BYU Sweeps MWC Diver of the Week Awards

COLORADO SPRINGS -- UNLV's Steven Nelms and BYU's Brandon Watson have been named Mountain West Conference Men's Swimmer and Diver of the Week, while San Diego State's Leona Jennings and BYU's Tawni Jones earned women's swimming and diving honors, respectively.

Watson, a native of Riverton, Utah, won the 3-meter springboard at the Wildcat Diving Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. The sophomore collected a score of 369.80 in the preliminary round, before tallying 366.00 points to win the finals. Watson also placed first in the consolation round of the 1-meter springboard, posting a final score of 333.75.

Jones, a product of Mesa, Ariz., earned two medals at the Wildcat Diving Invitational. The senior finished second on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 292.55, and placed third in the 1-meter after tallying 294.45 points.

Nelms, from Plano, Texas, won two individual events in NCAA "B" qualifying times at the Fall Cougar Classic in Houston, Texas. The sophomore captured first place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.26, and won the 100 free in 44.80. Nelms, who also earned a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly (48.44), swam on four of UNLV's first-place relay teams, three of which set times in the top-three in the nation this season. The Rebels placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:20.30), 400 free relay (3:00.59), 200 medley relay (1:28.49) and 400 medley relay (3:17.32).

Jennings, who hails from Seattle, Wash., set four individual San Diego State records last weekend at the Toshiba Classic in Long Beach, Calif. The freshman set new program standards in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes, finishing the events with times of 54.22 and 1:57.57, respectively. She also broke Aztec records in the 200-yard individual medley (2:01.04), as well as in the preliminary round of the 100 fly (55.12). Jennings also swam on SDSU's record-setting 200-yard medley relay team, who earned second place with a time of 1:41.93.