Elaine Breeden Named Stanford/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week
Junior Elaine Breeden has been selected as the Stanford/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for Feb. 23-March 1, 2009
February 23, 2009
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Junior Elaine Breeden of the Stanford women's swimming and diving team was selected as the Stanford/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for Feb. 23-March 1, 2009.
Breeden put forth a stellar effort at the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Championships, winning Pac-10 titles in both the 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly. On Saturday, Breeden won her third consecutive conference championship in record-breaking fashion, setting the American, U.S. Open and NCAA record with a time of 1:49.92. Her effort surpassed the year-old American and U.S. Open standard of 1:51.27 set by Mary DeScenza, while she blew past the NCAA mark of 1:51.91 achieved by Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin of Cal in 2002.
Breeden won her first career Pac-10 crown in the 100 fly by outkicking fellow Olympian Dana Vollmer of Cal. Despite entering the final as the six seed, she swam a great race and touched the wall in 50.87 to edge Vollmer (51.11). Breeden's time was an NCAA "A" standard and broke the previous Stanford record of 51.34 set by Olympic gold medalist Misty Hyman in 1998.
In addition to those record-setting performances, Breeden posted an NCAA "A" standard in the 200 IM with a 1:54.32 - the second-fastest time in Stanford history. She also helped the Cardinal 200 free relay (1:28.01) and 400 free relay (3:12.76) to NCAA "A" qualifying times and school records.
Breeden now has five career Pac-10 titles, and will set her sights on the 2009 NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 19-21 in College Station, Texas.
Also nominated: Anthony Goods (men's basketball), Kayla Pedersen (women's basketball), Steve Ziegler (men's golf), Sho Nakamori (men's gymnastics), Missy Penna (softball), Bradley Klahn (men's tennis), Myles Bradley (men's track and field), Laurynne Chetelat (women's track and field), Kawika Shoji (men's volleyball), Kelly Eaton (women's water polo), Nick Amuchastegui (wrestling).