Courtesy: Big 12 Sports
Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun (men’s swimmer) and Caroline Bentz (women’s swimmer) were joined by Utah’s Jones Lambert (men’s newcomer) and Houston’s Lottie Cullen (women’s newcomer) in receiving the swimming awards for the eighth week of the season. ASU’s Lane Stallworth (men’s diver) and UH’s Michelle McLeod (women’s diver) rounded out the selections with the diving awards.
Kharun totaled 68 points at the NC State Invitational as he won both fly events and helped the Sun Devils to gold medals in three relay races (200 medley, 200 free, 400 medley). The sophomore from Las Vegas accentuated his meet by setting the school record in the 100 fly by one-tenth of a second (43.85). He added a time of 1:39.00 in the 200 fly before touching the wall with a 18.89 split in the 200 medley relay (1:21.63) as the fly leg. It is his fourth Big 12 Men’s Swimmer of the Week accolade this season.
Bentz contributed 78 points and three podium finishes as the graduate student helped ASU finish second at the NC State Invitational. The King George, Virginia native finished runner-up in the 50 free with a time of 21.8 and helped the Sun Devils finish second in the 200 free relay (1:27.71) and third in the 400 medley relay (3:32.37). It is her fifth Conference award this season.
Stallworth took home three podium finishes at the NC State Invitational. The San Antonio native highlighted his weekend with a personal-best effort in the 3-meter dive event (377.70), which saw him end with the silver medal. He added a gold in the platform event (335.80) and a bronze in the 1-meter (334.30) to complete his meet. It is his second Big 12 men’s diving award this season.
McLeod swept the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events at the Phil Hansel Invite. The sophomore sat atop the standings at the end of the prelims in the 1-meter before finishing with a top score of 324.85 in the finals. She tallied a score of 345.05 in the 3-meter finals for another gold before ending her meet with a 249.75-point performance in the platform event to secure bronze. It is her first career weekly Conference award and third for the Cougars this season.
Lambert scratched his name into the Utah record book as he recorded three top 10 times in program history. The freshman finished second in the 500 free (4:18.19), fifth in the 200 free (1:37.31) and fourth in the 1650 free (15:11.60). He was the second-highest point earner on the team with 46 points.
Cullen broke the school record in the 100 back as she touched with a time of 51.19, good for the 14th fastest time in the country this season. She followed that up with breaking the school record in the 200 back with the second-fastest time in the Big 12 this season (1:53.24). The freshman also participated in the record-setting performance in the 400 medley relay for the Cougars (3:33.10).
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- November 27
Men’s Swimmer of the Week: Ilya Kharun, Arizona State
Men’s Diver of the Week: Lane Stallworth, Arizona State
Men’s Newcomer of the Week: Jones Lambert, Utah
Women’s Swimmer of the Week: Caroline Bentz, Arizona State
Women’s Diver of the Week: Michelle McLeod, Houston
Women’s Newcomer of the Week: Lottie Cullen, Houston
