ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 17-23)
New Mexico State's Kelly Conrad and Fresno State's Hannah Prigge have been named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Jan. 17-23. This is the first time either athlete has earned the award this season.
Conrad, a senior from Lake Stevens, Wash. (Lake Stevens HS), led New Mexico State to a pair of road wins at Northern Colorado and Colorado State last weekend. Conrad's performances helped lift New Mexico State to victory over Northern Colorado. She swam the anchor leg of the winning 200-medley relay (48.14), and also claimed victory in the 50-yard freestyle race with a time of 24.69. Conrad went on to wrap up the 132-108 victory for the Aggies by swimming the leadoff leg for the winning 200-free relay team (1:36.29). Her two individual wins against Colorado State helped propel the Aggies to their first-ever victory over the Rams in 14 dual meets. Conrad claimed the top spot in the 100-yard freestyle, recording a season-best time of 51.98 seconds in the event, and in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.71. The Aggies won the meet by a score of 156.5-143.5.
Prigge, a freshman from Rocklin, Calif. (Whitney HS), swept both diving events at the Valley Invitational, hosted by the Bulldogs on Jan. 21-22 in Fresno, Calif. Prigge set season highs in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Her score of 269.70 netted her the top spot on the 1-meter, leaving the second-place competitor 32 points behind her. Prigge also recorded a career best in her victory in the 3-meter, claiming the title with a score of 283.75. It was the first time Prigge had won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events in the same meet.
Other swimmers nominated: Rachel Heaney, Boise State; Dani Yoho, Fresno State; Shana Lim, Idaho
Other divers nominated: Ciera Cortney, Boise State; Paige Hunt, Idaho; Carly Smith, New Mexico 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. Hawai'i takes a road trip to San Diego, Calif., where it will face UC San Diego and Wyoming over the weekend. Idaho heads to Corvallis, Ore., to battle Oregon State on Jan. 29. Nevada faces Seattle on Jan. 29 in Seattle, Wash. Northern Arizona participates at the Rebel Diving Invite on Jan. 28 in Las Vegas, Nev. San Jose State stays home to face Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 29 in San Jose, Calif.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos came away with two victories over the weekend of Jan. 21-22 against Washginton State and WAC rival Idaho ... junior Amber Boucher helped the Broncos to a 143-119 victory over Washington State by winning the two individual events (100 fly and 50 free) and both relay events (400 free and 200 medley) she participated in ... Boise State won nine of 11 swimming events on its way to a third-straight win against in-state rival Idaho, 160-83 ... freshman Rachel Heaney earned victories in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:33.17), the 200-yard butterfly (2:03.74) and the 500-yard freestyle events (5:09.44) ... the Broncos next face Seattle and Oregon State in Seattle, Wash., on Feb. 5.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State's Britney Vogel and Dani Yoho both broke individual meet records to help land the Bulldogs a second-place finish at the Valley Invitational on Jan. 22 in Fresno, Calif. ... Loyola Marymount claimed the title with Fresno State and San Diego finishing second and third respectively ... Vogel set the meet record in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 1:05.11 ... Yoho set the meet record for the 100-yard freestyle after earning a time of 51.97 ... Hannah Prigge set a career-best mark in the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 283.75, a 42.45 point improvement from her previous top showing of 241.30 ... Fresno State will face San Jose State on Feb. 5 in the Bulldogs' final dual meet of the season.
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
The Vandals were downed at home 160-83 by WAC-rival Boise State on Jan. 22 in Moscow, Idaho ... freshman Shan Lim and sophomore Paige Hunt each proved to be great for the Vandals as both athletes won two events ... Hunt opened the meet by winning the 3-meter diving event with a personal best 275.95 and would go on to also claim the 1-meter competition with a 241.40 ... Lim claimed victories in the 50 free (23.97) and 200 back (2:04.43) ... the Vandals next compete against Oregon State on Jan. 29 in Corvallis, Ore.
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 (Jan. 10-16) 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
During a road trip to the state of Colorado, the Aggies came away with a pair of victories over the weekend of Jan. 21-22 against Northern Colorado (132-108) and Colorado State (156.5-143.5) ... against UNC, NM State swept the 200 free with freshman Terrin Seaver taking top honors, and junior Brittney Moore and sophomore Jessi Vlasic following in second and third, respectively ... against CSU, senior Kelly Conrad paced the Aggies in the freestyle events garnering top honors in the 100 (51.98) and 200 (1:53.71) free ... the Aggies return to Las Cruces, N.M., for their home finale against New Mexico on Feb. 5.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
Northern Arizona fell 162-95 to UNLV and 150-98 to UCSB in Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 22 ... the Lumberjacks were able to come up with some individual wins in the double dual meet as sophomore Fi Connell claimed the 100 backstroke (57.02) and freshmen Emma Lowther placed first in the 200 butterfly (2:06.07) ... next up for the Lumberjacks is the UNLV Diving Invitational on Jan. 28-29 in Las Vegas, Nev.
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