Schedule
Thur., Nov. 29
North Dakota at Mizzou Invite (Dive), Columbia, Mo.
Thur., Nov. 29 - Dec. 1
North Dakota at US Winter National Championship, Austin, Texas
Idaho at US Winter National Championship, Austin, Texas
Northern Colorado at Nebraska-Omaha Invite, Omaha, Neb.
Fri. Nov. 30 - Dec. 2
Seattle U at Husky Invitational, Federal Way, Wash.
Denver at Iowa Invite, Iowa City, Iowa
Sat., Dec. 1
*New Mexico State at Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, Ariz.
WAC NOTES
CSU Bakersfield (3-0)
Freshman Michaela Paige broke her second school record the weekend at the Arena Invitational on the final day of competition Saturday ... Paige went 2:03.05 in the 200 butterfly preliminaries to lower her own school mark ... in the finals, Paige came in 12th ... Delise Batiza finished 15th in the 1650 freestyle in the third quickest time in school history, 17:28.47 ... her 1000 split of 10:28.75 was also the third fastest in school history ... as a team CSUB finished 12th (204). Cal won the team race (1168.5). The Roadrunners are scheduled to compete at the US Nationals Nov. 29-Dec. 1.
Denver (4-1)
The Pioneers will return to action Nov. 30 at the Iowa Invite ... in their last meet, the Pioneer women topped Western Athletic Conference foe Idaho 173-125 and also defeated Colorado School of Mines 228-43 ... senior Alex Suppan led the way for the Pioneer women, finishing first overall in both the 200 Butterfly (2:04.27) and the 400 IM (4:27.57) ... junior Jaclyn Best (Boulder, Colo.) also tallied a pair of individual victories ... best topped all competitors in the 1,000 Freestyle with a time of 10:38.12 and the 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:13.02 ... the Pioneers tallied four 1-2-3 finishes on the women's side.
Idaho (3-3)
Five University of Idaho swimmers are venturing into some heady competition when they travel this week to the Winter Nationals at Austin, Texas ... the meet begins Thursday and concludes Saturday ... sophomore Rachel Millet has a full slate with entries in the 200 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle ... Kelsie Saxe, a senior, will be competing in the 100 and 200 breaststroke ... sophomore Laura Griffing is entered in the 100 breaststroke ... Freshman Janelle Stacy (100 backstroke) and Jamie Sterbis (200 butterfly) also will be competing ... at the meet, they will encounter nine U.S. Olympic team members (Haley Anderson, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Kathleen Hersey, Katie Ledecky, Christine Magnuson, Lia Neal, Kim Vandenberg and Amanda Weir).
New Mexico State (2-2)
The New Mexico State swimming and diving team hits the road to face Northern Arizona, Saturday, Dec. 1 at 11:30 a.m., in Flagstaff, Ariz. ... Last season, the Aggies defeated NAU in dual meet action, 161-138, Dec. 3, 2011 in Las Cruces.
North Dakota (3-4)
UND finished fourth of six teams as the TYR Invitational at Northwestern University ... Veronica Medon finished off her weekend in style with great swims in both the 50 fly and the 200 back ... Medon's weekend concluded with a third place in the 200 backstroke (58.94) and a fourth place showing in the 50 butterfly (25.74) ... Erin Grabanski took time off her preliminary showing and finished seventh in the 50 backstroke (27.93) ... the women's 400 freestyle relay closed the meet with a seventh-place 3:32.01 ... the UND swimmers next prepare for the US Winter National Championships in Austin, Texas from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 while the divers head to the Mizzou Invite on Nov. 29.
Northern Arizona (3-2)
Senior Kristy Ardavanis placed third in the 1-meter diving consolation final and junior Gwen Smithberg placed sixth overall on platform to lead NAU at the Arizona Wildcat Invite this weekend in Tucson ... the Lumberjacks had all six of their divers competing in a field of more than 40 of the top collegiate divers in the region ... NAU was led in the event by freshman Chelsea Jackson with a score of 211.85 on the 3-meter ... Ardavanis returned Saturday for 1-meter and placed 14th overall in the preliminary round at 243.70 to advance to the consolation final, where she placed third with a total of 256.75 ... Smithberg was superb on platform in scoring 216.00 to place sixth out of the 23 divers competing in the event.
Northern Colorado (0-2)
The Northern Colorado Diving team spent the weekend at the fifth annual Wildcat Diving Invitational ... in the three-meter championship, senior Sara Moldenhauer placed 21st with a score of 228.00 ... while freshman Kelsey Smith finished 29th after tallying 216.10 ... on the one-meter board Moldenhauer finished 22nd after scoring 220.15 and Smith scored 216.75 for 25th place ... on Sunday during the platform competition, Moldenhauer scored 193.40 to finish in 13th place and establish a new school record ... the entire swimming and diving team returns to action Nov. 30 through Dec. 1 at the Nebraska Omaha Invitational.
San Jose State (2-1)Following its fifth-place finish at the Arena Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., San Jose State University is ranked 23rd nationally in the second Endless Pools Top 25 Division I Women's Swimming and Diving poll for the 2012-13 season ... the Spartans were ranked 25th in the first poll of the season ... San Jose State's fall season is complete ...the Spartans begin the second half of their season, January 4 in a double dual meet with Cal State Bakersfield and Northern Colorado in Bakersfield.
Seattle U (0-4)The Seattle University women's swim team made a valiant comeback attempt, but Simon Fraser University was able to hold off the Redhawks, 111-92, Saturday afternoon at the Connolly Center Pool ... Simon Fraser won six of the first seven events, with Karla Ruff breaking through with a victory in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:10.33 ... Kevlyn Richards led a 1-2 finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:20.63, followed by Ruff in second place with a mark of 2:24.24 ... the Seattle University women's swim team will next compete at the Husky Invitational Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Athletes of the Week
San Jose State's Julia Craddock and Northern Arizona's Gwen Smithberg have been named the Western Athletic Conference Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively, for Nov. 12-18.
Craddock, a senior from Litchfield Park, Ariz. (Millennium H.S.), set two school records in the 200 IM and the 400 IM, as San Jose State placed fifth overall in the Arena Invitational. Craddock broke the 200 IM record first in a preliminary heat with a 2:01.92 and came back in the championship final with a seventh-place finish and again with a better time of 2:01.91. She notched her second SJSU record in the meet with a NCAA Division I B-cut qualifying time of 4:17.55 in the 400 IM. Her fourth-place finish was the best by a Spartan in the Invitational meet that included two top 25 ranked teams. Craddock was the only San Jose State swimmer to compete in three individual championship finals with a sixth-place finish in the 200 butterfly. She set a new season and career best with a time of 1:59.92. Craddock helped add to the Spartans 654 points by swimming the third leg of the 400 freestyle relay (6th, 3:21.80) and the lead leg of the 800 freestyle relay (5th, 7:26.44).
Smithberg, a junior from Seattle, Wash. (Kennedy Catholic H.S.), placed sixth overall out of 23 divers on platform to wrap up the Arizona Diving Invite on Sunday. She scored 216.00 and was just .10 back of fifth place, finishing ahead of divers from Arizona, Cal, Stanford, Boise State, San Diego State and others. Smithberg also was the second highest NAU finisher on 1-meter with a total of 195.15 to place 34th-overall and competed on 3-meter, scoring 180.40. Smithberg has already qualified for the NCAA Zone meet on 3-meter.
Other swimmers nominated: CSU Bakersfield freshman Michaela Paige and New Mexico State sophomore Jessica Legge.