DENVER ? Northern Arizona’s Renee Rother and Hawai’i’s Emma Friesen have been named Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Jan. 12-18.
Rother, a junior swimmer from Oregon City, Ore. (Gladstone HS), won two individual events and a relay as the Lumberjacks swept Loyola Marymount in a dual meet, 172.5-83.5, winning all 14 events. Rother won the 100-meter butterfly with a converted time of 58.80 and won the 200-meter butterfly in 2:25.33 (2:10.22 in yards). She also swam the butterfly leg of NAU's winning 200 medley relay team that won with a season-best time (converted to yards) of 1:46.35. This is the first Athlete of the Week honor for the junior.
Friesen, a junior diver from Northern Vancouver, B.C., Canada (Seycove HS), took first in the 1-meter final and finished third on the 3-meter board at the Rainbow Diving Invitational last week. The defending NCAA 1-meter champion posted a score of 300.55 in the 1-meter final to take the title and a 282.50 on the 3-meter board. This marks the first time this season the junior has earned the Athlete of the Week award.
Other swimming nominees included: Fresno State’s Heidi Gjoen and San Jose State’s Kristen Trammell.
Other diving nominees included: Fresno State’s Blair Hopkins.