BYU Men Sweep Weekly Conference Honors

PROVO -- Following a beating of in-state rival Utah in the their final meet of the regular season, BYU's Arunas Savickas and Aaron Russell were named the Mountain West Conference's men swimmer and diver of the week Wednesday.

Savickas, a junior All-American from Panevezys, Lithuania, scored first-place finishes in each of his three events to lead the swimmers against Utah. Savickas bested his own season- and conference-best time in the 200 free and swam a strong leg on the winning 200 medley relay team. Savickas also posted a time of 4:28.65 in the 500 free, an NCAA qualifying time with altitude considerations factored in that was also over 19 seconds faster than his closest competitor in the race.

Russell, a freshman from Provo, won first-place in the 3-meter event at the BYU Diving Invitational this weekend with his score of 540.65. The invitational included divers from BYU, Air Force and Utah. Russell also claimed third place in the other men's event, the 1-meter board, with his score of 472.30. Russell is currently third in the conference in each event.

Both Savickas and Russell have begun training with the men's and women's swimming and diving teams for the Mountain West Conference championships, to be held in Oklahoma City beginning Feb. 16.