DENVER - Seattle U's Paige Treff and CSU Bakersfield's Carlee Burks have been named Western Athletic Conference Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Oct. 12-18. This is Burks second honor this season.
Treff, a sophomore from Orland Calif. played a significant role in Seattle University's dual meet victories over Simon Fraser and Northern Colorado last Thursday. First, Treff anchored the victorious 400 medley relay, posting a 100 freestyle split of 53.37 seconds, fastest among all the anchor legs, to help post the eighth-fastest 400 medley relay time in program history at 3:56.84. She blazed to victory in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.18 seconds, over 6/10ths of a second quicker than her nearest competitor. She led off the 200 freestyle relay with a 50 freestyle split of 24.43 seconds, fastest among any of the 20 swimmers that competed in the event, helping the Redhawks clinch their meet victories with a first place finish in 1:39.11, the 10th-best time in program history in the event.
Burks, a junior from Bakersfield, earned a win in the Malibu Invitational's only diving event of the weekend. In an uncommon format, Burks posted a score of 310.00 in a six-dive competition featuring dives on both the 1- and 3-meter boards.
Other swimmer nominees: Bakersfield's Paola Hernandez dominated the freestyle sprints and won a total of four heats and three events for the Roadrunners. A junior from Lompoc, Calif., Hernandez led the ‘Runner women by finishing first in the 100 and 200 freestyle as well as the 100 IM. Her time of 24.50 in the 50 free was good enough for a tie for second overall and lowered Hernandez's personal best by 0.13 seconds in the event.University of Idaho's Sarah Hall took home 6 first places over the weekend, three from Simon Fraser and Whitman and three vs. Northern Colorado. Northern Colorado's Valeria Mihhailova was the only person to finish under a minute in the 100 yard backstroke (Seattle/Simon Fraser meet) and one of two people to finish under one minute in the 100 yard backstroke (Idaho meet). Helped the team to a win over Simon Fraser and win over Nebraska-Omaha. Maddie Derby out of North Dakota won three events on the weekend for UND to help UND defeat South Dakota State and move to 3-0 in duals this season.
Other diver nominees: Indiya Williams out of the University of Idaho took home three first place finished over the weekend. Northern Colorado's Savanna Meadows qualified for NCAA Zones in her first meet of the year (Idaho), scoring 267.08 on the 1-meter dive. That was just over 30 points higher than any other diver in the event. She also helped the team to a win over Nebraska-Omaha. North Dakota's Ariana Brace won the 3-meter event, beating out fellow UND swimmers Megan Seehusen and Alexis Eissinger.