Houston Invite - Day Three

Cougar Classic Fall Invitational
Nov. 20-22 – Houston, Texas

Men’s Final Standings

1. LSU – 1,448
2. SMU – 687
3. UNLV – 678
4. Incarnate Word – 468

Women’s Final Standings

1. Texas A&M – 1,563
2. SMU – 666
3. LSU – 621
4. Houston – 465
5. Tulane – 204
6. Air Force – 121
7. Incarnate Word – 118
8. Kansas – 105
9. UNLV – 48


AIR FORCE

Posting a pair of Academy top-10 marks on Sunday, the Air Force women’s swimming team concluded action at the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational, hosted by Houston at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center (CRWC). The Falcons finished in sixth place in the team standings with 121 points, while eighth-ranked Texas A&M captured first place overall.
 
Sophomore Cassie Fletcher (Durham, N.C.) and freshman Katrina Castellanos (Roseville, Calif.) each recorded an Air Force top-10 time in the final day of competition at the Cougar Classic. Fletcher, who already ranks among the Falcons’ fastest performers in the 50 freestyle, clocked a time of 52.53 in the ‘C’ final of the 100 freestyle to place 21st overall. The mark ranks as the eighth-fastest in school history.
 
Meanwhile, Castellanos notched a time of 2:25.20 in the ‘B’ final of the 200 breaststroke, finishing third in her heat and 11th overall. That time ranks as the ninth-fastest in school history. Meanwhile, Rosie Mayou (Fr., Derby, Kan.), who advanced to the ‘C’ final, took 19th place in the event.
 
In the 1650 free, Rachel Roberts (Fr., Eagle River, Alaska) was Air Force’s top performer, posting a time of 18:08.82 to finish 13th.
 
Kaeli Kluesner (Jr., Denver, Colo.) won the ‘C’ final of the 200 backstroke, turning in a time of 2:08.24 to finish 17th overall, while Shelby Schaefer (Fr., Roseville, Calif.) placed 24th overall in the event.
 
Sophomore Katharine Ernst (Folsom, Calif.) led the Falcons in the 200 butterfly, finishing fifth in the ‘B’ final and 13th overall after clocking a time of 2:08.46 in the preliminaries. Meanwhile, advancing to the ‘C’ finals in the event were Haley Holcombe (Fr., Snellville, Ga.), Becky Gleason (Sr., Ballwin, Mo.) and Elvira Chiccarelli (So., Panama City Beach, Fla.), finishing 18th, 20th and 24th, respectively.
 
Air Force concluded the invitational with the 400 freestyle relay, where the team of Esther Kim (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif.), Kluesner, Katelyn Hunter (Sr., La Crescent, Minn.) and Gleason combined for a mark of 3:38.85, placing 14th.
 
The Falcons have the rest of the semester off before returning to action Jan. 2, when they compete in the Florida International Relays as part of their winter training.


HOUSTON

The University of Houston swimming and diving team wrapped up competition on Sunday evening at the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
 
The Cougars finished in fourth place with 465 points. Texas A&M won the meet, finishing with 1,523 points.
 
“It was an incredible meet,” head coach Mark Taylor said. We have never swum this fast this early in the season. There were so many girls close to breaking records and the meet had fast performances by all the teams (in attendance) and we fit in really well with them.”
 
We competed head to head and we had many swimmers in the “A” finals. We now have a long break before the season resumes in January and the team will face the hardest training of the year in the time period.”
 
Sophomore Beccy Hillis led the way for the Cougars on the final night, notching an NCAA “B” cut time of 2:15.68 in the 200-yard breaststroke. It was good for the second fastest time in school history.
 
“Beccy was the star of the meet with her 100 breast time and her 200 breast time,” Taylor said. “She improved her NCAA B cut time and we hope it is enough to get her to the NCAA Championships even though I expect her to improve that time (in the spring).”
 
Freshman Reka Kovacs turned a fourth place finish of 2:18.72 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Bordatcheva followed in 14th (2:28.80), freshman Holli Pisarski was 15th (2:29.62) and freshman Catherine Finley was 23rd (2:44.67).
 
Kovacs also had an 11th place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.20. It goes in the Cougar record books as the seventh fastest time in school history. Following in 12th place, senior Jessica Shamburger tied the eighth fastest time school history, which she holds with a 2:03.43 finish. Freshman Kimmy Ballo added a 13th place finish (2:05.39) and sophomore Rachel Johnson was 26th (2:25.38).
 
“As a freshman Reka has really stepped up in this meet,” Taylor said. “For a freshman, coming to this country for the first time and dealing with homesickness and a different style of training, she has stepped up and set an example for all the freshman on the team.”
 
Sophomore Kimberley Eeson started off the conclusion of the finals with an eighth place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle. She turned in a time of 17:33.93. Following in ninth place was sophomore Beccy Hillis (17:34.07) and sophomore Natalie Newcomb 10th in 17:38.93. Sophomore Olga Bordatcheva and sophomore Rachel Holcomb rounded out the Cougar field in 11th (17:52.08) and 19th (19:13.37), respectively.
 
In the 200-yard butterfly, junior Andrea Kells turned in a seventh place finish with a time of 2:06.41. Coming in 14th was sophomore Natalie Newcomb (2:09.86) and sophomore Rachel Holcomb was 28th (2:30.12).  The Cougars lone competitor for the Cougars in the 100-yard freestyle final was freshman Christine Salinas. She turned in a 31st place finish of 54.57.
 
Houston concluded the meet with an eighth place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The “A” team of Eeson, Salinas, Shamburger and Kells, combined to finish the event in 3:30.16. The “B” team of Kovacs, Bordatcheva, Ballo and Hillis finished 13th with a time of 3:36.71.
 
Houston will return to the pool on Jan. 22 for a dual at North Texas. They will then travel to SMU on Jan. 23 before returning to the CRWC Natatorium for duals against Rice, LSU and Tulane on Jan. 29-30.
 
Although the divers did not compete on the final day of the competition, head diving coach Jane Figueiredo was please with the pairs overall performance over the weekend. Senior Anastasia Pozdniakova took home top honors in both the 1- and 3-meter events, while Jessalyn Almond was seventh and eighth, respectively.
 
“Anastasia was great as usual but we have some tough competition this year so we have to continue to improve,” Figueiredo said. “Jessalyn also had a good performance but we need to be better, and with our two additions in January we should be getting better.”
 
NOTES FROM THE PRELIMS
- Freshman Christine Salinas set a personal best with a 53.81 finish in the 100-yard freestyle. She also had a personal best of 2:42.44 in the 200-yard breaststroke.
- Freshman Haley Weathers also recorded a personal best in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.49.
- Sophomore Olga Bordatcheva recorded a personal best with a time of 2:27.91 in the 200-yard breaststroke.
- Junior Andrea Kells swam a personal best 2:05.35 in the 200-yard butterfly.
- Sophomore Natalie Newcomb turned in a personal best of 2:08.19 in the 200-yard butterfly.
-With her 2:12.84 finish in the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Kimberley Eeson set a personal best.


KANSAS

Kansas divers Meghan Proehl, Christy Cash and Allison Ho placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the platform dive on the third and final day of the Houston Cougar Classic Fall Invitational. The Invitational wrapped up Sunday in Houston, Texas.

"I think the student-athletes dove really well this weekend," Kansas Diving Coach Eric Elliott said. "It was a really good trip for our divers."

Proehl, a senior from San Diego, Calif., also placed third in the one-meter diving competition on Saturday. Friday, Proehl captured fifth place in the three-meter dive.

The Kansas swimming and diving team will return to the pool Thursday, Dec. 3 for the first day of the UVA Invitational in Charlottesville, Va.


LSU

The 15th-ranked LSU men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational Sunday in victorious fashion, while the 21st-ranked Lady Tigers posted a third-place finish in the women’s nine-team field.

The Tigers tallied 1,448 points in the men’s standings over a three-day period to take first-place, more than twice as many points as runner-up SMU accumulated. The women’s team collected 621 points over the weekend.

“I’m proud of our teams, coming into a championship-formatted meet for the first time this season and racing hard,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “Our men’s team won the competition, and the women competed well, going against some outstanding programs like Texas A&M and SMU.

“We’ve had a good start to our season over the past couple of months, and we hope to continue training well for the second half.”

Sophomore Mary Beck improved her school-record time in the 200-yard backstroke, and freshman Craig Hamilton emerged victorious in the 1650 freestyle to highlight the teams’ efforts Sunday.

Beck swam to a new program record and NCAA ‘B’ cut mark of 1 minute, 57.38 seconds in the 200-back preliminaries before taking third in the finals with a 1:58.48 clocking. Hamilton picked up his second NCAA provisional time of the weekend with his win in the 1650 free. The Edinburgh, Scotland, native recorded the fourth-fastest time in school history, 15:29.79.

The women’s 400 freestyle relay group of Amanda Kendall, Beck, Samantha Goates and Jane Trepp also delivered an NCAA provisional mark with a time of 3:23.56 to place third, while the men’s 400 free foursome of Andrei Tuomola, Hannes Heyl, Sean LeNeave and Reijo Hyvenen registered runner-up honors (3:01.33).

Moreover, Heyl, Simon Diefenthal, Sara Haley, Clint Hallum, Sean Roddy and Martin Jungfleisch claimed top-three finishes.

Heyl swam the 100 free in a season best of 45.04 to earn second, and Diefenthal touched the wall in 1:51.90 to finish second in the 200 back. Haley took third in the 200 butterfly (2:01.31).

Hallum and Roddy emerged in second and third in the 200 breast with times of 2:06.02 and 2:07.92, respectively. Jungfleisch seized third in the 200 fly (1:52.79).

In diving, sophomores Brian Gemberling, Matt Vieke and freshman Jesse Lyman placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the men’s platform competition. Gemberling scored a career-high 259.05 points, fourth in program history, while Vieke posted a 252.60 mark, and Lyman tallied a 238.85 score. Freshman Elle Schmidt secured third-place in the women’s platform with a 183.80 mark.

The LSU divers will compete again when they travel to the Alabama Diving Invitational, beginning Dec. 17. The LSU swimmers will not race again until early January.


UNLV

The UNLV men's and women's swimming team finished the third of final day of action at a pair of invitationals on Sunday. UNLV won a total of four events at the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational in Houston, while the Rebel divers also participated in Arizona.

The 24th-ranked UNLV men's squad won four events in Houston, beginning with Andrew Morrell's first-place swim in the 200 breast in a time of 2:01.67. Two more Rebels won individual events, as Steven Nelms was first in the 100 free in 44.80, while Daniel Egly touched the wall first in the 200 fly in 1:48.82. In the final event of the meet, UNLV's 400 free relay squad of Nelms, Charlie Tapp, Thomas Andolfsson, and Kyle Virva finished first in 3:00.59.

The Rebels, who brought 10 swimmers from the men's side, finished in third place with 678 points.

UNLV took two swimmers from the women's squad to the event. Marva Harpak posted an 11th-place time in the 100 free, while Brittany Ozar was eighth in the 200 back in 2:04.71, and 16th in the 100 free in 52.68.

At the University of Arizona Invite in Tempe, four Rebels participated on the platform event on Sunday. Leading the UNLV performances was Rachelle Zuccaro, who finished 14th with a score of 158.55. Following her was Mariah Skeen in 16th (154.20), Jordyn Lauten in 18th (148.50) and Kristina Fivecoat was 20th (116.20).

UNLV will return to action on Dec. 12-14 in Long Beach, Calif., when it will swim in the Cal Lutheran Invite.


TEXAS A&M

The Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team swept every single swimming event all weekend long en route to a dominating team victory at the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational at the University of Houston’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
 
The eighth-ranked Aggies lived up to their billing as they won every swimming race at the three-day championship-style event, and posted at least one NCAA qualifier in every event except the platform dive, the only event in which the Aggies didn’t enter an athlete. The Aggies scored 1,523 points to far outdistance runner-up SMU (666 points), LSU (621) and host Houston (465).
  
In Sunday’s finals, the Aggies tallied 10 individual NCAA qualifiers and had a pair of relays post “B” cuts in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 
  
In an impressive show of depth, the Aggies finished 1-2 in the 400 free relay with the all-senior foursome of Julia Wilkinson, Kristen Heiss, Sarah Woods and Melissa Hain grabbing gold in 3:16.21, and the quartet of senior Alia Atkinson, senior Ella Doerge, junior Maria Sommer and freshman Allyson Sweeney taking runner-up honors in 3:21.93.
  
Atkinson logged the Aggies’ lone NCAA 'A' cut with a five-second plus victory in the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.04. Atkinson, the NCAA runner-up at the distance last year, also posted an auto qualifier in the 100 breast on Saturday.
 
The Aggies’ distance freestylers were dominant with a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 1,650, including three NCAA consideration times. Leading the way were a pair of freshmen, Maureen McLaine and Liz Nelson, who finished in 16:19.74 and 16:32.97, respectively. McLaine's impressive November mile now ranks her third in A&M history in the event. Placing third was sophomore Alyssa Conner, who has had a great fall season, swimming a lifetime-best of 16:39.23 while the A&M school record holder in the mile, junior Casey Hurrell-Zitelman, was fourth in 17:02.55.
    
Seniors Heiss and Emily Neal took the top two spots in the 200 backstroke and logged 'B' cut times in the race. Heiss placed first in 1:53.50, just .13 off the time that earned her a bronze medal at the 2007 NCAA Championships, while Neal was second in 1:57.17. Heiss's winning time ranks as the third-fastest in A&M history.
  
The Aggies went 1-2-3 in the 100 freestyle with Wilkinson taking first in 48.24 and Woods placing second in 49.84, both NCAA “B” cuts. Wilkinson improved to 48.21 leading off the 400 free relay. Her times rank as the sixth and seventh-fastest times in A&M history (Wilkinson also owns the top five). Co-captain Melissa Hain grabbed third in a lifetime best of of 50.46.
  
Sophomore Rita Medrano and freshman Kendra Chernoff finished 1-2 with a pair of “B” cuts in the 200 butterfly with Medrano breaking her prior A&M school record from her freshman campaign. Medrano touched first in 1:56.31, topping her old A&M record mark of 1:56.73, while Chernoff was second in 1:58.77 ranking her third in the event in A&M history.

The Aggies will close their fall season on Saturday, Dec. 5, at home against Rice.