DENVER - Grand Canyon's Mark Nikolaev and Pietro Hufnagel Toscani have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively, for Oct. 2-9.
Nikolaev, a junior from Seltso, Russia, won first place in all four events he entered in individually and helped his team win two relays in the Florida International University Fall Classic. He recorded the best swim of the meet with his 100 back (47.97) as the lead-off swimmer in the relay. His times for the 200 back (1:48.31), 200 medley (1:50.77) and 100 back were all the top times in the WAC. He also competed individually in the 100 back (48.50) and 400 medley (4:04.35). All six times he recorded were in the top 25 of the FIU Fall Classic meet.
Hufnagel Toscani, a sophomore from Sao Paulo, Brazil, came in first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events at the FIU Fall Classic. He became the first Grand Canyon athlete this year to qualify for the DI NCAA Championships with his scores of 323.80 in the 3-meter dive and 318.10 in the 1-meter.
Other swimmer nominees: Air Force's Steffen Mount dominated in the Intermountain Shootout with four individual first place finishes (50 free, 50 fly, 100 free and 100 fly) and helped his relay teams win a couple (200 medley and 200 free) as well… CSU Bakersfield's Jake Chir came in first place in both the 100 breast (56.17) and 200 breast (2:05.66) against Southern California.
Other diver nominee: Air Force's Nicholas Piontek placed fifth in both the 1-meter (265.95) and 3-meter (276.95) dives at the Intermountain Shootout.