Swimcloud

TCU Women Top Tulane

The TCU women’s swimming & diving team kicked off the season with a dominating victory over Tulane, 179-121, on Saturday at the University Rec Center Natatorium.
 
The Frogs recorded first-place times in 12 events against the Green Wave.
 
“Tulane has a solid program,” head coach Richard Sybesma said. “It’s great to come out with a win in our first dual meet. It’s early in the year, but I was really pleased to see how well our team competed.”
 
The day began and ended with the Frogs capturing wins in both relay events. In the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Lyndsie Gibson, Devin Newton, Emily Gibson and Julia Sanders posted a time of 1:45.58. The 400-yard free relay squad of Sanders, Mackenzie Schuler, Emily Gibson and Mikayla Winkler finished almost two seconds faster than second-place with a time of 3:32.03.
 
The Gibson sister’s tandem combined for five wins on Saturday. After the opening relay that featured the Southlake duo, Lyndsie, a junior, would win the 100 and 200-yard back events with marks of 56.64 and 2:05.09, respectively. Her freshman sister, Emily, was on the first-place 400-yard free relay squad and also picked up an individual win in the 100-yard fly with a time of 57.49.
 
“It’s neat when you have a pair of sisters from the same family and they combine for wins,” Sybesma said. “In our meet today, they combined for a total of five wins. So that was cool to see. I thought our team really competed well today.”
 
Senior Ali Bleasdell, the school record holder in the 200-yard IM, posted the top-time in the event on Saturday with a time of 2:07.48. She also picked up a victory in the 200-yard fly, edging out fellow Frog Catherine Rash. Bleasdell and Rash’s times were 2:06.18 and 2:06.56, respectively.
 
“Ali Bleasdell winning the 200 fly and 200 IM today were big wins for our program,” Sybesma added.
 
Junior Mikayla Winkler also recorded two first-place finishes in the meet against Tulane. Her strong start earned her the win in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:53.71 and finished the 500-yard free at 5:06.95, five seconds ahead of second place.
 
Junior Sara Brzozowski, sophomore Julia Sanders and freshman Lindsay Shabet rounded out the first-place times for the Frogs. Brzozowski picked up the win in 1000-yard free with a time of 10:30.14. In the 50-yard free, Sanders posted a time of 24.14 and Shabet’s time 2:22.29 gave her the victory in the 200-yard breast.
 
Over in diving, Kristen Connolly racked up a pair of second-place scores in the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Connolly, a junior from San Antonio, recorded marks of 284.25 and 259.20, respectively.
 
Senior Courtney Cheek and freshman Ty Sides each tallied third-place scores on Saturday. Cheek’s came in the 3-meter dive with a 250.28 and Sides with a 271.27 in the 1-meter event.
 
The Frogs return to action on Sunday, Oct. 12, against the University of Texas-Permian Basin in Andrews, Texas, at 4 p.m.

 

 

Junior Lauren Arnold set a school record in the one-meter springboard while the duo of sophomore Joy Jason and junior Mia Schachter posted individual wins in the 100 breast and 100 free, respectively, as the Tulane University swimming and diving team enjoyed a solid performance for the second consecutive day on Saturday against TCU at the University Recreation Center Natatorium.

With a 293.02, Arnold surpassed the former Green Wave standard of 285.98 established by Danielle Carrillo against Rice on Jan. 29, 2005 as well as her previous career-best mark of 284.92 last Oct. 12 against Arkansas-Little Rock. Arnold’s score in the one-meter springboard also qualified her to participate in the NCAA Zone Meet for the second consecutive season. The record-setting performance, however, was not enough for Tulane as TCU edged the Green Wave in the dual meet, 179-121.

“Today was a good challenge for us and we got an outstanding performance from Lauren Arnold in diving,” Tulane head coach Katie Robinson said. “For her to set a school record and win two events in the first dual meet of the season speaks volumes to the amount of work she put in during the offseason and the job diving coach Chris Devine did with her during the preseason.

“Overall, we swam well to get more points than expected going into the meet. We were swimming pretty tired today and didn’t have the same spunk that we carried yesterday as a team. This is most likely the result of being so early in the season and racing back-to-back days. With more training, we’ll see this team respond to continuous race days much better.”

In addition to Arnold’s win in the one-meter springboard, she also emerged victorious at the three-meter elevation with a score of 266.32 – a mark that ranks fourth in Tulane history. Jason, meanwhile, won the 100 breast with a time of 1:05.41 and Schachter won the 100 free at 52.97.

Along with Tulane’s four total wins, the Green Wave added six second-place performances and six third-place finishes against the Horned Frogs.

The Wave opened the meet on a solid note as the quartet of junior Elizabeth Cook, Jason, senior Vanessa Loewen and Schachter combined to post a  1:46.18 in the 200 medley relay to finish second. Cook added two other second-place performances with a 57.90 in the 100 back and 2:07.17 in the 200 back, Jason finished second in the 200 breast with a time of 2:23.33 and Loewen followed suit in the 100 fly at 57.82.

Tulane also posted a 2-3 finish in the 50 free where Schachter clocked a 24.49 and sophomore Jonna Frantz touched the wall at 24.64. Junior Rachel Schneider had a pair of third-place finishes with a 5:14.31 in the 500 free and a 10:42.68 in the 1000 free. Sophomore Ellie Sills added a third-place finish in the 200 fly at 2:07.57 while freshmen Emma Lincoln and Alex Lakota finished third in the 200 free and 200 IM with respective marks of 1:54.81 and 2:09.58.

The Green Wave wrapped the day with a solid performance in the 400 free relay, which TCU swam but exhibitioned its scores as the result of the meet had already been decided. Schachter and Frantz along with freshmen Emma Lincoln and Kaitlin Simpson led the team with a 3:32.95 with Schneider, Palmer, Jason and junior Holly Grender clocking a 3:42.25.

“As coaches, we saw the areas that we need to improve upon and we’ll be getting to work on those specifics as the season progresses,” Robinson added. “I was happy for the spirit and fight that they showed regardless of the score. It was good to see a few individual wins as well. Our divers continue to top the charts on the boards and our 400 free relay is going to be a relay to beat in the coming months. For now, it’s back to the training pool as we prepare to race LSU on Friday.”

The Green Wave return to action on Friday, Oct. 3, when they play host to in-state rival LSU at 5 p.m. in the Reily Student Recreation Center. Tulane’s dual-meet against the Lady Tigers is the first of three home meets during the 2014-15 season, and admission to each of those contests is free.

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