Week 6 Recap
San Jose State garnered a No. 2 ranking in the season's first CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Division I poll, released on Nov. 16, trailing only Towson. New Mexico State and Fresno State joined San Jose State in the top 25 at No. 19 and No. 23, respectively.
Northern Arizona won the only dual of the week, defeating Washington State on Monday. San Jose State placed fourth at the Arena Invitational, also attended by Hawai'i (11th) and Fresno State (14th). New Mexico State placed third at the Houston Cougar Classic, while Idaho finished seventh.
Nevada and Northern Arizona had divers excel at the Wildcat Diving Invitational.
No teams are schedule for meets this week.
Last Week's Results
Thursday-Saturday Nov. 17-19
Hawai'i at Arena Invitational 11th/191
Fresno State at Arena Invitational 14th/179
San Jose State at Arena Invitational 4th/707
Idaho at Houston Cougar Classic 7th/340
New Mexico State Houston Cougar Classic 3rd/493
Friday-Sunday Nov. 18-20
Nevada at Wildcat Diving Invite Individual
Northern Arizona at Wildcat Diving Invite Individual
Monday Nov. 21
Northern Arizona def. Washington State 161-133
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Nov. 14-21)
New Mexico State's Aliena Schmidtke and Nevada's Grace Huang have been named the Verizon WAC Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for the week of Nov. 14-21.
Schmidtke , a freshman from Bad Segeberg, Germany, helped the Aggies to a third-place team finish at the Houston Invitational. She set three school records in the three-day event. Schmidtke set a program record with a time of 50.51 in the 100 freestyle, good for a fifth-place finish. She also swam the first leg of the 400-freestyle relay that crushed the school record (3:24.56) and finished in fourth place. She broke the school record in the 200 freestyle in the prelims and improved her time in the finals with a second-place showing of 1:48.24. Her performance was also an NCAA 'B' cut and the fastest time recorded by a WAC swimmer this season.
Huang, a sophomore from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan (Jhong Jheng HS), picked up two top-five finishes on the weekend at the competitive Wildcat Diving Invitational, which featured over 50 divers from 16 schools, including six Pac-12 schools. Huang finished third in the 3-meter diving competition (300.60) and fourth in the platform discipline (224.10). On the 1-meter board, the only event where Huang failed to advance out of the preliminaries, she rallied to win the consolation title with a score of 272.10. Her score on the platform was the best in the WAC this season, giving Huang the top score in the conference in all three diving disciplines.
Team Recaps
Fresno State Bulldogs (2-3)
Fresno State finished 14th at the Arena Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., scoring 179 points in the swimming-only competition ... the event featured 21 teams, including a number of the top teams in the nation... junior Dani Yoho (50-yard freestyle) and sophomore Brittany Buna (400-yard individual medley) each broke the school records in their respective events, three 'Dogs set new career bests, and numerous season best times were recorded ... Fresno State is off this week, but returns to action on Dec. 3, hosting Idaho in a WAC dual ... the dual vs. Idaho will be the final home meet of the season for the Bulldogs ... in addition, some swimmers will be attending the USA Senior Nationals in Athens, Ga. on Dec. 1-3.
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine (0-0)
Hawai'i finished 11th at the Arena Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., scoring 191 points ... the Rainbow Wahine finished ahead of WAC opponent Fresno State, but behind San Jose State ... senior Christa Prior had the best individual finish for UH, finishing 10th in the 200-yard backstroke ... sophomore Sofia Mustelin finished 14th in the 100-yard freestyle ... the 200-yard relay team of Prior, Mustelin, freshman Peggy Liang, and junior Rachel Cote placed seventh ... the UH team will be back in action from Dec. 1-3, but the divers will be at the Texas Diving Invite in Austin, Texas, while the swimmers will compete at the USA Senior Nationals in Athens, Ga.
Idaho Vandals (1-3)
Idaho finished seventh at the Houston Cougar Classic on the weekend, scoring 340 points ... the Vandals had a strong showing, setting six school records during the weekend and a number of personal bests ... freshman Rachel Millet set four school records in three days, in the 100-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle and 50-yard freestyle ... Millet was also on the 800-yard relay team that also set a school record ... junior diver Paige Hunt placed third in the platform dive and 3-meter dive, and added a fourth-place finish on the 1-meter board ... the Vandals are in action next on December 3, travelling to face WAC foe Fresno State.
Nevada Wolf Pack (2-1)
Nevada competed at the Wildcat Diving Invitational over the weekend ... the Wolf Pack were led by sophomore Grace Huang, who picked up two top-five finishes on the weekend ... Huang finished third in the 3-meter diving competition and fourth in the plaform discipline ... she also won the consolation title in the 1-meter competition ... sophomore Stephanie Hansen was the top finisher in the 1-meter prelims, placing 14th ... the Wolf Pack are off over Thanksgiving, returning to action Dec. 3 with a dual at Cal State East Bay.o State.
New Mexico State Aggies (1-2)
The New Mexico State swimming and diving team ended the Houston Cougar Classic with a third-place finish in the team standings with 493 points ... the Aggies set four school records and posted five NCAA 'B' cuts ... freshman Jessica Legge won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:03.03, a school-record time ... freshman Aliena Schmidtke set three school records in the three-day event ... she set individual records in the 100-yard freestyle (50.51, fourth place), the 200-yard freestyle (1:48.24, second place) and was part of the 4x100-yard relay team (3;24.56, fifth place) ... the Aggies are in action next on Dec. 3 in a WAC dual against Northern Arizona.
North Dakota Fighting Sioux (4-3)
North Dakota was off last week ... the Fighting Siouxlost two duals at a four-team meet at Northwestern on Nov. 12 in its last action ... UND lost 159-140 to Illinois-Chicago and 187-104 to Northwestern ... junior Veronica Medon finished with a trio of first-place finishes, winning the 100-meter backstroke, the 200-meter backstroke and the 200-meter individual medley ... sophomore Rachel Waldbillig finished fourth in the 3-meter dive and sixth in the 1-meter competition ... North Dakota has the next two weeks off ... the Fighting Sioux return to action on Dec. 1-3 at the Missou Tiger Invite.
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (5-1)
Northern Arizona defeated Washington State 161-133 on Monday and also competed at the Wildcat Diving Invitational over the weekend ... sophomore Rachel Palmer won the 200 butterfly and 200 IM vs. Washington State, the only swimmer in the meet to win two individual events... Monday's meet was the final home meet of the season for the Lumberjacks ... at the Wildcat Diving Invite, junior Kristy Ardavanis placed 11th in the prelim rounds of both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving compeititions, and took third in both consolation finals ... NAU is in action again on Dec. 3, when the Lumberjacks travel to face WAC foe Idaho.
San Jose State Spartans (3-1)
San Jose State concluded an impressive weekend at the Arena Invitational with a fourth-place finish ... the Spartans 707 points placed them ahead of WAC foes Fresno State and Hawai'i, reigning Mountain West champion San Diego State and several Pac-12 schools ... all three squads that finished above SJSU (Stanford, California and Arizona State) are ranked in the CSCAA Top 25 ... the Spartans have garnered a No. 2 ranking in the season's first CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Division I poll, released on Nov. 16 ... the Spartans take a seven-week break from competition before getting back into the pool on Jan. 6 against CSU Bakersfield.