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WVU Sweeps Big 12 Men's Weekly Awards
November 05, 2015 12:45 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University senior swimmer Andrew Marsh and sophomore diver Alex Obendorf were named the Big 12 Men’s Swimmer and Diver of the Week by the Big 12 Conference.
Marsh won all seven races and Obendorf posted two top-two finishes with a pair of season-best-scores on the 1- and 3-meter boards to lead the Mountaineers to a victory over Seton Hall and Xavier at the Big 12 vs. Big East Weekend on Oct. 23-24 at the WVU Natatorium.
“Andrew has had a great month of competing and to be recognized as this week's Big 12 Male Swimmer of the Week is a great honor,” said coach Vic Riggs. “Anytime that one of your athletes is recognized by your peers is a good indication of what that athlete is doing, and Andrew is doing a great job.”
“Alex's hard work is paying off,” said diving coach Michael Grapner. “Alex has been doing really well in his training during practices. His focus this year is a huge attribute to his success on the boards.”
Marsh won all seven races he competed in by a margin of 1.4 seconds or more. He notched four wins in individual events and three as part of relay teams. Two of his individual times, in the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle, were season-best times.
The first victory came in the men’s 200-yard medley relay, where Marsh opened the relay with a time of 22.51 in the 50 backstroke, the fastest individual backstroke time out of the six teams by more than two seconds. In the 200 freestyle, a time of 1:39.28 gave Marsh the win by nearly four seconds.
A time of 1:23.73 in the 200 freestyle relay saw another WVU victory, as Marsh posted a time of 20.91, the fastest time by 0.58 seconds. Marsh won his fourth race in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.39, a victory by 1.72 seconds. His fifth win came in the 100 backstroke, where he raced to a 48.45 finish to capture a 1.67-second win.
His final individual victory came in the 100 freestyle, where he touched the wall in 45.58. Marsh stayed a perfect seven-for-seven as the 400-yard medley relay team won in 3:24.
Obendorf earned season-best scores on 1-meter and 3-meter at the Big 12 vs. Big East Weekend. Obendorf won the 3-meter springboard with a score of 324.80, and finished second on the 1-meter board, marking a score of 315.25.
“Receiving this recognition is great motivation to keep working hard and continue with a successful season,” said Grapner. “Alex has qualified for the NCAA Zone Championship, which is a good accomplishment early in the year.”
The Mountaineers have two weeks off from competition to prepare for the three-day Tennessee Invite, in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Nov. 20-22.
#Big12SD: After 7 1st place finishes, @WVUSwimming's Andrew Marsh is the #Big12 Swimmer of the Week pic.twitter.com/C7e1L63g0m
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) November 5, 2015
#Big12SD: A fist place finish and second place finish gives @WVUSwimming's Alex Obendorf #Big12 Diver of the Week. pic.twitter.com/QjUTcdRUwA
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) November 5, 2015
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