UW roundup: Nordic skiers sweep

Both University of Wyoming Nordic Ski Club teams swept their respective divisions at a United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association Nationals qualifying competition last weekend in Leadville and Frisco, Colo.

The Cowboys scored a team-low six points during the Leadville competition while Western State College (Gunnison, Colo.) and the United State Air Force Academy tied for second with 26 points each. The UW Cowgirls won their division with seven points. Second went to Western State College with 22 points and Air Force scored 30.

Senior Kari Boroff, Daniel, led a trio of Cowgirls claiming three of the top four positions in the women's sprint competition. Freshman Gracey Lewis, Jackson, was the runner-up and Lander Sophomore Marie Cartwright placed fourth.

The top women in the preliminary round competed in the A final, while the next place winners from the earlier competition competed in the B finals.

UW women swept the top four positions in the B finals led by Shannon Wilson, junior, Casper, followed by Ava Bell, graduate student, Laramie; Karyn R. Liebsch, freshman, Maple Grove, Minn.; and Laramie junior Gina Shively.

Evgeniy Panzhinskiy, senior from Russia, led the UW Cowboys with a first place finish in the A sprint race, followed by teammates Daniel Lewis, junior, Jackson, and Eliah Pederson, freshman, Lander. Casper junior John Kirlin placed fifth and Justin Kinner, junior, also from Casper, was sixth.

Jacob Peterson, Lander junior, won the B race followed by UW teammates Michael Fitzgerald, Laramie sophomore, in third and Matt Hall, freshman, Casper, placed fourth.

The next day at the Frisco Gold Rush, a 10km classic race, the UW men and women again topped their respective divisions.

The UW Cowboys won the competition with a team-low eight points followed by the Air Force Academy with 21.

Pederson was the overall men's winner, while Lewis and Kirlin were third and fourth, respectively. Also finishing in the top 10 were Peterson sixth; Hall seventh; Fitzgerald eighth; and Kinner 10th.

The Cowgirls dominated the 10km classic by taking the top seven positions. Boroff won the competition followed by Lewis; Casper freshman Morgan Cropsey; Cartwright; Wilson; Liebsch; and freshman Cara Noseworthy, Medford, N.J. Jennifer Harris of Lander placed 10th overall.

The UW club team will compete this weekend at the Denver University meet.

UW divers take MWC honors
University of Wyoming diver Stephanie Ortiz was named Mountain West Conference Diver of the Week on the women’s side for the fifth time this season, while sophomore Mark Murdock earns men’s honor for the second time.

Ortiz won the 1-meter springboard at the Air Force Diving Invitational with a score of 286.25, 23 points ahead of the second-place diver. She finished second on the 3-meter springboard, scoring 289.26, before reaching a personal-best 204.20 on the platform to place fourth.

Murdock scored 332.10 on the platform to win the event at the Air Force Diving Invitational, crushing the Wyoming school record. The previous mark was held by John Lynch who scored a 309.05 in 2007. The dive also marked a personal best for Murdock, and ranks first in the MWC this season by 22 points. In the springboard events, the sophomore scored 335.90 on the 3-meter and 276.90 on the 1-meter to place third and fifth, respectively.

UNLV swept both the men’s and women’s swimming award of the week. Sophomore Kier Maitland and freshman Zsuzsanna Jakabos both earned their second MWC Swimmer of the Week award.

Shanklin wins track honors
Wyoming senior Jake Shanklin has been selected as the Mountain West Conference men’s indoor track & field athlete of the week for the fourth time in his career.

Shanklin earns the award with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 70-feet, 7 3/4 inches in the men’s 35-pound weight throw at the Air Force Don Barrett Duals held in Colorado Springs, Colo., last Saturday. His toss was five feet farther than the rest of the field, securing a first-place finish at the meet, as well as the front-runner position in the league so far this season. The Ellensburg, Wash., native’s mark also ranks fourth in the nation, according to TrackShark.com.