BYU's Tan, Russell and Einfeldt Earn MWC Honors

PROVO -- BYU athletes Gary Tan, Aaron Russell and Kelli Einfeldt were honored as the Mountain West Conference swimmer and divers of the week Wednesday.

Tan, a sophomore from Maryland Park, Singapore, opened the 2000-2001 season with a sweep of his events against rival Utah to garner MWC Male Swimmer of the Week honors. Tan won the 200 back with a time of 1:50.20, over seven seconds faster than the next finisher, and claimed the 200 IM with a time of 1:52.25. Tan has the conference-best times in both those events. Tan also swam on the 400 medley relay team that finished first, in a conference-best time of 3:25.09, against Utah last Friday.

Russell, a sophomore from Provo, was named the MWC Male Diver of the Week. Russell dominated the 3-meter springboard event and took second on the 1-meter board, missing first-place by three points.

Einfeldt, a sophomore from Salt Lake City, was named the MWC Female Diver of the Week. Einfeldt swept both the 1-meter and the 3-meter events against Utah.

Tan, Russell and Einfeldt led the Cougar squads to wins over in-state rival Utah. The men won by a margin of 157-78, while the women finished 137-106. Both squads will be competing in the Big West Shootout in Irvine, Calif., Friday and Saturday.