Courtesy: Pac-12 Conference
SAN FRANCISCO – The Pac-12 Conference office announced today that Arizona State’s Cierra Runge was named Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Week and teammate Ashley McCool was voted Pac-12 Women’s Diver of the Week.
WOMEN’S SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
Cierra Runge, Jr., Arizona State (Cochranville, Pa.)
Runge collected two individual wins last week in No. 18 Arizona State’s loss to in-state rival No. 10 Arizona. Runge swam a personal best and broke a seven-year school record in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:44.04. Her time in the 200 free also ranks in the top-10 fastest times in the country at No. 9 and No. 4 in the Conference this season. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist notched a win in the 500 free (4:41.80), finishing three seconds ahead of second place for the fastest time on the Sun Devils this season and eighth-best in the Pac-12. The junior is studying interdisciplinary studies and collects her first Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week nod, marking the Sun Devils third weekly/monthly award since 2008 (2017, Nora Deleske; 2008, Caitlin Andrew).
Also Nominated: Katrina Konopka, ARIZ, Darby Wayner, UTAH.
WOMEN’S DIVER OF THE WEEK
Ashley McCool, So., Arizona State (Cochrane, Alberta, Canada)
McCool took the podium in each event during Arizona State’s regular-season finale versus Arizona. The junior won the 3-meter springboard with a score of 344.63 for her third victory in the event this season. The Alberta native finished second in the 1-meter with 316.58 points to close out the last dual meet before the Pac-12 Championship on Feb. 27. McCool qualified for the 2018 NCAA Championship in both events as a freshman and finished second in the 3-meter at the Pac-12 Championships. The global health major collects her third career Pac-12 Diver of the Week honor and first of the season for Arizona State’s sixth all-time nod.
Also Nominated: Delaney Schnell, ARIZ.
The 2019 Pac-12 Women’s Swimming and Men’s and Women’s Diving Championships (Feb. 27–Mar. 2) will be held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.
Cierra had a fine swim in the 200 free, setting a new ASU school record. It was her fastest ever dual meet/midseason swim, by over 1.5 seconds, but it was only her 8th fastest ever, according to the USA Swimming database, which lists her PB as 1:42.78 from the PAC-12 Champs in 2015 for CAL..