Posted: Jan 17, 2018

PCSC Athletes of the Week: January 15

The Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference announced its Athletes of the Week for the week of Jan. 8-14 on Tuesday. The University of Alaska-Fairbanks' Kate Mathews collected Division II honors, while Pepperdine's Julia Sneden earned the Division I award.

DIVISION II WOMEN

Kate Mathews, Alaska Fairbanks: Mathews won all her events at the LMU Lions Cup by large margins: 200 IM (2:11.19), 400 IM (4:38.64) and 200 fly (2:11.84). She also helped the Nanooks come from behind to win the 200 medley relay (1:50.65) with the fastest anchor leg (24.58) in the race. Mathews also guided the 400 medley relay team to a victory with another strong anchor leg (53.90). Her anchor times of 24.55 and 53.89 in the 200 and 400 free relays, respectively, were also the fastest in each race.

DIVISION I WOMEN

Julia Sneden, Pepperdine: Sneden was Pepperdine's top scorer at the LMU Lions Cup this past weekend, earning 41.5 points total. She placed first in two of her three individual events, swimming the 200 IM in a time of 2:13.16 and the 100 fly in a time of 58.62. Additionally, she placed 2nd in the 100 IM, swimming a personal best time of 1:01.50, which is also second-best in the Pepperdine history.

Sneden was on the first-place medley relay team, and she swam a 54.73 leg of the 400 free relay while helping all five Pepperdine relays place in the top three. Throughout the two-day competition, Sneden also maintained an upbeat, contagious positive attitude, competing strongly in all of her events and leading by example. The weekly honor is her second of the 2016-17 season.

The PCSC includes institutions from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). All three divisions of the NCAA are represented. Each week, the PCSC coaches nominate and vote on the Athletes of the Week in seven categories: NCAA Division I women, Division II men and women, Division III men and women and NAIA men and women. You can find the Athlete of the Week archive here.