ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 10-16)
Boise State's Amber Boucher and Nevada's Grace Huang have been named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Jan. 12-18. This is the third time each athlete has earned the award this season.
Boucher, a junior from Keizer, Ore. (McNary HS), won two individual events and fueled the Broncos to four relay wins against Seattle in two meets spanning Jan. 14-15 in Boise, Idaho. Boucher was victorious in every event she swam in, including a victory in the 100-yard backstroke (56.28), an event she had never participated in before collegiately. Her time in the 100 back is a Boise-West YMCA pool record and is the fifth-fastest time in school history in the event. Boucher continued her season-long dominance of the 50-yard freestyle race as she took first place with a time of 23.56, which was just under a second shy of her WAC-leading time in the event. She also played an important part in the 400 medley, 200 medley, 200 free and 800 free winning relay teams. With Boucher's help, the Broncos were able to win their final two home meets of the season, running their dual record to 9-1.
Huang, a freshman from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (Jhong Jheng HS), swept both diving events in Nevada's double dual against Cal State East Bay and UC Davis on Jan. 15 in Reno, Nev. She dominated the 1-meter finishing with a final score of 301.13, which was about 38 points more than the second-place finisher, Huang's teammate Heather Ramirez. Huang didn't disappoint on the 3-meter event either as she claimed that title with a score of 306.45. Huang helped the Wolf Pack beat Cal State East Bay 203-28, only to see them come up just short against UC Davis, losing 123-120.
Other swimmers nominated: Rayanne Nguyen, Fresno State; Andrea Kostecki, Nevada; Rudie Guerrero, San Jose State
Other divers nominated: Ciera Cortney, Boise State; Stacey Luke, Fresno State; Daniella Nero, Hawai'i
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 will face Washington State on Jan. 21 in Pullman, Wash., and will also take on Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, on Jan. 22 in a WAC dual meet. Fresno State hosts the Valley Invitational in Clovis, Calif., on Jan. 21-22. New Mexico State travels to Greeley, Colo., where it will face Northern Colorado on Jan. 21, and then will travel to Fort Collins, Colo., to face Colorado State on Jan. 22. Northern Arizona heads to Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 22 to face UNLV.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos beat Seattle twice over the span of Jan. 14-15 in their final two home meets of the season in Boise, Idaho ... Boise state won the first meet by a score of 137-66 as the team took 10 of the 11 events ... in her first time competing in the event as a Bronco, junior Amber Boucher won the 100-yard backstroke with the fifth-fastest time in school history (56.28), and set the West Y pool record ... the Broncos won the second meet against Seattle by a score of 134-65, this time taking nine of the 11 events ... leading the way for the seniors was Denise Green, who captured a pair of individual wins and helped the 400-yard medley relay team to victory ... Boise State returns to action Jan. 21 against Washington State in Pullman, Wash.
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs secured a pair of dual meet victories over UC San Diego and Cal State Bakersfield during the Bakersfield Quad on Jan. 15 ... Fresno State beat UC San Diego 169-129 and Cal State Bakersfield 207-91 to mark its third and fourth dual meet victories this season ... The Bulldogs also fell to No. 24 San Diego State (178-119) ... Fresno State improved to 4-5 overall this season and 3-1 over the past four dual meets ... three Bulldogs earned three first-place individual finishes - Rayanne Nguyen (200 Fly - 2:07.30), Dani Yoho (50 Free - 23.89) and Olympic Trial qualifier Michelle Dockendorf (200 Breast - 2:21.36) ... Fresno State next hosts Loyola Marymount and San Diego on Jan. 21-22 in Clovis, Calif.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai'i concluded the Hawai'i Diving Invitational with good showings from multiple divers ... all UH divers saw action at the invite against Division II squad Drury ... junior Daniella Nero earned a personal best of 297.70 points after winning the women's 1-meter while senior Emma Friesen followed in second with 294.20 ... senior Stephanie De Lima (272.60), sophomore Hannah Bocksnick, and freshman Genevieve Bradley (215.90) helped sweep the 1-meter for UH landing in third, fourth and fifth place ... for her second year in a row at the invite, Bocksnick took first on the women's 3-meter with a score 307.75. Friesen followed again in second with a score of 302.25.
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 finished 1-1 after defeating Cal State University East Bay (203-28) and losing narrowly to UC Davis (123-120) in a double-dual on Jan. 15 in Reno, Nev. ... Mengjiao Mi continued her great season by claiming first in the 1,000-yard (10:34.80) and 500-yard (5:10.13) freestyle races ... she also swam the final leg of Nevada's first-place 400-yard freestyle relay (2:41.01) ... Grace Huang was named the WAC diver of the week for third time as she took first on both boards (1-meter: 301.13; 3-meter: 306.45) ... The Wolf Pack will next face Seattle University in Seattle, Wash., Jan. 29 to conclude its regular season.
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 defeated Cal State East Bay on Jan. 14 in Hayward, Calif. to earn head coach Sage Hopkins the 73rd dual meet victory of his career ... San Jose State won 10 individual races and recorded the fastest time in all 13 events on the day ... the Spartans established 16 season-best times in the meet ... Julia Craddock won the 200 free (1:54.35), Karly Brown won the 50 breast (32.51) and Guerrero won the 50 fly (26.92) ... San Jose State will take next week off from competition and return home to face Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 28 in San Jose, 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