ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Nov. 17-23)
San Jose State's Darcie Anderson and Nevada's Grace Huang have been named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Nov. 17-23.
Anderson, a freshman from Willows, Calif., (Orland HS), set three NCAA provisional ("B" cut) times, which were also career and season bests, at the Arena Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 18-20. One of her provisional times came as a member of the 400 medley relay team that finished in sixth place and recorded the second-fastest time in San Jose State history at 3:43.00. Her other two provisional times came in individual events. She grabbed tenth place and recorded the second-fastest time in school history in the 100-yard breastroke at 1:02.52 She bested herself once again as she broke the school record in the 200-yard breastroke with a blistering time of 2:16.06, netting her eighth place. Anderson performances were very strong considering the immense amount of talent at the Arena Invitational, with swimmers from teams such as No.1 Stanford, No. 5 California, No. 23 San Diego State and No. 24 UCLA in attendance.
Huang, a freshman from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (Jhong Jheng HS), claimed third-place in the 3-meter diving event at the Wildcat Diving Invitational on Nov. 19-21, in Tucson, Ariz. Huang had the strongest meet of any Western Athletic Conference diver as she also finished first (10th overall) in the consolation round of the 1-meter and 11th on the platform with scores of 250.95 and 193.80, respectfully. The WAC was represented by divers from seven of the eight schools and Huang's score of 298.65 in the 3-meter event was the highest of any WAC diver. Over 90 divers from 20 universities competed in the Wildcat Invitational. This is the second time this season Huang has earned diver of the week honors.
Other swimmers nominated: Amber Boucher, Boise State; Dani Yoho, Fresno State
Other divers nominated: Amanda Burnett, Boise State; Hannah Prigge, Fresno State
THIS WEEK IN WAC SWIMMING AND DIVING
None of the eight Western Athletic Conference teams are in action over the holiday weekend.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos defeated Northern Arizona 168-132 in an extremely competitive WAC meet in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Nov. 20 ... Amber Boucher won the 100-meter butterfly in a time of 1:03.34 and teammate Christine Raininger nabbed a victory in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:24.08 ... junior Stephanie North picked up wins the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter freestyle, giving her eight individual victories on the season ... Boise also had divers competing in the Wildcat Diving Invitational, which took place Nov. 19-21 ... redshirt junior Amanda Burnett stood out as she posted a school record with a third-place finish (211.80) in the platform competition.
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs had a split squad as the swimmers competed in the Arena Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 18-20, while the divers traveled to Tucson, Ariz., for the Wildcat Diving Invitational on Nov. 19-21 ... Michelle Dockendorf and Dani Yoho each clocked personal bests in the 200-yard breastroke (2:17.81) and 100-yard freestyle (51.94), respectfully ... all three divers the Bulldogs sent to Tucson finished in the top 16 in the platform ... freshman Hannah Prigge led the way as she placed sixth overall, scoring 206.40 points ... Fresno State concludes meets for the 2010 year and will be back in action in Jan. 7-9 for the Bruin Diving Invite.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai'i concluded the Arena Invitational in 12th place out of 19 teams ... junior Maura Barrett finished seventh in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.08 ... the Rainbow Wahine's 400 free relay team also nabbed a seventh-place finish with a time of 3:24.38 ... the UH divers were paced by junior Daniella Nero, who finished in fourth with a score of 272.30, senior Stephanie De Lima placed eighth on the three meter with a score of 246.90 and freshman Genevieve Bradley claimed 32nd-place with a score of 147.80 on the platform ...Hawai'i returns home to host the Christmas Tree Diving Invitational on Dec. 12.
Idaho Vandals
The Vandals came up short against Northern Arizona as they lost 136-106 to the lumberjacks on Nov. 13 ... Idaho did record one-two finishes in the 100- and 200-freestyle races as Alyson O'Brien bested teammate Megan Venlos to win the 100 free with a time of 52.87. Venlos, in return, flipped things around by besting O'Brien in the 200 free with a time of 1:54.52 ... Si Jia Pang and Kelsie Saxe won the 50 free and 200 breastroke with times of 24.59 and 2:25.35, respectively ... the Vandals will take a short break in action before traveling to Reno, Nev., to battle the Wolf Pack on Dec. 4.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack divers had a great showing at the Wildcat Diving Invitational on Nov. 19-21 ... senior Heather Ramirez led the Wolf Pack, taking seventh with a score of 203.65, freshman Stephanie Hansen recorded a score of 203.35 to finish ninth and Grace Huang and Aniesa Debaji placed 11th and 13th, respectively. Huang earned a score of 193.80 for her dive, while Debaji received a score of 190.05 ... Huang also finished third and 10th in the 3-meter and 1-meter events with scores of 298.65 and 250.95, respectively ... Nevada returns home to compete against WAC rival Idaho on Dec. 4.
New Mexico State Aggies
The Aggies sent divers to Tucson, Ariz., for the Wildcat Diving Invitational on Nov. 19-21 ... junior Carly Smith finished in eighth place on the platform with a score of 203.55 points ... Smith was also the top Aggie finisher in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, finishing with scores of 202.30 and 212.90, respectively ... the Aggies return to dual meet action at Northern Arizona, Dec. 4.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
The Lumberjacks fell at home to Boise State 168-132 on Nov. 20 ... sophomore Fi Connell set a pool record as she led off the 400-meter medley relay with a time of 1:03.19 in the 100-meter backstroke, lowering the all-time record at the Wall Aquatic Center by .11 seconds ... Connell also claimed the 200-meter backstroke race in a time of 1:03.75 ... freshman Emma Lowther won the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:21.20, while also nabbing first place in the 800 and 400 freestyle races ... Next for the Lumberjacks is a home meet against WAC foe New Mexico State on Dec. 4.
San Jose State Spartans
The Spartans had a great showing at the Arena Invitational on Nov. 18-20 as they finished in seventh place ... Darcie Anderson and Marisa DeWames set school records and achieved NCAA Consideration Qualifying times for the Spartans ... Anderson set the school record in the 200 breastroke with a B-Cut time of 2:16.06. She also had B-cut times in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.52) and as a member of the 400 medley relay team (3:43.00) ... DeWames broke the school record in the 100 freestyle as she swam her B-Cut time in 49.64 ... divers Amy Kilby and Jessica Holden placed 14th and 25th, respectively, in the platform competition at the Wildcat Diving Invite.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO SAN ANTONIO – The 2011 edition of the WAC Championship returns to Palo Alto Natatorium in San Antonio, Texas. Boise State will look to defend its 2010 title in hopes of repeating as WAC champions. The championship will be held Feb. 23-26, 2011.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP:
Finals: March 17-19, 2011
Location: Austin, Texas
The Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center
Host: Texas