THIS WEEK IN WAC SWIMMING- The Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving season is in full swing this week with only four weeks left in the season. San Jose State travels to Hayward, Calif. to take on Cal State East Bay to begin the weekend meets. New Mexico State goes on a Colorado road trip to take on Northern Colorado on Friday and then Colorado State on Saturday. San Diego hosts its cross-town rivals in UC San Diego in a mid-Saturday match-up while Fresno State heads to the south to swim against Valley rival Cal State Bakersfield. To round out the week’s competition, Northern Arizona hosts Loyola Marymount.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 5-11)
DENVER ? San Jose State’s Heather Denman and Jo Thibodaux have been named Western Athletic Conference
Swimming and Diving Athletes of the week, respectively, for the week of Jan. 5 - 11.
Denman, a freshman swimmer from Brookeville, Md. (Sherwood HS), led San Jose State to two dual wins against Fresno State (240-57) and UC Davis (170-129) in Davis, Calif. over the weekend. She took fi rst-place in all three individual events in which she was entered, against both opponents, timing 2:03.05 in the 200-yard butterfl y, 2:08.72 in the 200- yard backstroke and 57.34 in the 100-yard butterfl y. The freshman also swam the 50-yard butterfly leg of the 200-yard medley relay team that defeated Fresno State with a time of 1:47.28. This marks the fourth time this season she has earned WAC Swimming Athlete of the Week honors.
Thibodaux, a sophomore diver from Alvin, Texas (Alvin HS), helped the Spartans extend their win streak in dual meets to 12 after wins against Fresno State (240-57) and UC Davis (170-129) in Davis, Calif. over the weekend. The sophomore provided SJSU with 13 points toward team totals after she won the one-meter springboard competition with a score of 252.40. She also placed second to teammate Jessica Holden after a 234.30 point performance from the three-meter board. This marks the fourth time this season she has earned WAC Diving Athlete of the Week honors.
Other swimming nominees: Fresno State’s Mary-Tess Taylor
Other diving nominees: Fresno State’s Blair Hopkins
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.
MINETTE SETS NEW WAC DIVING RECORD - Candice Minette, a senior diver from Nevada, set a new Western Athletic Conference diving record in a Dec. 6 dual against Idaho after she posted a score of 328.15 on the 1-meter board. Her score surpassed the previous record by QiongJie Huang (327.00) of Hawai?i set in 2005. This marks the second WAC record for the senior from Glendale, Ariz. as she set the high mark on the 3-meter board in January of 2008.
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.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
Despite winning eight of the 16 events and setting three new team records, Boise State dropped a close dual meet to Hawaii, 161.5-137.5, on Sunday ... the loss came only one month after the Rainbow Wahine edged out the Broncos by half a point at the Husky Invitational, in which the Broncos also set a new team record for points ... both the 200 free relay and 200 medley relay shined for Boise State as both relays brought in a first-place finish and set new team records ... Boise State will head north to Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Wash. on Jan. 24-25 for a pair of dual meets with Idaho and Washington State.
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs earned a slew of lifetime bests in individual swimming and diving events in dual meets against UC Davis and San Jose State ... sophomore Rebecca Atchley and junior Rebecca Strmiska earned bests in every event they participated in ... all four divers earned best marks in the 1-meter and 3-meter events ... Junior Kendra Weeks earned a top three finish on the 1-meter, earning a best mark of 199.80, leading teammates Blair Hopkins, Jillian Mason and Jaime Krause to their best finishes of the season on the 1-meter and 3-meter ... the Bulldogs head south on Saturday to face rival Cal State Bakersfield.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
The Rainbow Wahine hosted their annual Hawai?i Diving Invitational last week ... last years’ NCAA 1-meter diving champion Emma Friesen won both the 1-meter and 3-meter during the invitational ... Friesen won the 1-meter with a score of 322.85 and won the 3-meter with a score of 288.75 ... UH also battled Wisconsin in a dual meet, but fell to the Badgers, 202-57 ... the diving team hosts the Rainbow Diving Invitational this weekend, while the swim team prepares for the Canadian Winter Nations on Feb. 12-15.
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 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 ... the Wolf Pack now prepares for San Jose State in a match-up of the top two teams in the conference on Jan. 31 in San Jose, Calif.
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State swimming and diving team returns to the pool with a pair of away meets ... the Aggies take on Northern Colorado, Friday, Jan. 16, at 4 p.m., in Greely, Colo. ... NMSU then faces Colorado State, Saturday, Jan. 17, at noon, in Fort Collins, Colo. ... the Aggies have met both teams previously this season ... NMSU defeated Northern Colorado, 183-53, Oct. 10, in the WAC Shoot-Out in Las Cruces, but fell to Colorado State, 160-140, Nov. 8, in the Mean Green Duals in Denton, Texas.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
NAU lost to three Pac-10 schools in Tuscon two weeks ago ... the Lumberjacks lost 254.5 to 45.5 to the defending national champs Arizona, 161-139 to Oregon State and 201-98 to Washington ... sophomore Taryn Harris won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events vs. Arizona, Cornell and the Colorado School of Mines ... NAU divers placed first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh on the 3-meter ... Harris, Megan Collier and Lana Christensen (first, third and fourth on 3-meter, respectively) all earned NCAA Zone qualifying scores again, as they had all qualified already ... NAU will not compete again until it hosts Loyola Marymount in a dual meet this Saturday.
San Diego Toreros
San Diego recorded a ninth-place finish after three days of competition at the Nike Cup last month ... freshman Sarah Geerdes finished in 2:06.52 taking 17th place in the 200 individual medley ... the USD Toreros returned to the pool on Saturday, Dec. 13 as they lost to WAC foe New Mexico State, 150-144 ... the team swam to a fifth-place finish at the UC Irvine Relays ... it finished with 118 points in the seven-team meet ... the Toreros next face cross-town rival UC San Diego on Jan. 17 and then prepare for a WAC meet at Northern Arizona.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State improved to an impressive 12-1 with its 12th straight dual meet victory since a season-opening loss at No. 2 Stanford exactly three months ago after a knocked off host UC Davis, 170-129, and cruised past WAC rival Fresno State, 240-57 last weekend ... Heather Denman was perfect once again, defeating both opponents in all three of her individual events, timing 2:03.95 in the 200 fly, 2:08.72 in the 200 back and 57.34 in the 100 fly ... the team returns to San Jose this weekend to conclude the road portion of their 2008-09 regular season with a straight dual at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif., on Friday.