DENVER - Grand Canyon's Mark Nikolaev and Wyoming's Scotia Mullin have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimmer and Diver of the week, respectively, for Jan. 9-15.
Nikolaev, a sophomore from Seltso, Russia, placed first in all three of his individual events in GCU's dual meet against BYU. He won the 100 back (47.33), 200 IM (1:49.83), and the 200 back (1:48.14). He had the highest ranked swims in the WAC this week, according to collegeswimming.com, and he set a new pool record in the 100 back.
Mullin, a freshman from Glasglow, Scotland, placed first in the 3 meter and second in the 1 meter against Minnesota and Denver. His score on the 1 meter (299.35) was less than one point shy of the NCAA qualifying mark. He set a career-best in the 3 meter with a 351.95, besting his previous top ranked score in the WAC.
Other swimmer nominees: Wyoming's Gabe Rooker won both the 100 breast (54.59) and the 200 breast (1:59.77) against Denver and Minnesota… Air Force's Jordan Dahle won the 200 free (1:40.08), 100 free (45.11), 50 free (20.77) and 100 free (45.03) over the span of two days against Seattle U… CSUB's Lovre Soric placed first in the 100 back (51.56), 200 back (1:50.89), and the 200 IM (1:53.92) against UNLV… North Dakota's Jacob Wielinski won the 800 free (8:15.36) and the 400 free (4:01.40) against South Dakota and placed first in the 1000 free (9:29.98), 200 fly (1:53.62), and 500 free (4:36.14) against South Dakota State… UNLV's Tom Paco-Pedroni won the 100 free (44.92) and 200 free (1:42.48) against CSUB.
Other diver nominees: UNLV's Robert Morgan placed third in both the 1 meter (240.45) and the 3 meter (248.50) against CSUB… North Dakota's Nick Benson won the 3 meter (337.15) and placed second in the 1 meter (277.80) against South Dakota and placed third in both the 1 meter (259.50) and the 3 meter (281.63) against South Dakota State… Grand Canyon's Pietro Toscani placed third in the 3 meter (324.30) and fourth in the 1 meter (300.20) against BYU… CSUB's Brayden Greenwald won both the 1 meter (272.40) and the 3 meter (307.20) against UNLV.