ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Oct. 11-17)
San Jose State's Kristen Trammell and Idaho's Paige Hunt were named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 10-16.
Trammell, a senior from Goodyear, Ariz. (Xavier College Prep), won two breaststroke events, posted two other top-six finishes, and was part of two second-place relay finishes. Her efforts helped lead the San Jose State squad to a second place finish at the prestigious George Haines Invitational at Stanford last weekend, as well as a 75-39 dual meet victory over WAC member Nevada. Trammell posted the fastest times by a WAC swimmer this season in both the 100-meter breaststroke and the 200-meter breaststroke. Trammell won the 50 breaststroke Friday in 29.65 seconds as part of an SJSU 1-2-3 sweep of the event. Also on Friday, Trammell swam the second leg of the Spartans' 100 medley relay that took second in 47.92, grabbed fifth place in the 200 breastsroke in 2:47.56 and had a sixth-place showing in the 100 individual medley in 1:00.68. On Saturday, Trammell won again, this time in the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 1:15.07. Trammell swam the second leg of the Spartans' second place showing in the 200 medley relay, as the team posted a time of 2:01.60.
Hunt, a junior from Mesa, Ariz. (Mesa CC), captured first place in the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 249.10 in a dual meet against Boise State on October 8. She also placed second on the 1-meter board, posting a score of 223.60. Her efforts totaled 13 points for the Vandals.
TEAM-BY-TEAM RECAPS
Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0)
Fresno State begins the season on Saturday with a dual meet against cross-town opponent Fresno Pacific ... the meet will be the first at the new Fresno State Aquatics Center ... the weekend will begin with a dedication of the new facility on Friday ... the competition pool has a movable bulkhead that allows eight lanes for long-course swimming and 19 lanes for short-course swimming ... Fresno State returns its top freestyle sprinter, junior Dani Yoho, who broke 6 school records last season.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (0-0)
Hawai'i began the season with a third-place finish at the George Haines Invitational ... the Rainbow Wahine scored 198 points, topping one WAC foe, Nevada, but falling behind another, San Jose State ... senior Christa Prior finished first in the 100 backstroke, while junior Rachel Cote came in fourth ... senior diver Daniella Nero finished second in the 1-meter springboard and grabbed third place in the 3-meter diving competition ... junior Taylor Ritenburg and senior Valerie Pagett finished No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke ... Hawai'i is off for the next two weeks, before hosting the Sunshine Diving Invite on October 5.
Idaho Vandals (0-1)
Idaho began the season on October 8 with a loss in a dual meet against in-state rival Boise State, 198-96 ... junior Paige Hunt picked up the lone event victory for Idaho, winning the 3-meter diving competition ... Hunt also finished second on the 1-meter diving board ... she was named WAC Diver of the Week for her efforts ... the Vandals also added second-place finishes from freshman Rachel Millet (200 free), freshman Erica Anderson (100 back), sophomore Lyndsey Williams (200 breast) and senior Calleagh Brown (100 fly) ... this week, the Vandals are back in the pool again, travelling to a three-team meet at Seattle University ... UC Davis will also be in attendance.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-1)
Nevada took fourth in the George Haines Invitational last weekend, finishing behind fellow WAC squads San Jose State and Hawai'i, along with host Stanford ... the Wolf Pack also lost a dual meet to San Jose State 75-39, a meet that was scored separately ... junior Mengjaio Mi had five overall top tens, including two fourth place finishes in freestyle events, the highest individual showings for the Wolf Pack ... sophomore diver Grace Huang was inside the top three in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events, scoring 14 total points for Nevada ... the Wolf Pack are in action again on October 28 when they host Pacific.
New Mexico State Aggies (0-0)
New Mexico State kicked off the season with the Crimson vs. White intrasquad meet on October 5 ... the White squad claimed a 58-44 victory ... the Aggies return 18 swimmers and two divers this season, including six seniors from a squad that won two WAC individual crowns in 2010-11, in addition to setting 10 school records .. NM State also welcomed five freshmen to Las Cruces this fall ... this week, the Aggies open the regular season on the road at TCU on October 21, and North Texas on October 22.
North Dakota Fighting Sioux (1-0)
North Dakota opened the 2011-12 swimming and diving season with a dual meet victory over South Dakota, winning 172-128 ... the Fighting Sioux picked up nine individual titles and one relay win during the meet ... junior Veronica Medon won the 100 backstroke, took first in the 200 backstroke, and won the 200 IM ... she was also a member of the first-place 200 medley relay team ... senior Megan Keidel won the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 243.00 ... she also placed second on the 1-meter board with a score of 230.05 ... this week, the Fighting Sioux travel to Ceder Falls, Iowa to face Northern Iowa and Kansas in a three-team meet.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (0-0)
Northern Arizona has yet to compete against another squad, but the Lumberjacks have been busy with intrasquad meets ... sophomore Rachel Palmer set a meet record with a time of 2 minutes, 23.41 seconds in the 200 individual medley and finished second in the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, and 100 breaststroke to win the 2011 NAU Pentathlon on September 23 ... in the annual Blue vs. Gold split-squad meet, swimmers Chalene Dirks-Ryan and Emma Lowther each won two events, as did diver Kristy Ardavanis, to lead the Blue team to a 60-44 win ... the Lumberjacks have an alumni meet on October 21, the final tune-up before facing WAC foe Idaho on November 5.
San Jose State Spartans (1-1)
The Spartans have competed in three meets already this season ... San Jose fell to Stanford 167-125 on Sept. 30 ... at the George Haines Invitational, the Spartans again fell short of the Cardinal, but finished second in the four-team meet, topping fellow WAC schools Hawai'i and Nevada ... during that meet the Spartans also defeated Nevada 75-39, in a separately scored dual ... the win over Nevada is the Spartans' fourth straight victory over the Wolf Pack dating back to 2008-09 ... senior Kirsten Trammell was named WAC Swimmer of the Week following her efforts at the George Haines Invitational ... the Spartans compete next at UC Santa Cruz on October 28.