Houston
The University of Houston Swimming team had a strong opening day of the Phill Hansel Invitational, led by freshmen Eleanna Koutsouveli and Delia Weber and the 400-yard relay who all had podium finishes for the Cougars Thursday night at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
“We came into the meet with energy and attitude,” said head coach Ryan Wochomurka. “We came into this meet knowing it was a challenge. It’s a marathon. It’s a six-session, three-day meet. It’s preparation for the conference meet for us. We came out with fire and swam very well as a group this morning. We made some adjustments and either were right at or improved on our seed times this morning, and that’s all we can ask.”
The Cougars are currently in fourth place, with a score of 243 after the first day of the invitational. Rice leads the pack with 310. Tulane follows in second with 264.5, and UC Davis rounds out the podium with 258 points.
The team opened the invitational with a fifth place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Caitlin Horner, Doroteja Bednjanec, Julie Gibson and Maya Owens swam a time of 1:33.97, a team season best.
In the second race of the day, freshman Weber grabbed a podium finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:52.56. In prelims, Weber set a personal best and team season best with a time of 4:50.60. Teammate Rachel Hobbins placed seventh after swimming a time of 4:59.93.
Koutsouveli had an impressive finish in the 200-yard IM as she placed second, netting a personal and team season best time of 2:04.24.
In the 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Horner netted a fifth place finish, swimming in a time of 23.53, a team and season personal best.
The Cougars placed second overall in the final race of the day. The 400-yard medley relay team of Koutsouveli, Ashley Grijalva, Sharo Rodriguez and Horner finished with a season best time of 3:43.51.
“Both the A relays, in the 200-yard freestyle and the 400-yard medley, are far beyond, as a program, where we were at this point last year and much better than the conference meet this past year, so it’s exciting,” Wochomurka said. “We’re excited about relays, and for us that’s what collegiate swimming is all about - to be the very best at relays.”
RESULTS
OVERALL
1. Rice – 310
2. Tulane – 264.5
3. UC Davis – 258
4. Houston – 243
5. Oregon State – 214
6. Colorado State – 192.5
7. North Texas – 171
8. Idaho – 145
9. New Mexico State – 135
10. Northern Colorado – 105
North Texas
The North Texas swimming and diving team opened its weekend of competition, with the swimmers competing at the Phill Hansel Invitational in Houston and the divers at University of Texas Diving Invitational in Austin.
The swimmers set several season bests, and three different swimmers finished in the top 10 of their respective events. Paced by those individual efforts, North Texas is in seventh place of 10 teams with 171 points after the first of three days of competition in Houston.
Sophomore Isabelle Morris advanced to the A final of the 50-yard freestyle and finished seventh overall with a time of 23.66. Also in the 50-yard freestyle, senior Bianca Bocsa won the B final with a time of 23.43, which places her ninth overall in the event. Her time of 23.43 was not only the fastest by a North Texas swimmer this season, but it was also fourth-fastest in the finals session and the fifth-fastest of the entire day.
In addition to Morris and Bocsa, sophomore Sarah Vaisse also finished in the top 10, placing second in the B final -- 10th overall -- in the 200 individual medley finals. She eclipsed her previous North Texas season-best time in both the preliminaries and then again in the finals with a time of 2:03.87.
North Texas also competed in two relays events, taking sixth in both the 200-yard freestyle relay with a season-best time of 1:34.48 and the 400-yard medley with a season-best time of 3:46.14.
In all, the Mean Green had a combined 17 swimmers finish in the top 40 of the preliminaries and advance to the finals of the three individual events, in addition to the teams that competed in the two relays.
Colorado State
The Colorado State swimming and diving squad finished its first day split across two events in Texas on Thursday, with the divers at the University of Texas Diving Invitational and the swimming side at the Phill Hansel Invite in Houston.
CSU had impressive results in Houston, highlighted by the four members of the 400 medley relay group – Jess Shepard, Jenna Beaury, Karin Roh and Kelsey Lawton. The foursome took third in the event, and head coach Christopher Woodard was thrilled.
“Our 400 medley relay was great, every leg was a good leg but Karin Roh was the standout in the 100 Fly,” Woodard said. “She posted our fastest split in the last two years in her leg.”
Woodard also pointed out the results from all his competitors in the 500 Freestyle, led by Mackenzie Halligan, who took 11th with a time of 4:56.87. The Rams’ 200 Freestyle Relay group took seventh place (1:35.08), and Carmen Mand provided an eighth-place result in the 50 Freestyle.
CSU is in sixth out of 10 squads on the team leaderboard, and Woodard believes that his team can continue to rise up the standings with what they showed on Thursday.
“I’m very happy,” Woodard said. “We’ve had a tough fall season, and sometimes until you see results it’s hard to see if you’re doing things right.
“We’re not necessarily paying attention to the scoreboard at this point. I’m pleased, and I expect them to keep rolling. If they do, then we’ll all start to pay attention to the scoreboard.”
