DENVER ? San Jose State’s Lauren Mar and Jo Thibodaux have been named Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Athletes of the week, respectively, for the week of Dec. 29- Jan. 4.
Mar, a senior swimmer from San Francisco, Calif. (Sacred Heart Cathedral), was the Spartans' top performer in a pair of road competitions over the first weekend of the new year. In a 166.5-109.5 victory at Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 3 that extended the Spartans' win streak to 10 straight meets since a season-opening loss at No. 2 Stanford, Mar was first in her only individual event of the day, sprinting 24.72 in the 50 free. She also led off the first-place 'A' 400 freestyle relay to conclude the meet, with the foursome timing 3:38.76. Mar then participated in six of 10 events at the UC Irvine/Ayres Hotels Relay Invitational in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 4, as the defending champion Spartans were narrowly edged by Nebraska for the title, 423-400. Mar swam the second leg of the winning 3x100 backstroke relay. This marks the first time this season Mar has garnered the award.
Thibodaux, a sophomore diver from Alvin, Texas (Alvin HS), out-performed freshman teammate Jessica Holden in a dual meet at Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 3, as she placed second on both the one-meter and three-meter springboards with scores of 245.33 and 246.38 points, respectively, to aid in the 166.5-109.5 Spartan victory. At the UC Irvine/Ayres Hotels Diving Invitational on Jan. 4, Thibodaux placed fourth in the three-meter and fifth in the one-meter competition. She scored 236.10 points to finish just behind Holden from three meters, and 222.20 points to finish four spots ahead of her teammate from one meter. This is the third time this season the sophomore has earned the weekly award.