Courtesy: Big 12 Sports
Four Big 12 programs earned weekly recognition to begin 2025 for their performances in competitions ending Dec. 29. Arizona’s Ralph Daleiden (men’s swimmer) and Gage DuBois (men’s diver), BYU’s trio of Nathaniel Eliason (men’s newcomer), Mackenzie Miller Lung (women’s swimmer) and Lucy Warnick (women’s co-newcomer), Iowa State’s Anja Peck (women’s co-newcomer) and Utah’s Holly Waxman (women’s diver) were named the athletes of the week.
Daleiden became the first Wildcat to be named Big 12 Men’s Swimmer of the Week after tallying two individual event wins and two relay wins in Arizona’s dual meet against BYU. The Luxembourg native won the 100 freestyle (43.34) and 200 freestyle (1:33.64) before swimming the anchor leg of the 200 freestyle relay (1:18.74) and 400 medley relay (3:09.00) for two more gold medals in the respective relays.
Miller Lung accumulated three podium finishes including an individual event win in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:10.17, three seconds faster than the runner-up. The native of Clovis, California added a silver medal in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.78) and a bronze in the 200 medley relay as the breaststroke leg with a split of 26.94 (1:41.08). It is her second weekly award this season.
Dubois earned his third Conference award of the season with his performance against BYU. The junior finished atop the standings in the 3-meter dive and platform dive events with scores of 373.43 and 381.83, respectively. His wins accumulated 18 points in Arizona’s team win.
Waxman secured two silver medals for Utah in a meet that featured three ranked teams (No. 5 Tennessee, No. 19 Auburn and No. 25 Florida State). The senior ended with a score of 292.15 on the 1-meter dive and 314.65 on the 3-meter. It is the first Conference award of her career and is the first Ute to be named Big 12 Women’s Diver of the Week.
Eliason is the second member of BYU’s men’s program to earn the Big 12 Men’s Newcomer of the Week this season. The freshman from Mechanicsville, Virginia topped off his weekend with a silver medal in the 50 freestyle (20.26) and a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly (48.36). He added three more bronze medals in the 200 medley relay (1:27.87; 19.75 split), 200 free relay (1:20.37; 19.82 split) and 400 medley relay (3:12.42; 42.98 split). It is the first Conference award of his career.
Warnick took home the 400 IM event crown as she touched the wall in a time of 4:21.73, over four seconds ahead of second place, for her third win of the season. She rounded out her meet against Arizona with a runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:02.83) and a 51.70 anchor split in the 400 freestyle relay.
Peck placed in the top two in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke at the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. The freshman achieved a personal-best time of 2:16.97 in the 200 breaststroke, the 12th-fastest time in program history as well as the 19th-best time in Cyclone history in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.91).
A full list of the season’s weekly Big 12 Swimming and Diving award winners can be found here.
Big 12 Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards- January 3
Men’s Swimmer of the Week: Ralph Daleiden, Arizona
Men’s Diver of the Week: Gage DuBois, Arizona
Men’s Newcomer of the Week: Nathaniel Eliason, BYU
Women’s Swimmer of the Week: Mackenzie Miller Lung, BYU
Women’s Diver of the Week: Holly Waxman, Utah
Women’s Co-Newcomers of the Week: Lucy Warnick, BYU and Anja Peck, Iowa State
