MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University junior diver Michael Proietto was named the Big 12 Men’s Diver of the Week by the Big 12 Conference.
Proietto claimed two victories with personal-best scores in West Virginia’s win over Big 12 foe TCU on Jan. 14. He also added two top-five finishes at Pitt on Jan. 7, to open 2017.
“I am very happy for Mike,” diving coach Michael Grapner said. “He put it together on Saturday with two solid performances. Mike loves to compete, and he really stepped it up this weekend coming within three points of the WVU team record. I'm very happy for the whole team and how well they competed against TCU.”
It is Proietto’s second Big 12 Diver of the Week award of the season after he was first honored on Oct. 19. Throughout the 2016-17 season, the Mountaineers have earned five Big 12 Weekly honors – senior Emma Skelley and sophomores Merwane El Merini Julia Calcut were also recognized on Oct. 19, along with Proietto.
An Aston, Pennsylvania, native, Proietto helped the WVU men secure their fourth consecutive win over TCU, dominating with a team score of 194-106. Proietto won both springboard events with personal-best scores. He scored a 355.50 on 1-meter, winning by 25.20 points, and added a 351.05 on 3-meter to win by 1.90 points.
The previous weekend, at rival Pitt, Proietto notched two top-five finishes while adding a then-personal best score on 1-meter. On 1-meter, he placed second with a score of 337.95 and placed fifth on 3-meter with a score of 279.08.
The West Virginia women’s swimming and diving team continues Big 12 action at Iowa State on Jan. 21, at noon ET. In two weeks, the men and women then return to the road for a pair of races at Bucknell and Villanova. WVU faces Bucknell on Friday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. ET, before traveling to Villanova the following day for a 1 p.m. ET matchup.
