ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Oct. 17-23)
Idaho's Rachel Millet and Fresno State's Stacey Luke were named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 17-23.
Millet, a freshman from Spokane, Wash. (Ferris HS), won three individual events and was on the runner-up relay team during a double-duel at Seattle. She won the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter freestyle and the 500-meter freestyle, and placed second on the 200-meter medley relay team, competing against swimmers from three other schools. Her times in the 100-meter butterfly (56.66) and 200-meter freestyle (1:52.14) were pool records.
Luke, a junior from Kenmore, Wash. (Inglemoor HS), won the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions against Fresno Pacific. She scored a 267.05 on the 1-meter dive, good for a NCAA Zone diving qualification mark, and scored 272.10 on the 3-meter dive. Her performance helped Fresno State open the new Fresno State Aquatics Center with a 169-118 victory.
TEAM RECAPS
Fresno State Bulldogs (1-0)
Fresno State began the season on Saturday with a 169-118 victory against cross-town opponent Fresno Pacific ... in the first event at the new Fresno State Aquatics Center, the Bulldogs set 10 pool records ... sophomore Michelle Dockendorf earned first place in two events and finished third in another, earning 21 points for the Bulldogs in the competition ... junior Stacey Luke won the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competition against Fresno Pacific ... she scored a 267.05 on the 1-meter and a 272.10 on the 3-meter ... she was named WAC Diver of the Week for her efforts ... this week, the Bulldogs travel to face conference opponent Nevada on Saturday.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (0-0)
Hawai'i began the season with a third-place finish at the George Haines Invitational on Oct. 14-15 ... 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-meter 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-meter breaststroke ... Hawai'i is off for the next two weeks, before hosting the Sunshine Diving Invite on Nov. 5.
Idaho Vandals (1-2)
Idaho travelled to Seattle for a double-dual meet, defeating Seattle 159-103 and falling to UC Davis 169.592.5 ... freshman Rachel Millet won the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter freestyle and 500-meter freestyle ... her times in the 100-meter butterfly (56.66) and 200-meter freestyle (1:52.14) were pool records ... she was named WAC Swimmer of the Week ... freshman Erica Anderson won the 200-meter backstroke in 2:06.71 ... Anderson, Millet and seniors Kelsie Saxe and Calleagh Brown finished second in the 200-meter medley relay ... the Vandals are off next weekend ... Idaho is in action next against conference foe Northern Arizona on Nov. 5.
Nevada Wolf Pack (0-1)
The Wolf Pack were off last weekend ... Nevada took fourth in the George Haines Invitational on Oct. 14-15, 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 ... this week, the Wolf Pack are in action Pacific on Friday and Fresno State on Saturday.
New Mexico State Aggies (0-2)
New Mexico State travelled for two matches in Texas, falling to TCU 138-105 on Friday and to North Texas 184.5-115.5 on Saturday ... in her Aggie debut, freshman Jessica Legge captured three individual titles on the weekend ... on Friday, she won the 200 butterfly in commanding fashion with a time more than three seconds faster than the field and also won the 200 breaststroke ... she followed that performance with a win in the 100 breaststroke at North Texas and had three second-place finishes on the weekend ... senior Carly Smith swept the diving events and had a NCAA Zone Diving mark... this week, the Aggies host Northern Colorado, the first home meet of the season for NMSU.
North Dakota Fighting Sioux (2-1)
North Dakota went 1-1 in a double-dual meet at Northern Iowa, defeating Northern Iowa 185-114 and lost to Kansas 176-117 ... senior Caitlin Conci finished 2nd in the 100 fly with a time of 559.10 ... she placed 6th in the 200 fly with a time of 2:15.12 and had a split time of 25.20 in the second leg to help lead UND's 200 free relay to a 4th-place finish ... senior Megan Keidel won the 1-meter dive with a score of 248.00 and placed third in the 3-meter dive with a mark of 241.40 ... the Sioux are back in action on Friday, when they travel to Brookings, S.D., to take on host South Dakota State and Western Illinois.
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 Sept. 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 first action comes against conference opponent Idaho on Nov. 5.
San Jose State Spartans (1-1)
The Spartans were off this week ... San Jose fell to Stanford 167-125 on Sept. 30 ... at the George Haines Invitational on Oct. 14-15, 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 ... this week, the Spartans compete at UC Santa Cruz on Friday.