DENVER- Grand Canyon's Mark Nikolaev and Wyoming's Ryan Russi have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Oct. 24-31.
Nikolaev, a sophomore from Seltso, Russia, contributed 6 wins against Wyoming by taking first in all three of his individual events and swimming on three winning relays. His 100 back time (47.15) was a DI-B cut and is also the highest ranked swim by any WAC swimmer on collegeswimming.com with 816 points. His 200 IM time (1:49.52) and his 200 back time (1:49.00) are the fastest in the WAC this year. Nikolaev also set a Seattle University Pool records in the 100 back, 100 free, and as part of the 400 free relay.
Russi, and redshirt sophomore from Murrieta, Calif., swept the diving events against Air Force. He won the 1-meter with a score of 274.20 and the 3-meter with a score of 292.50.
Other swimmer nominees: Air Force's Jordan Dahle won two individual events and two relays to help beat Wyoming… Seattle U's Tanner Schelling placed first in both the 100 and 200 breast and second in the 50 free against GCU… CSU Bakersfield's Justice Kramer had two individual first place finishes and one relay win against Cal Baptist.
Other diver nominees: CSU Bakersfield's Tyler Greenwald placed first in both diving events against Cal Baptist, winning the 1-meter by almost 25 points.