Schedule
Friday Oct. 26
Air Force at Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colo.
Saturday Oct. 27
Denver at UNLV, Las Vegas, Nev.
San Jose State at UC Davis, Davis, Calif.
Pacific at CSU Bakersfield, Bakersfield, Calif.
WAC NOTES
CSU Bakersfield (1-0)
The CSU Bakersfield women's swimming and diving team opened the season, defeating Seattle 202-86 in their first-ever Western Athletic Conference meet at the Hillman Aquatics Center ... freshman Michaela Paige made quite a splash in the first meet of her collegiate career, winning the 200-yard butterfly ... also breaking a CSUB school record in the process with a time of 2:03.63 ... as a team, the 'Runners, who joined the WAC prior to the start of the 2012 season before the entire CSUB athletic department accepted an invitation to join the WAC in 2013, took first place in 15 of the 18 events ... CSUB will be back on action on Oct. 27 with a home meet against Pacific.
Denver (1-0)
The University of Denver women's swimming and diving team took first place in 11-of-16 events to defeat Colorado State 181-117 ... Samantha Corea (Vancouver, british Columbia) won both the 100 Backstroke (55.66) and the 100 Butterfly (55.57) ... the Pioneers opened and closed the day with a pair of relay wins, winning the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay ... freshman Zoe Huddleston (Rothschild, Wis.) (53.56), Matthews (53.64) and Naze (54.01) swept the top three spots in the 100 freestyle ... Madeline Eyolfson (Boise, Idaho) got her first career individual win by posting a time of 2:23.63 in the 200 breaststroke.
Idaho (1-1)
Last time out, sophomore Rachel Millet won three individual events and junior Megan Venlos and freshman Jamie Sterbis both won two as the University of Idaho Swimming and Diving team defeated conference foe Seattle University, 175-86 ... the Vandals won 14 events, giving them their first WAC win of the season ... Millet won the 50-, 500- and 1000-yard freestyle events ... she also won three individual events last week against Boise State University ... Idaho will face off against the Air Force Academy Nov. 2, at Colorado Springs, and against the University of Denver, Nov. 3 at Denver.
New Mexico State (1-0)
The New Mexico State swimming and diving team began the 2012-13 season with a 155-145 win over Air Force at the NM State Natatorium ... the Aggies opened the meet with a more than a three-second win in the 200-medley relay with junior Tricia Kiss, sophomore Jessica Legge, junior Terrin Seaver and freshman Chelsey Reber setting the tone ... junior diver Jaymee Porter swept the diving events with her first career victories on the 1-meter and 3-meter ... freshman Lauren Reifel contributed with a third-place finish on the 1-meter ... junior Alex Fenton led the way in the freestyle events for the Aggies with a victory in the 100-free and runner-up showings in the 50-free and 200-free ... the Aggies resume swimming with a tri dual meet in Albuquerque, N.M.
North Dakota (3-2)
The University of North Dakota women's swimming and diving team defeated rival University of South Dakota, 155-133 ... Veronica Medon outdistanced the field in the 100 backstroke, touching in 57.73, part of her three first-place finishes on the day ... she also took the 200 backstroke (2:05.15) in convincing fashion and won the 100 butterfly in 58.75 ... Kara Fisher scored nine points for her team with the win in the 100 freestyle (53.24) ... UND will next compete at Kansas, facing the host Jayhawks and TCU on Nov. 2-3.
Northern Arizona (2-0)
Juniors Emma Lowther and Rachel Palmer each won two events as NAU won seven individual races and took the 400 freestyle relay to end the meet and score a 152-148 win over New Mexico ... the Lumberjacks have now defeated Arizona State of the Pac-12 and New Mexico of the Mountain West in their two meets thus far ... senior Kristy Ardavanis was the top Lumberjack finisher on both boards, placing second on 1-meter at 319.28 and third on 3-meter with a score of 322.58 ... both of those scores already qualify Ardavanis for the NCAA Zone meet after her first competition of the year.
Northern Colorado
The Northern Colorado Swimming & Diving team started the season by winning all 21 events at the Intermountain Shootout, hosted by Colorado Mesa on Oct. 5-6 ... the Bears swept the top three spots in 18 of those 21 events ... freshmen Erika Etz and Sarah Miller each won two events for the Bears ... Ellè Gawronska won one to give first-year swimmers five individual titles ... senior Sara Moldenhauer won the one-meter with a score of 225.40, as well as the three-meter with a point total of 235.40 ... the Bears take a short break from competition, returning to the pool to host Air Force on Oct. 26 in the Butler-Hancock Pool.
San Jose State (0-1)
Competing in only five events, San Jose State broke three pool and three meet records as the Spartans' women's swimming and diving team took second in the first day of the Early Bird Invitational ... the 200-Medley Relay team of Christina Bruni, Darcie Anderson, Ashlyn Acosta, and Marisa DeWames started the Spartans' record-setting day finishing third at 1:45.61 and bettered the previous pool mark of 1:46.13 and meet record of 1:47.20 ... Julia Craddock posted pool and meet record times of 5:02.68 in the 500-Free and a 2:07.18 in the 200-IM.
Seattle U (0-3)
Kevlyn Richards won both breaststroke events, and fellow captain Karla Ruff added a victory in the 200 individual medley in the Redhawks 202-86 loss to CSU Bakersfield ... Richards posted a faster time than she did in either of last weekend's meets in the 100 breaststroke, posting a mark of 1:04.59 ... in the 200 breaststroke, the Redhawks claimed the top four positions, led by Richards with a season-best time of 2:18.61 ... the Seattle University women's swim team will host past Redhawk swimmers in an alumni meet next Saturday, Oct. 27, at 12 p.m. ... the next official competition is Saturday, Nov. 10, against long-time rival Simon Fraser.
Athletes of the Week
Denver's Samantha Corea and Northern Arizona's Kristy Ardavanis have been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 15-21.
Corea, a sophomore from Vancouver, British Columbia (Magee Secondary School), recorded a pair of individual victories and was a member of two first-place relay teams as the Pioneers defeated Colorado State 181-117, Saturday at El Pomar Natatorium in Denver. Corea posted a time of 55.66 to win the 100 backstroke and a time of 55.57 to take first in the 100 butterfly. She also recorded a meet-best split of 23.87 to help the Pioneers win the 200 medley relay with a team-time of 1:44.10 before racing the final leg of the 400 freestyle relay to help Denver to a first-place finish with a time of 3:32.11. Corea is currently ranked first in the WAC in the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly, and is a member of Denver's top-ranked 200 medley relay team.
Ardavanis, a senior from Gilbert, Ariz. (Mesquite H.S.), was the top Lumberjack finisher on both boards as NAU defeated New Mexico 152-148. She placed second on 1-meter at 319.28, finishing just six points back of first place and 19 points ahead of third place. She then placed third on 3-meter with a score of 322.58. Both of those scores already qualify Ardavanis for the NCAA Zone meet after her first competition of the year, as she will compete in the NCAA Zone meet for the fourth consecutive season.
Other swimmers nominated: CSU Bakersfield freshman Michaela Paige, Northern Arizona junior Emma Lowther, North Dakota senior Veronica Medon and Seattle U senior Kevlyn Richards.
Other divers nominated: Denver freshman Hannah Feldman.