TCU Men Win, UNT Third, Tulane Fourth at UNT Relays

The TCU men's and women's swimming team opened the season with the North Texas Relays Friday at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium. The men claimed first place honors, while the women earned runner-up honors.

"It was an exciting meet and a good way to start the season," head coach Richard Sybesma said. "Our men swam extremely well and I saw some good things out of our women as well."

On the men's side, TCU toppled SMU and Incarnate Word in six of the ten events. Sophomore Edgar Crespo led the Frogs to four relay wins, followed by junior Edgar Peyro and freshman Devin Price with three wins a piece. TCU topped SMU in the 400-free relay, an event that the Mustangs finished in 14th place at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

The women's squad earned wins in two events to finish ahead of Incarnate Word, North Texas and Tulane. Freshman Maggie Smith teamed up with sophomores Megan Higginbotham and Kelsey Krug to win the 300-breast relay (3:25.76), while Zrinka Korac and Ashley Bolin joined newcomers Kristi Dena and Ali Berry for the 500-free medal (4:30.51).

Both squads will hit the road next weekend to for a pair of dual meets in Mountain West Conference territory. After battling Colorado State and Northern Colorado on Oct. 22, the Frogs will travel to take on Air Force on Oct. 23.



The Southern Methodist women and the Texas Christian men claimed first place on Friday evening at the third annual North Texas Relays.
 
The TCU women, 98 points, barely edged out North Texas who finished third with 90 total points.  The Mean Green took second in six heats to go along with third place finishes in three others.
 
In the 4 x 50 freestyle relay, the foursome of senior Nicole Leslie, junior Morgan Morrow and sophomores Seabre Pope and Carleigh Kutac outraced the TCU in the last split to take second by a minute tenth of a second with a time of 1:38.50.
 
The 4 x 100 freestyle relay featured another tight race for second between the Mean Green and the Horned Frogs. Becca Ploetz, Nicole Leslie, Seabre Pope and Alicia Hale captured the race by three and a half tenths of a second finishing with a time of 3:32.22.
 
The all-relay style event was held at the Mansfield Natatorium for the first time.



The freshman trio of Erin Cunningham, Lauren Pfohl and Grace Tarka joined forces to post a third-place finish in the 3x100 backstroke with a time of 2:56.78 and the Green Wave tallied a pair of fourth-place finishes in three other events as the Tulane University swimming and diving team finished fourth overall at the Third Annual Texas Relays Friday evening at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium.
 
On the surface, the Green Wave’s team performance may look like a young program finishing in the bottom half of a five-team event. Upon closer inspection, however, Tulane far exceeded first-year head swimming and diving coach Lena Guarriello’s goals as the team made the trip in the early-morning hours, put in a full day of practice, broke for a quick meal and then competed in the 10-event relay meet.
 
“The girls' performance was great,” Guarriello said. “We had two goals for the meet – to swim smart and to have fun. They were able to accomplish both of those things. We arrived at the pool early and swam a full workout, had lunch, and then got back in the pool for a warm-up prior to the meet.
 
“Each swimmer competed in three-to-five relays, some of them swimming distances ranging from 200-500 yards per race. Overall, the girls put in about 12,000-13,000 yards today and still managed to perform well throughout the meet.”
 
Tulane’s 60 points on the day were 18 more than University of Incarnate Word and 30 behind host and third-placed North Texas. Conference USA foe SMU won the North Texas Relays team title with a score of 130, while TCU was runner-up with 98 points.
 
Tarka, junior Kylie Kastes and rookie Gisele Calderon joined forces to clock a 2:58.18 in the 3x100 fly while the quartet of Allie Evans, Elizabeth Whitaker, Kastes and Pfohl combined to post a time of 7:52.18 in the 4x200 free. Both were fourth-place finishes on Friday, as was Whitaker, Calderon, Kastes and Evans’ time of 4:46.11 in the 50-10-150-200 free ladder.
 
Tulane also posted fifth-place finishes in the 3x100 breast as Samantha Davis, Jillian Daleiden and Cunningham clocked a 3:35.51, in the 4x50 free were Kayla Alf-Huynh, Kristine Gu, Hayley Tilton and Whitaker timed a 1:42.56, in the 3x500 free where Evans, Ates and Bolton Harris touched the wall at 16.04.62, and in the 4x100 IM where Cunningham, Kastes, Tarka and Calderon posted a 4:11.55.
 
The Green Wave also finished sixth in the 4x100 medley and the 4x100 free where Pfohl, Cunningham, Tarka and Evans clocked a 4:03.34 and Kastes, Whitaker, Pfohl and Evans recorded a time of 3:38.86, respectively.
 
“I think the most important thing that the team learned today is that you can race tired and still swim fast,” Guarriello said. “Our girls haven't had a ‘break’ since they started up in August. Each week gets progressively harder. This has been their toughest week yet with swimming, conditioning, and mid-terms. They are physically and mentally tired and they came together as a unit and performed very well today. I'm extremely proud of them. They are showing a lot of maturity for a young team and are swimming competitively with much more seasoned programs.”
 
The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Oct. 10, when they travel to UNT’s campus in Denton, Texas, for a dual meet slated to begin at 11 a.m. From there, Tulane will take on LSU in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday, Oct. 30, before heading to Houston for the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational from Nov. 20-22.
 
FINAL SCORE OF THE NORTH TEXAS RELAYS
1.          SMU                         130
2.          TCU                         98
3.          North Texas            90
4.          Tulane                     60
5.          Incarnate Word     42