Duo sweeps swimming and diving honors

Western sophomore diver Trisha Nailor was awarded the Sun Belt Conference’s Diver of the Week on Wednesday following her two-win performance last Saturday at Southern Illinois. Last week, teammates Marci Kascir and Jordan Beck were rewarded for their performances last week against Wright State winning Sun Belt Conference Swimmer and diver of the week.

Kascir came in big during the meet setting a school record in 1-meter diving with a score of 284.03. The previous record was held by Michelle Lynch.

Beck won the 200-yard butterfly and finished second in the 200-yard Individual Medley and the 200-yard backstroke.

Nailor won both the 1-Meter and 3-Meter events against the Salukis with personal-best scores for the season. The sophomore won the 1-Meter with 261.90 defeating teammate Kascir by over six points and the top SIU diver by more than 41 points. Nailor won by an even larger margin in the 3-Meter event. She defeated Kascir by nearly nine points and the Salukis Andrea Johnson by over 50. This is the first time that Nailor has been honored as the Sun Belt’s Diver of the Week.

Hilltoppers picked to finish sixth in poll

The Sun Belt Preseason Coaches poll, released yesterday, picked the Hilltopper baseball team to finish sixth in the 10-team conference. Western received 33 votes, placing the Toppers in a tie with New Mexico State.

Defending Sun Belt Champion South Alabama received 79 points and all 7 first-place votes to place first in the preseason poll.

Western finished last season with a 38-20 record, including a 14-9 record in the Sun Belt.