ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Dec. 1-7)
Boise State's Amber Boucher and Amanda Burnett have been named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Dec. 1-7.
Boucher, a junior from Keizer, Ore. (McNary HS), set four NCAA provisional ("B" cut) times, which were also Boise State school records and season bests, at the Missouri Invitational on Dec. 3-5. Boucher battered the Broncos' record book as she claimed three individual victories and four individual school records, en route to helping the Broncos claim a second-place finish in Columbia, Mo. Boucher claimed titles in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races by breaking the Boise State school records in each race and posting NCAA provisional qualifying times of 49:59 and 1:47.88, respectively. She broke another school record and recorded another provisional qualifying time in the 100 butterfly as she claimed that title in a time of 53.44. Boucher also nabbed a second-place finish in the 50 free with a Boise State school record and provisional time of 22.80. She even helped a pair of relay teams achieve the fastest times in school history as the 200-yard medley relay team recorded a time of 1:43.39 and the 400-yard freestyle relay team earned a provisional qualifying time of 3:21.45. Each of Boucher's individual victories in the Missouri Invitational are now the top times to beat in the WAC.
Burnett, a junior from Glendale, Ariz. (Mountain Ridge HS), qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships with a great performance in the platform event at the Missouri Invitational. Burnett became the first Bronco ever to post a qualifying score for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships while competing in the platform. Burnett was able to set a school record by compiling a total of 246.1 points. Her score gave her a second-place overall finish behind Missouri's Christina Gailey. Boucher's performance was extra special since Boise State has never had a diver record a qualifying score in any diving event while competing at a championship-style meet.
Other swimmers nominated: Sammi Mischkot, Idaho; Mengjiao Mi, Nevada; Tricia Kiss, New Mexico State; Krista Maier, Northern Arizona
Other divers nominated: Grace Huang, Nevada; Taryn Harris, Northern Arizona
THIS WEEK IN WAC SWIMMING AND DIVING
TEAM NOTES
Five of the eight Western Athletic Conference swimming and diving teams will be in action this week. Boise State matches up against UCLA on Jan. 7 and then travels south to swim in the San Diego Relays on Jan. 9. Fresno State will take part in the UCLA Diving Invite Jan. 7-9, while also competing against Cal State East Bay on Jan. 8. Hawai'i hosts the Hawai'i Diving Invite from Jan. 6-7, and also hosts Wisconsin on Jan. 8. Northern Arizona will go up against Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 7. San Jose State also has two meets as it competes against Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 8 and in the San Diego Relays on Jan. 9.
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos finished second at the Missouri Invitational with a strong final day of competition on Dec. 3-5 ... Boise State claimed second, placing the Broncos ahead of Nebraska and division II powers Drury and Truman State ... host school, No. 25 Missouri, took first place ... juniors Amber Boucher and Stephanie North each achieved NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the 100-yard freestyle, with Boucher breaking the school record in a time of 49.59 ... junior Amanda Burnett became the first Bronco to post a qualifying score for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships as she set a school record with a score of 246.1 on the platform ... Boise state returns to competition on Jan. 7 at No. 24 UCLA.
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 will be back in action on Jan. 7-9 for the UCLA 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 to action on Jan. 6 for the Hawai'i Diving Invite located 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 fell to Arizona State, 150-68, in Tempe, Ariz., on Dec. 18 ... The Lumberjacks placed first and second in the 3-meter diving event as senior Taryn Harris claimed the title with a score of 328.28 and sophomore Kristy Ardavanis took second (309.60) ... Ardavanis qualified for the NCAA Zone Regionals, joining Harris and seniors Lana Christensen and Megan Collier as qualifiers ... sophomore Jaclyn Branning won the 200 breaststroke in a time of 2:25.61 ... The Lumberjacks next travel to Tucson, Ariz., to compete against the Arizona Wildcats on Jan. 7.
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 ... the Spartans look ahead to a match up with CS Bakersfield on Jan. 8, and will also participate in the San Diego Invite on Jan. 9.
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