Arkansas Beats North Texas

Arkansas

Arkansas swimmers Chelsea Franklin, Yi-Ting Siow and Haley Smith, along with diver Alex Roman each won two events Saturday to lead the Razorback swimming and diving team over North Texas at Arkansas Natatorium.
14 event wins carried the Hogs to a 192-106 victory over the Mean Green, giving Arkansas (5-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) its fifth dual-meet victory of the season.

“Today I was really pleased with the way the girls stood up and raced,” Arkansas swimming coach Jeff Poppell said. “The meet was pretty much what I expected coming off of Christmas training, a lot of our girls looked pretty tired and pretty run down but that is understandable giving the work we have done. We are fortunate to have been able to swim some girls in different events that they haven’t seen this season, which I think was beneficial to help us make some decisions later in the season. 

“Coach Dykstra and North Texas just continue to get better every year. They are a much improved team over where they were a year ago and we enjoyed the opportunity to stand up and compete against them.” 

Franklin took first place in the 200-yard butterfly, touching in at 2 minutes, 5.28 seconds and the 500y freestyle with a time of 4:58.77, while Siow won the 100y backstroke event in 57.87 and earned her second victory of the day in the 100y butterfly with a time of 55.62. 

Smith won both the 200y backstroke and 400y individual medley events, turning in time of 2:03.79 and 4:32.80, respectively. 

Roman picked up the first two wins of her collegiate career Saturday as she swept the diving events with a pair of strong performances. The sophomore scored 256.73 on the one-meter followed by a career-high 291.38 on the three-meter. 

“Alex is coming along strong and beginning to look like the diver I have known she could be for the last year and a half,” Arkansas diving coach Dale Schultz said. “I am looking forward to her progression from now till the conference meet in February.” 

Senior Leah Pierce and junior Erin Neumann added wins for the Razorbacks in the 100y and 200y breaststroke, respectively. Pierce touched in at 1:05.51 to earn her second win of the season while Neumann turned in a time of 2:22.13. Sophomore 

Alison Templin took first place in the 1,650y freestyle with a time of 17:15.97. 

Senior Lynette Ng turned in the top time in the 50y freestyle at 24.03 and junior Megan Haskins finished first in the 100y freestyle with a time of 52.76. 

The Razorback relay team of Ng, Neumann, Lisa Lunkenheimer and Dannica Brennan kicked off the meet with win in the 200y medley relay at 1:46.62. 

Arkansas returns to action Jan. 16 when they travel to Columbia, Mo., for a dual meet against the University of Missouri. For more information about Arkansas’ swimming and diving team, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.


North Texas

Sophomore Delia Covo shattered the school three-meter diving record as the Mean Green fell to No. 18 Arkansas 192-106 Saturday at the Arkansas Natatorium.
 
Covo’s total of 258.38, good for second, from the three-meter boards bested former North Texas diver Melissa Whitaker’s nearly decade old record of 248.65.
 
“I am really proud of how tough we were in this meet today,” head coach Joe Dykstra said. “We gave the 18th ranked team in the country a very tough fight and will continue to gain confidence from this type of meet going forward.”
 
Senior Alicia Hale and sophomore Rosa Gentile continue to swim strong for the Mean Green. Hale finished in first place in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.29 and second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:07.71.
 
Gentile couldn’t capture first Saturday morning, but turned in two second place finishes in the 100 backstroke (59.01) and the 100 butterfly (58.61).
 
Hale and Gentile teamed up with senior Nicole Leslie and freshman Hannelle Luoma in the 200 yard medley relay to finish third.
Leslie, Hale, Seabre Pope and Carleigh Kutac took second in the 200 freestyle relay, swimming it in 1:38.45.
 
North Texas returns to the pool Friday, Jan. 15, in Fort Worth, Texas, as they take on Texas Christian.  The Mean Green will make their next appearance at home against Houston on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23 against Rice.Sophomore Delia Covo shattered the school three-meter diving record as the Mean Green fell to No. 18 Arkansas 192-106 Saturday at the Arkansas Natatorium.