rainbow Wahine diver, recording a score of 292.00 ... teammates Emma Friesen and Stephanie De Lima placed second and fifth with scores of 286.60 and 242.05, respectively ... the Rainbow Wahine will have an entire month off to prepare for the WAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 20-23.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho returns home from Boise, Idaho, after competing against the Boise State Broncos, winning the conference dual 162.5-131.5, despite not competing in the diving events ... the Vandals were led by senior Adriana Quirke, who set two season bests for the Vandals in the backstroke ... Quirke touched the wall first in both the 100-yard backstroke (58.30) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:07.60) ... freshman Allyson O’Brien also added three first-place finishes, edging out the competition in the 500-yard freestyle (5:12.15) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.71) ... up next, the Vandals welcome the Oregon State Beavers to Moscow on Feb. 2.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada comes off a pair of victories, the first on Jan. 17 at home against WAC foe New Mexico State,186-111, before capturing the regular season finale over UC Davis, 175-125, on Jan. 20 ... the Wolf Pack won 13 of 16 events over New Mexico State and 11 of 16 in its win at UC Davis ... junior diver Candice Minette pulled off the sweep of the one and three-meter diving events for the third consecutive dual at UC Davis ... up next, the Wolf Pack will travel to Stanford, Calif., to take part in the Stanford Invitational Feb. 15-16, as their final preparation for the WAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb, 20-23.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State comes off a split pair of dual meets, first falling to WAC foe Nevada, 186-111, before bouncing back to defeat Boise State, 174-118 ... the Aggies dominated the Broncos, winning all but one event at Boise State ... New Mexico State was led by sophomore Victoria Eickerman, who tallied three lifetime-best performances in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly events and the 200-yard Individual Medley in the dual meet against the Broncos ... freshman Kelly Conrad also earned victories in the 50, 100 and 200-yard freestyle events ... up next, the Aggies will meet instate rival New Mexico, Jan. 31, in Albuquerque, before returning home to Las Cruces to host WAC for Northern Arizona on Feb. 2.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona earned the top times in all 14 events as the Lumberjacks tallied a 150-41 win over visiting Grand Canyon on Jan. 26 ... eleven different Lumberjack swimmers earned individual wins in the meet, led by senior Becky Triemstra with two first-place finishes in both the 200-meter freestyle (2:10.71) and the 400-meter freestyle (4:34.71) ... senior swimmers Becky Triemstra, Candace Fajardo, Katie Munich and Julie Ward, and senior divers Danielle Borth and Natalie Hughes were honored, competing in their final home meet ... the Lumberjacks return to competition when they travel to Las Cruces to compete with league opponent New Mexico State, Feb. 2.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego returns home from Los Angeles after a dual meet with Loyola Marymount, falling 140-122 ... the Toreros were led by sophomore Kristen Yoon, who registered three first-place finishes, touching the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke (59.85), the 200-yard backstroke (2:08.52) and the 200-yard Individual Medley (2:13.12) ... senior Joy Miller also added a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.71) and a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (58.46) ... the Toreros return to the water on Saturday, Feb. 2 when they take on cross-town rival San Diego State.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State seniors made their final home appearances as Spartans, earning their fourth-straight dual meet victory, 119-98, over Cal State East Bay ... the Spartans were led by senior Jillene Golez, who touched the wall first in both the 100-yard butterfly (59.91) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:09.90), and was also a member of the winning 200-yard medley relay team ... senior Brie Marhenke finished the regular season a perfect 9-0 in the 50-yard freestyle and 8-0 in the 100-yard freestyle events in dual competition ... up next, the Spartans will have an entire month off to prepare for the WAC Championships in San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 20-23.
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.
WAC Championship Tickets:
All-Session Passes (includes all 10 sessions) are $30 for adults and $20 for children ages 18 and under.
Single-Session tickets will be available for purchase at the event (the pool will be cleared at the conclusion of each session). Prices are as follows:
Relays Wednesday evening $5
Prelims Adults $6, Children $4
Diving Adults $6, Children $4
Finals Adults $7, Children $4
An All-Session ticket order form is available online at www.wacsports.com, and is also attached to the end of the weekly Swimming & Diving release.
WAC Championship Apparel:
Swimming & Diving Championship Apparel is now available online or for purchase at the event. Items available include t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, and hooded sweatshirts.
A Swimming & Diving Championship Apparel brochure is available online at www.wacstore.com, and is also attached to the end of the weekly Swimming & Diving release.
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.
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
-WAC-