THIS WEEK IN WAC SWIMMING- New Mexico State and San Diego face off for the only WAC meet of the week on Saturday, Dec. 13.
FRESNO STATE COMPETES IN SWIMMING AND DIVING FOR FIRST TIME IN 5 YEARS ? 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. Jeanne Fleck was chosen to head up the program in the 2008-09 season.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO SAN ANTONIO ? The 2009 edition of the WAC Championship returns to Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas. Nevada will look to defend its 2007 and 2008 titles in hopes of capturing its third straight WAC championship. The championship will be held Feb. 25-28, 2009.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK (Dec. 1-7)
DENVER ? San Jose State’s Heather Denman and Nevada’s Candice Minette have been named Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week of Dec. 1-7.
Denman, a freshman swimmer from Brookeville, Md. (Sherwood HS), won all three of her individual events during a dual-meet victory against Pacific in San Jose on Dec. 6. Denman was the only competitor to win as many as three individual events on the day. She won the 100-yard backstroke (56.59), 100-yard butterfly (57.03) and the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.92, totaling 27 individual points. The freshman also led off the first-place 200-yard medley relay team that swam a 1:46.26 mark. This marks the third time this season Denman has earned Athlete of the Week honors.
Minette, a senior diver from Glendale, Ariz. (Mountain Ridge HS), helped the Wolf Pack to a 131-83 win against Idaho by winning the 1 and 3-meter diving portions in the dual meet. She won the 1-meter with a score of 328.15 and followed that with a score of 356.45 in the 3-meter to win her second event of the meet. The senior’s scores on both the 1 and 3-meter boards rank first in the WAC. The honor marks Minette’s second Athlete of the Week award of the season.
Other swimming nominees: Nevada’s Courtney Eads won the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley to help the Wolf Pack defeat Idaho 131-87. Rachael Foe of Northern Arizona helped her 400-yard medley relay team to a first place showing against New Mexico State. Fresno State’s Heidi Gjoen earned personal bests in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke and 500-yard freestyle to help the Bulldogs earn a second place finish. Boise State’s Amber Boucher broke four team records and helped break three more in a trio of relays at the Husky Invitational. Maria Spies of New Mexico State collected a pair of individual victories at Northern Arizona with wins in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke.
Other diving nominees: Northern Arizona’s Taryn Harris posted a score of 288.53 in the 1-meter board to take third place in a dual against New Mexico State. New Mexico State’s Mariesa Cloud set a pool record on the 1-meter board with a final score of 307.19.
Team Notes
Boise State Broncos
Boise State swimming and diving won its third meet of the season, 199-106, as it hosted the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Broncos took the top spot in all 17 events of the dual meet, and broke two school records en route to the team victory. BSU also took sixth-place just behind WAC foe Hawai?i in the Husky Invitational in Federal Way, Wash. on Dec. 6. It ended the two-day 12-team meet with 512.5 points, just a half point behind the Rainbow Wahine. The Broncos will have their own shot at UH when the two teams face off on Jan. 6 in Honolulu.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Two Fresno State swimmers earned season bests in Boise in the Bulldogs’ second WAC match-up of the season against the Broncos of Boise State, falling 199-106. Fresno State traveled to San Lius Obispo, Calif. to compete in just its second invitational meet of the season. The Bulldogs finished in third-place with a total score of 1,050 points behind host Cal Poly. Freshman Heidi Gjoen continues to shine for FS as she earned personal bests in the 100 back, 200 back and the 500 free over the weekend.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
The Rainbow Wahine finished in fifth-place at the twelve-team Husky Invite in Federal Way, Wash. last week. UH ended the meet with 513 points, just a half point better than WAC foe Boise State. Hawai?i will next take on Boise State in a WAC meet on Jan. 6 in Honolulu. The Rainbow Wahine Diving Squad also competed well at the Texas Diving Invitational, led by junior Emma Friesen, who finished in fifth place in the 3-meter final. On the 1-meter, Friesen had a final score of 309.05 and a score of 296.40 on the 3-meter.
Idaho Vandals
The Vandals defeated Seattle University, 162-100 in a Nov. 21st dual in Moscow. Junior Amanda Watson had a strong day for Idaho as she won a pair of individual events and swam a leg of the first-place 400-yard medley relay. She won the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 1:01.23, then won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:11.43. Idaho took on Nevada in Reno on Dec. 6, with the Vandals dropping the WAC meet 131-83. UI takes a break until it hosts Washington State on Jan. 23 and in-state rival Boise State on Jan. 24 in Moscow, Idaho.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Junior Margaret Doolittle posted three top-six individual finishes, winning one event and four other as a member of Nevada relays with two first place finishes as the Wolf Pack took fifth at the Nike Cup. Nevada then took on Idaho on Dec. 6 in Reno as the Wolf Pack won 11-of-12 events to defeat the Vandals 131-83. Nevada improved to 6-2 with its victory over Idaho. Courtney Eads (swimmer), Margaret Doolittle (swimmer) and Candice Minett(diver) each won two events in the dual with Idaho.
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State swimming and diving team continues WAC competition at San Diego, Dec. 13, at 1 p.m., in San Diego, Calif. Last week, the Aggies defeated Northern Arizona, 167.5-132.5, Dec. 6, in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Aggies now have two consecutive wins over NAU in dual meets. Freshman Maria Spies collected a pair of individual victories at Northern Arizona, Dec. 6. She won the 100-meter breaststroke (1:12.65) and the 200-meter breast (2:38.43). Both performances were near pool records.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
New Mexico State earned wins in 10 of 16 events to defeat NAU by a score of 167.5-132.5 on Dec. 6. The Lumberjacks earned solid wins in both relays, but the majority of individual events belonged to New Mexico State. NAU is now 5-6 in dual meet competition this season. The NAU 400 medley relay “A” team of Chalene Dirks-Ryan, T.J. Williams, Rachael Foe and Tami Binek overcame a slow start to start the meet off with a Lumberjack win in a time of 4:23.38. NAU next travels to Boca Raton, Fla. to take on Florida Atlantic on Dec. 15 in its last dual meet before the holiday break.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego recorded a ninth-place finish after three days of competition at the Nike Cup. Freshman Sarah Geerdes finished in 2:06.52 taking 17th place in the 200 individual medley. The USD Toreros return to the pool on Saturday, December 13 when they host their first official home meet against the New Mexico State Aggies. After a two week hiatus during the holiday break the Toreros travel to Irvine, Calif. to take on UC Irvine on Jan. 4 in the annual UC Irvine Relays.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State concluded competition for the 2008 calendar year with a dual meet record of 9-1. The Spartans are on a nine-meet win streak since a season-opening loss at No. 3 Stanford. They now take a break for final exams and the holidays, prior to a dual meet at Cal State Bakersfield on Friday, Jan. 2. San Jose State has posted nine school-record swims thus far on the year, to go along with three NCAA ?B’ cuts, all from Heather Denman. Both Jo Thibodaux and Jessica Holden achieved NCAA Zone E Diving qualifying marks on the one-meter board over the weekend.