Tara-Lynn Nicholas and Marne Erasmus each swept their respective specialties in a 153-146 victory over American Athletic Conference opponent Tulane that came down to the final relay event for the win.
“Today’s meet was very exciting,” head coach Steve Collins said. “Our team pulled together from the start and it payed off with a great win. Winning a meet that comes down to the last relay is a great experience for our team. These experiences are special and will help make us a better team in the future. We are now looking forward to preparing for the A&M invite.”
With a two-point lead heading into the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Mustangs posted a first-place finish to secure the win. Adri Santa, Erasmus, Maddie Hoch and Vicky Cunningham turned in a commanding victory clocking a 3:27.79, which was over four seconds faster than the ‘A’ relay from Tulane.
SMU also scored maximum points in the first relay of the day, opening with a 1:43.69 from Tiffany Sudarma, Nicholas, Erasmus and Hannah Rogers in the 200-yard medley relay.
Nicholas continued her success in the breaststroke with winning times of 1:02.66 (100) and 2:17.68 (200). The 200 victory was over seven seconds faster than Tulane’s Lena Hayakawa. The fly victories for Erasmus were also convincing, as she won the 200 by over two seconds, and was one of only two swimmers to post a split under 27 seconds in the 100.
In freestyle action, the Mustangs picked up victories in the 50, 100 and 200 distances, with Rogers (23.72) posting her third win in the distance this season. Fellow transfer Cunningham was only .05 seconds behind for second.
Cunningham went on to win the 100 free, with Hoch backing her up to bring the event point total to 13 for the Ponies, and it was Hoch who was the 200 champion coming in ahead of Santa and Ursa Bezan to give SMU a 1-2-3 finish in the distance.
The final event win for the day came from Bezan, who clocked a 2:04.79 in the 200-yard backstroke to lead the group.
Madeline Wainman was the Mustangs’ top-scorer in diving finishing third in the 3-meter and fourth in the one-meter, while Lauren Lamb earned her highest finish in the 3m at fourth and was fifth in the 1m.
SMU is back in action Nov. 19-21 when they travel to the Texas A&M Invite in College Station, Texas
