ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 5-11)
San Jose State's Julia Craddock and Northern Arizona's Taryn Harris have been named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Jan. 5-11.
Craddock, a sophomore from Litchfield Park, Ariz., had a great showing in a dual meet at Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 8, as she claimed two individual titles and was a member of the victorious 200 medley relay team. She won the 50- and 100-yard butterfly events with times of 26.73 and 57.68, respectively. In addition, Craddock recorded the fastest time in the 400 IM (4:26.61), but was exhibitioned due to her team's large lead. San Jose State also participated in the San Diego Relays where Craddock swam on the winning 1500-yard freestyle relay team that recorded a time of 15:18.34 in the event.
Harris, a senior from East Wenatchee, Wash., helped Northern Arizona to its first ever victory over Pac-10 opponent Oregon State in a double dual meet against the Beavers and in-state rival Arizona on Jan. 7 in Tucson, Ariz. Harris came up big as she claimed second place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events with scores of 332.33 and 365.18, respectively. Both scores were season-best marks for Harris. Her performance in the diving events helped the Lumberjacks secure the victory over Oregon State.
Other swimmers nominated: Stephanie North, Boise State; Stephanie Hatayama, Fresno State; Chalene Dirks-Ryan, Northern Arizona
Other divers nominated: Ciera Cortney, Boise State; Stacey Luke, Fresno State
THIS WEEK IN WAC SWIMMING AND DIVING
Five of the eight Western Athletic Conference swimming and diving teams will be in action this week. Boise State battles Seattle in a home meet on Jan. 14-15 in Boise, Idaho. Fresno state will be swimming in the Bakersfield Quad in Bakersfield, Calif., on Jan. 15. Hawai'i hosts the Rainbow Diving Invite on Jan. 14 in Honolulu, Hawai'i. Nevada hosts a double-dual meet against Cal State East Bay and UC Davis on Jan. 15 in Reno, Nev. San Jose State also takes on Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif., on Jan. 14.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos had two meets over the weekend, claiming victory in one and losing narrowly in the other ... Boise State came up just short against UCLA as it lost 178-116 on Jan. 7 ... junior Stephanie North claimed two individual wins (50-free, 23.55; 100-free, 50.97) and teammate Amber Boucher added another (100-fly, 54.63) as the Broncos suffered their first dual meet loss of the season ... freshman Ciera Cortney qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships after posting a score of 270 points at the UCLA Diving Invite on Jan. 7-9 ... the Broncos also took the team title at the San Diego Relays on Jan. 9, after claiming victory in nine of the 10 events.
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs dominated Cal State East Bay 174-62, winning each of the 16 events they swam in ... senior Stephanie Hatayama recorded two wins in the 100 yard butterfly (1:01.13) and the 50 yard freestyle (24.97) ... sophomore Britney Vogel won the 1000 yard freestyle (10:47.79) ... Stacey Luke and Kendra Weeks took seventh (203.45) and 12th (180.70), respectively, on the platform event at the UCLA Diving Invite on Jan. 7-9 ... next for the Bulldogs is the Bakersfield Quad on Jan. 15 in Bakersfield, Calif.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai'i concluded the Hawai'i Diving Invitational with a win in the three meter event ... junior Daniella Nero led the Rainbow Wahine on the three meter taking first with a score of 310.30, while Hannah Bocksnick earned 288.95 points to come place her third ... senior Stephanie De Lima and freshman Genevieve Bradley also competed for the Rainbow Wahine, with De Lima taking sixth with 255.45 points and Bradley claiming 19th with a score of 199.30 ... next up for Hawai'i is the Rainbow Diving Invite on Jan. 14 in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho won at Nevada for the first time on Dec. 4 by a score of 126-117 ... freshman Sammi Mischkot won the distance double as she swept the 1,000-yard and 500-yard freestyle races ... the Vandals secured the victory by winning the 400-yard free relay by just over a second over the Wolf Pack ... the team of Megan Venlos, Si Jia Pang, Alyson O'Brien and Shana Lim finished the race in a time of 3:31.94 to claim the meet for Idaho ... the Vandals look to prepare for Boise State in a dual meet on Jan. 22.
Nevada Wolf Pack
The Wolf Pack battled the Vandals all the way to the final event only to come up short, losing 117-126 on Dec. 4. ... with the score tied at 113 points apiece, it came down to the 400-yard freestyle relay between the Wolf Pack and the Vandals, with Idaho squeaking out the victory as it won the race by less than two seconds, 3:33.00 to 3.31.94 ... sophomore Mengjiao Mi shined for the Wolf Pack once again with two first-place finishes in the 100- (53.43 ) and 200-yard freestyles (1:53.97) ... Grace Huang swept both diving events with scores of 307.58 on the 3-meter and 281.33 on the 1-meter ... Nevada returns to competition Jan. 15 against Cal State East Bay and UC Davis in a double-dual.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State finished in second place at the UNLV Winter Invitational scoring 748 points over the three day event in Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 11-13 ... sophomore Beth Cate swam well for the Aggies as she claimed victory in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.53. ... senior diver Mariesa Cloud qualified for the NCAA Zone meet with a second-place finish on the 1-meter (270.2 points) ... she also won the title in the 3-meter with a score of 243.35 points ... New Mexico State will compete against Northern Colorado on Jan. 21, in Greeley, Colo.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona defeated Oregon State 160-133, but lost to Arizona 157-122 in its double dual meet on Jan. 7 in Tucson, Ariz. ... Chalene Dirks-Ryan won the 100 free with a time of 53.96, while Stirling Smith finished first with a time of 2:24.45 in the 200 breast ... Taryn Harris scored big in the diving events for NAU with second place finishes on the 1-meter (332.23) and 3-meter (365.18) ... the Lumberjacks victory marks their first ever over Oregon State in their five previous matchups against the Pac-10 school ... next up for the lumberjacks is a double dual meet against UNLV and UC Santa Barbara in Las Vegas, Nev. on Jan. 22.
San Jose State Spartans
The Spartans finished in second place with 138 points at the USD Relay Meet on Jan. 9. ... SJSU's team of Amy Friedhoff, Julia Koch, and Julia Craddock won the 1500 free relay in a time of 15:18.34 ... the Spartans also claimed a 182-92 dual meet victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 8 in Bakersfield, Calif. ... the win improves the Spartans dual meet record to 5-1 this season ... Darcie Anderson won the 50 (30.09) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.53), while teammates Julia Craddock and Rudie Guerrero won the 50-butterfly (26.73) and 50-backstroke (27.26), respectively ... SJSU looks forward to a dual meet with CS East Bay on Jan. 15 in Hayward, Calif.
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