Himes, a freshman from Sammamish, Wash., managed four first-place finishes in all four of her individual events as the Redhawks took on Loyola Marymount and Grand Canyon over the weekend. Her top performance came in the 200 breaststroke where she took first, finishing with the fastest time in the WAC thus far (2:20.05). This mark is also good for the 113th fastest 200 breast time in the nation. Himes also posted the top time in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.39), 200 individual medley (2:07.99) and 200 back (2:05.89).
Lowe, a sophomore from Clovis, Calif., posted two top-three finishes as California Baptist hosted the Lancer Diving Invite. Lowe finished in second at the 3-meter height with a score of 249.40, which is good for fourth in the conference thus far. The California native also managed a third-place finish in the 1-meter diving event (230.65), finishing ahead of seven other divers from the likes of Azusa Pacific, UC San Diego, Pacific and fellow conference member CSU Bakersfield.
OTHER ATHLETES OF THE WEEK NOMINEES
Other men's swimmer nominees: California Baptist's Jacob Leahy grabbed a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle (21.02), and second-place finishes in both the 100 freestyle (46.13) and 50 butterfly (22.19) at the CSU Bakersfield Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite... Kris Rogic of CSU Bakersfield helped lead his team to first-place finishes in the 800 freestyle relay (6:44.26) and 400 freestyle relay (3:02.23) while at the CSU Bakersfield Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite... Seattle U's Will Corona competed in the Redhawks dual with Grand Canyon where he posted first-place nods in the 200 and 400 individual medley, finishing in 1:53.71 and 4:04.94, respectively... Mitchell Hovis of Wyoming picked up wins in the 100 breaststroke (55.72) and 200 breaststroke (2:02.49) as the Cowboys defeated Air Force 159-141.
Other men's diver nominees: California Baptist's Evan Honer produced the top score in the 1-meter diving event (297.45) at the Lancer Diving Invite... Brendan Byrnes of Wyoming competed in the Cowboys dual with Air Force where he finished with the top score on the 3-meter board (308.10).
Other women's swimmer nominees: Isabella Rhodes of California Baptist finished the weekend with a second-place finish in the 200 IM (2:11.10) while also leading her team to three top-five finishes in relay events at the CSUB Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite... CSU Bakersfield's Jayssie Haynes picked up gold in both the 200 breaststroke (2:22.65) and the 400 IM (4:27.73) as the 'Runners competed at the CSU Bakersfield Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite... Grand Canyon's Kelsey Andrusak recorded three first-place finishes as she finished with the top time in the 100 freestyle (53.53), 200 freestyle (1:54.38) and 200 butterfly (2:05.14), competing against Loyola Marymount and Seattle U over the weekend.
Other men's diver nominee: CSU Bakersfield's Lauren Carson posted a sixth-place finish at the Lancer Diving Invite as she scored a 204.60 in the 3-meter diving event.
AIR FORCE
The Air Force men headed on the road for two out of town matches with Wyoming and Denver. The Falcons traveled to Laramie, Wyo., where they fell to Wyoming 159-141 in a highly contested dual. Air Force picked up its first win of the day when the team of Cole McAnany, Zach Nelson, Aaron Pang and Corey Shepard took first in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1 minute, 31.11 seconds. Pang added a win in the 100 butterfly (49.18), while Nelson grabbed a first-place finish in the 200 IM (1:54.79). Jack Macceca and Brett Jenkins tacked on two runner-up finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, respectively.
The Cowboys packed their things and headed to Denver for a dual with DU. Though Air Force fell 95-203, they had strong showings from Isaac Gwin, Jenkins and junior Jack Zocher. Gwin snagged an event win in the 100 backstroke, finishing at 49.08. Jenkins took first in the 1-meter dive, while Zocher did the same in the 3-meter event.
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
The Lancers had a busy weekend, competing in the CSU Bakersfield Sprint Classic, Roadrunner Invite and Lancer Diving Invite on both the men's and women's sides. The Lancer men came in third at both the CSUB Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite and had a strong outing from Evan Honer at the Lancer Diving Invite. At the CSU Bakersfield Sprint Classic, the Lancers managed five top-12 finishes highlighted by performances from Jacob Leahy, Sean Foster, Josh Walters and Robert Moseley. Leahy picked up a win in the 50 freestyle (20.68) and joined Foster, Walters and Matthew Niculae to capture gold in the 200 medley relay (1:31.39). Leahy, Walters and Mosely combined for nine top-three swims at the Roadrunner Invite, helping the Lancers finish with 414 points at the invite.
The Lancer women had similar results as they finished in third at the CSUB Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite, while Kiree Lowe and Savannah Uhlir turned in strong performances at the Lancer Diving Invite. At the CSUB Sprint Classic, the relay teams led the way as the Lancers posted top-five finishes in all three relays. The team of Hannah Parson, Hannah Houlton, Rita Smirnova and Isabella Rhodes grabbed bronze in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:38.29. The other two top-five finishes came in the 200 medley relay (1:49.26) and 800 freestyle relay (7:56.64). The next day, the Lancers competed at the Roadrunner Invite in Bakersfield, Calif., where they had good showings from Rhodes, Lowe and Mackenzie Degn. Degn finished in second in the 500 freestyle (5:05.04), Rhodes finished as the runner-up in the 200 IM (2:11.10). Over in Riverside, Calif., Lowe secured another second-place finish on the 3-meter board at the Lancer Diving Invite.
CSU BAKERSFIELD
The CSU Bakersfield men's and women's teams traveled to Riverside, Calif., to compete in the Lancer Diving Invite while they hosted the CSUB Sprint Classic and Roadrunner Invite on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Roadrunner men's team turned in second place finishes at both swim invites. At the CSUB Sprint Classic, Kris Rogic's performance in the 50 backstroke and as the leadoff for the 800 freestyle relay highlighted several top performers for the 'Runners. In the 800 freestyle relay, Rogic posted the fastest 200 freestyle time in the conference thus far (1:39.18). The come-from-behind victory in the 400 freestyle relay was the shining moment for the CSUB men at the Roadrunner Invite. The team of Rogic, Loren Gillilan, Ryan Brimer and Richie Campbell touched the wall at 3:02.32. Divers Sam Stinson and Nate Cummins led the 'Runners at the Lancer Diving Invite. Stinson picked up gold on the 3-meter board while Cummins placed third.
Meanwhile, the 'Runners women tallied a second place finish in the CSUB Sprint Classic, led by strong performances from Jayssie Haynes and Autumn D'Arcy. Haynes turned in a first-place finish in the 400 individual medley (4:27.73), while D'Arcy collected gold in the 50 butterfly (24.59). The CSUB women combined for a team point total of 428 at the Roadrunner Invite, placing them second at the invite.
GRAND CANYON
The Grand Canyon men's and women's teams traveled to Seattle to compete against Seattle U and Loyola Marymount. The Lopes went undefeated on both sides, picking up six total team wins. On the men's side, GCU defeated Seattle U 136-69 in their first matchup and 139-66 in their second meet. The Lopes dominated both days as they collected 18 first-place finishes out of a possible 22 events. The defending WAC champions opened the meet with gold in the 200 medley relay as the team of Mazen Shoukri, Florent Janin, Amir Haviv and Omar Elsayd finished in 2:32.9. Sophomore Kainan Coerin picked up his first win of the season in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.91 while Alonso Carazo Barbero won the 1,650 freestyle in 16:12.23.
The Grand Canyon women picked up four team wins in the two days in Seattle. The Lopes defeated Seattle U 104.5-99.5 on Friday and 104-100 on Saturday while also taking down Loyola Marymount 162-42 and 150-54 over the weekend. Led by three individual victories from freshman Kelsey Andrusak, the GCU women dominated both days, picking up top-2 finishes in 19 out of the 22 events. Andrusak, Talita Te Flan, Emily Muteti and Brianna Rittenbach all picked up individual wins on days one and two. The 400 frestyle relay team of Muteti, Salma Zaitoun, Rittenbach and Andrusak also turned in a first-place finish as they touched in 3:35.51.
IDAHO
The Idaho women took a trip to Pullman, Wash. to take on the Washington State Cougars. The Vandals got great performances from Katie Hale, Alexis Schmidt and their 200 medley relay team, but fell to WSU 89-173. Hale nabbed first in the 100 backstroke (1:00.56). Schmidt, the Vandals top scorer, took gold in the 200 butterfly (2:07.16) while the team of Hale, Aimee Iwamoto, Rylie Jones and Natalie Crocker won the 200 medley relay in 1:46.16.
NORTHERN ARIZONA
The NAU women toured Colorado as they took on Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., and faced Air Force and Colorado State in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Lumberjacks went 1-2 on the weekend, with their lone win coming over Northern Colorado 157.5-142.5. NAU pulled out wins in nine of the 16 events in Greeley. Astrid Villeda picked up the 'Jacks first win of the day in the 1000 freestyle (10:38.39) as she out touched teammate Haley Mayhew (10:38.64). Maddie Seidl added a big win as she grabbed gold in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall at 2:08.20. Niamh McDonagh clinched the win for the Lumberjacks as she picked up a first-place finish in the 200 IM (2:10.04).
The 'Jacks then headed south to Colorado Springs, where they fell to Air Force 146-96 and Colorado State 144.5-97.5. The double dual was highlighted by Mayhew's near five second victory in the 500 freestyle (5:13.17). NAU won first in the 1000 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 200 IM and 500 freestyle in their initial dual with Air Force. Against Colorado State, the Lumberjacks placed first in the 1-meter dive, 100 breaststroke, 50 free and 100 free.
NORTHERN COLORADO
The Bears women's team hosted NAU on Friday, losing a tightly contested dual 157.5-142.5. In a contest that came down to the wire, UNC started with first-place finishes in six of the first seven events. Anna Austin touched first in the 200 free (1:56.51) while Maria Heymans picked up a win in the 100 breast (1:04.68). Heymans was also joined by Maddy Moore, Hallie Peterson and Emily Hamel to take gold in the 400 medley relay (3:51.97). Peterson added a first-place finish in the 100 fly (58.56) while Moore picked up the win in the 50 free (23.79). The Bears closed strong as the team of Moore, Hamel, Doris Pustzay and AJ Popp touched first in the 200 free relay (1:36.45). Celeste Llona and Tori Sayers paced the Bears' divers with third-place finishes in the 1-meter dive and 3-meter dive, respectively.
SEATTLE U
The Seattle U men's team took on Grand Canyon over the weekend while the Redhawk women battled Loyola Marymount along with GCU. Greg Raper and Will Corona led the men's team as they fell to the Lopes 136-69 in their first meeting and 139-66 in the second matchup. On day one, Raper collected wins in the 50 freestyle (21.34) and 100 butterfly (51.05). Corona added a top finish in the 200 individual medley (1:53.71). Day two, saw Corona win the 400 IM in dominating fashion as he touched the wall at 4:04.94, more than three seconds faster than the next competitor. The Redhawks added second place finishes in the 200 freestyle relay, 1000 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 200 breaststroke.
The women's team faired well against Loyola Marymount as they won on Friday and Saturday with scores of 171-33 and 146-66, respectively. However the Redhawks fell short to Grand Canyon on both days to bring their season record to 2-2. Day one saw the Redhawks claim full points in the 200 medley relay (1:50.24) to open the competition. Danika Himes captured gold in both the 200 IM (2:07.99) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.39). On the second day, Himes highlighted SU's individual performances once again as she won the 200 backstroke (2:05.89) and 200 breastroke (2:20.05). Isabella Guadiamos also picked up a first-place finish in the double dual as she won the 400 IM by a full second, touching at 4:38.08.
WYOMING
The Cowboys' men's team picked up their first win of the season as they hosted Air Force. The dual came down to the final event where the Cowboys sealed the victory in the 400 freestyle relay by way of disqualification for Air Force's A and B relays. Junior Mitchell Hovis shined as he took first in the 100 and 200 breastroke, finishing in 55.72 and 2:05.32, respectively. PJ Musser claimed full points in the 100 freestyle as he finished at 45.81, out touching the second place finisher by .02. The Cowboys went 1-2-3 in the 500 freestyle with Ryan Netzel leading the way, touching the wall at 4:43.55 followed by Seth Borgert (4:45.68) and Cameron Murphy (4:46.61). On the boards, Brendan Byrnes and Payton Lee secured first-place finises in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, respectively.