This Week in WAC Swimming-The final week of the season kicks off as WAC teams hosts non-conference opponents in preparation for the conference championships in less than three weeks.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 26 - Feb. 1)
DENVER ? San Jose State’s Meghan McCurley and Nevada’s Candice Minette have been named Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Athletes of the Week, respectively for Jan. 26 ? Feb. 1.
McCurley, a sophomore from Fair Oaks, Calif. (Bella Vista HS), lifted the Spartans to their 15th-straight victory in a 170.5 ? 129.5 victory over Nevada last weekend. The sophomore won the 50 free in 23.99, just .47 seconds shy of her lifetime best. She then went on to swim 52.47 in the 100 free to win the event in a 1-2-3-4 Spartan effort to put the meet away. McCurley also swam on the second-place 100 free relay team, timing a 3:51.45, with a split of 50.3, a lifetime best. McCurley’s day finished as the second leg of the winning ?A’ 200 freestyle relay, in 1:36.51, also the Spartans’ second-fastest showing in the event this season. Her 50-yard split was 23.84. This is the first time this season McCurley has earned the weekly award.
Minette, a senior from Glendale, Ariz. (Mountain Ridge HS), won the 1 and 3-meter in the Wolf Pack’s dual meet against San Jose State. She won the 1-meter with a score of 302.48 and followed that with a victory in the 3-meter scoring 319.5 points. Minette currently leads the conference with top scores in both events. This is the third time this season the senior has garnered the WAC honor.
Other swimming nominees: Nevada’s Summer Halwas-Morgan and Fresno State Kendra Weeks.
Other diving nominees: Fresno State’s Jordan Morillo, Northern Arizona’s Megan Collier and San Jose State’s Jo Thibodaux.
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.
BOISE STATE RECORDS FIRST-EVER WIN AGAINST IDAHO - Boise State beat its in-state rival, Idaho, for the first time in program history with a 175-111 victory on Jan. 24 in Moscow, Idaho. The Broncos took 12 of the 16 events from the Vandals and set a new team record in the 200 medley relay.
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.
WAC Championship Tickets ON SALE NOW:
All-Session Passes (includes all 10 sessions) are $35 for adults and $25 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 Adults $6, Children $4
Prelims Adults $6, Children $4
Diving Adults $6, Children $4
Finals Adults $7, Children $4
Tickets can be purchased by logging on to wacsports.com and clicking on the “Championships” tab. Scroll down to Swimming and Diving and select “Ticket Order Form.”
WAC TO STREAM SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP - The Western Athletic Conference, in conjunction with its Web site partner JumpTV Sports, has announced it will stream the finals of all four night of the 2009 WAC Swimming & Diving Championships, Feb. 25-28. Viewers can sign up by visiting www.WAC.tv.
The championship will be held at the Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas. On Wednesday, Feb. 25, there will be finals in two relays, the 200-yard medley and 800 freestyle. Viewers that sign up, will be able to watch those two events for free. Full schedules begin Thursday with finals in several events the next three nights. Each of those three nights can be viewed for a subscription of $5.95 or a full championship package can be purchased for $9.95. Finals begin at 6:30 p.m. CT on all four nights.
WAC Championship Apparel:
Swimming & Diving Championship Apparel will be available online or for purchase at the event. Items available include t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, and hooded sweatshirts.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos garnered their first-ever win against in-state rival Idaho last week as the team took 12 of the 16 events against the Vandals ... the quartet of Morgan McLain, Emily Irvin, Amber Boucher and Stephanie North edged out the Vandals by .23 seconds to take the victory in the 200 medley relay, a new school record ... in the mile, Rachael Meisner and Katelyn Lofland finished 1-2 for the Broncos with times of 17:49.98 and 17:50.10, respectively ... the pair finished nine seconds in front of the next swimmer to sweep the top spots ... the team swims in its last dual meet of the season on Satruday, as it hosts Oregon State.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Freshmen Heidi Gjoen (Oslo, Norway) and Jordan Morillo (Lindsay, Calif.), and junior diver Kendra Weeks (Folsom, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with top finishes in warm weather Saturday afternoon against the Toreros and Loyola Marymount at the Beach Cup Invitational ... junior Rebecca Strmiska took nearly 40 seconds off her mile time and earned a lifetime best in the distance freestyle event, finishing 20:18.40 ... on the 1-meter diving board, Weeks became a high scorer and finished second with 219.98 points ... the Bulldogs close out their season this week on the road against San Jose State.
Rainbow Wahine
The Rainbow Wahine hosted their annual Hawai?i Diving Invitational last month ... last year’s 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 ... Freisen captured her second-consecutive first-place finish when she posted a 300.55 on the 1-meter board at the Rainbow Diving Invitational ... UH also battled Wisconsin in a dual meet, but fell to the Badgers, 202-57 ... ... the swim team prepares for the Canadian Winter Nations on Feb. 12-15.
Idaho Vandals
The Vandals returned to action after a layoff of more than a month in duals against Boise State and Washington State last week ... Calleagh Brown set a season best for Idaho in the 100-yard butterfly at 59.52 ... Alyson O’Brien’s time of 52.89 set a Vandal season best in the 100-yard freestyle ... Elizabeth Jagusch set the new fastest time of the season for the team in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:06.18 ... Friday was Jagusch’s first meet since last February because of a broken collar bone ... UI had a week off to prepare for a home meet against Washington this week before the WAC Championship in San Antonio on Feb. 25-28.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada closed out the regular season with a 170.5-129.5 loss to San Jose State last week ... senior diver Candice Minette continued to dominate the springboard events as she took first place in both the 1- and 3-meter events ... Minette’s performance earned her WAC Diver of the Week honors ... Summer Halwas-Morgan was victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke, posting a time of 2:21.43, and swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:08.9 ... Nevada will now concentrate on preparing for the Western Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 25-28 in San Antonio, Texas ... the Wolf Pack has won the last two WAC titles.
New Mexico State Aggies
The Aggies ended their dual season in style with a rout of Mountain West and in-state rival New Mexico, 178-105 two weeks ago ... this marks the second-consecutive victory over the Lobos for NMSU ... in the 100 backstroke, Stephanie Peacock scored for the Aggies with a second-place finish ... NM State swept the 100 breaststroke with freshman Maria Spies and sophomores Alannah Lawrence and Kelly Runestrand finishing 1-2-3 ... junior Victoria Eickerman earned a pair of victories in the 100 and 200 butterfly ... for now, the swim team prepares for the WAC Championship, Feb. 25-28.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
NAU set a pool record in the first event of the day and went on to win 12 of 16 events en route to a 176-120 win over WAC foe San Diego on Jan. 24 ... the 200 medley relay team of Meredith Egloria, Maria Hechanova, Tami Binek and Rachael Foe won in a pool record time of 1:57.40 to start the meet off on the right foot for NAU ... Foe went on to win three individual events; the 50 freestyle, the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley ... her winning time of 1:03.88 in the 100 fly was just 0.06 off the pool record ... sophomore Megan Collier earned WAC Diver of the Week honors for her third-place finish at USC ... the team is idle until the WAC Championships, Feb. 25-28.
San Diego Toreros
The Toreros finished in second place with 773 points behind non-conference opponent Loyola Marymount, which earned 795 points, in the first annual USD Beach Cup Invitational hosted at the USD Swim Complex ... the 19-event format included four relays, two rounds of diving and 13 individual events ... Monica Oddo took first place in both diving events, scoring 220.50 points in the first round and 219.08 points in the second round ... Sarah Gleason had a stellar day with two first-place finishes in the distance events; in the 500 freestyle, she finished in 5:07.34 ... this week, USD will face crosstown rival San Diego State on Saturday as they have a senior send off on their final home meet in 2009.
San Jose State Spartans
Without the services of standout freshmen Heather Denman and Tomi Petty, the Spartans posted a comprehensive 170.5-129.5 victory over two-time defending WAC champion Nevada at home on Saturday, Jan. 31 ... the result extended the SJSU win streak to 15 straight dual meets, and improved its overall mark to 15-1 ... San Jose State has one final dual meet remaining before the WAC Championships, at home on Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 7, against another league foe in Fresno State ... Spartan seniors Beste Erener, Lauren Mar, Katey Nelson and Tarolyn Robertson, each of them all-WAC swimmers multiple times over their careers, will be making their final home appearances at The Aquatics Center.