BYU's Savickas and Smith MWC Swimmer, Diver of Week

PROVO -- BYU athletes Arunas Savickas and Rachelle Smith were honored as the Mountain West Conference male swimmer and female diver of the week Wednesday.

Savickas, a junior from Panevezys, Lithuania, was the 1998 WAC Swimmer of the Year and opened the 1999-2000 season with a sweep of his events at Utah to garner MWC Male Swimmer of the Week honors. Savickas won the 200 free by a margin of nearly five seconds, and claimed the 100 free with a conference-best time of 45.93. Savickas also led the 400 medley relay team to a first-place finish against Utah last Friday.

Smith, a senior from West Valley City, was named the MWC Female Diver of the Week. Smith dominated the 3M event against Utah, taking first-place honors with a score of 205.60, nearly 15 points ahead of the runner-up in the event, teammate Anna Tutunnikova.

Savickas and Smith led both Cougar squads to wins over in-state rival Utah last Friday. The men won by a margin of 150-93, while the women finished 148-88. Both squads will travel to Las Vegas Friday to take on conference rival UNLV.