SMU Women
The SMU women’s swimming and diving team won eight of ten relay events, and diving, en route to a season-opening victory at the North Texas Relays on Friday evening. The altered format included three and four athlete relays, and a combined score for competing divers.
“The team really stepped up tonight in both swimming and diving,” Head Coach Steve Collins said. “I am very happy for our seniors to get a win as this is the first time in their four years to win the relay meet. Our newcomers, both transfers and freshmen, played a huge role in getting the win. We will try and build on this success over the next two weeks as we prepare for the SMU Classic.”
The Mustangs posted a team score of 404 to lead the field, with its closest competitor, UNT, finishing with 358. American Athletic Conference opponent Houston picked up 314 points, while Arkansas Little Rock rounded out the group with 164.
SMU’s diving duo of junior Lauren Lamb and sophomore Madeline Wainman earned the top spot in the lone diving event, posting a 465.00 on the one-meter. Houston trailed behind with a combined score of 441.00.
Mustang event wins:
300 Butterfly
Adri Santa, Tiffany Sudarma, Marne Erasmus – 2:50.81
800 Freestyle
Vicky Cunningham, Adri Santa, Ursa Bezan, Maddie Hoch – 7:32.92
500 Freestyle
Hannah Rogers, Cunningham, Santa, Kirsty McLauchlan – 4:35.52
400 Medley
Anna Volchkov, Tara-Lynn Nicholas, Erasmus, Cunningham – 3:49.92
200 Freestyle
Rogers, Erasmus, Ashley Mercadel, Nicholas – 1:38.41
1500 Freestyle
Hoch, Bezan, McLauchlan – 15:17.70
400 Medley 4x100 IM
Volchkov, Bezan, McLauchlan, Nicholas – 4:05.33
400 Free
Hoch, Rogers, Santa, Cunningham – 3:29.62
The Mustangs are back in action Oct. 16-17 when they host the annual SMU Classic in Mansfield, Texas. The event includes top competition in UCLA, Florida State, Missouri, Louisville and TCU. Each team will send eight swimmers and one diver to vie for the event title. Action kicks off at 6:30 p.m. both days.
North Texas
Looking to defend its North Relays title from last season, the North Texas Swimming & Diving team came up just short, placing second with an overall score of 358. SMU won the meet with an overall score of 404, with Houston in third place (314) and Little Rock in fourth place (164).
North Texas started fast with wins in two of the first three events, the 300 yard backstroke relay and the 300 yard breaststroke relay. The two wins were among the highlights from the Mean Green’s first regular-season meet of the 2015-16 season.
“I’m really happy with where we are and that we competed together tonight,” head coach Brendon Bray said. “The divers did a great job, and all of our swimmers were swimming in their primary events, and we had some unexpectedly good times.
“We’re more prepared for the Oct. 10 weekend against Incarnate Word and Liberty. Now, we can digest how we can improve and what we can do differently and better to improve. I’m really happy that all these teams came out to race us. We improved again, which is another step forward from last week. We hope to do that again next time out.”
The team of senior Bianca Bocsa, freshman Natalia Kwiatkowska and junior Ashley Stone combined for a first-place time of 2:52.82 in the 300 backstroke relay, while an all-newcomer team of sophomore Claudia Kitching, freshman Kathleen Rousset and freshman Meaghan Rousset combined for a time of 3:18.97 to win the 300 breaststroke relay.
North Texas also claimed second-place finishes in the 800 yard freestyle, 500 yard freestyle, 400 yard medley, 200 yard freestyle and 400 yard 4x100 IM relay races. Their highest-scoring event of the meet was the 300 yard breaststroke relay, which also included a fourth-place finish.
On the boards, the North Texas divers competed against other teams for the first time this season, with the duo of senior Jasmine Abercrombie and sophomore Allison Crites finishing third with a combined score of 382.0, followed by the duo of sophomore Cecilia Hernandez and freshman Averie in fourth with a combined score of 352.0.
“It’s a great thing to have some success, when you win some relays,” Bray said. “It’s really going to help our training next week and get us to a point where we’re prepared for our next dual meet. I couldn’t be happier with we are right now. To lose to SMU, and finish as close as we did to SMU, one of the top programs in the country, it’s a good reflection of where we are right now.”
North Texas returns to action next Saturday, when it hosts Incarnate Word and Liberty for a double-dual meet. Swimming action from the Pohl Recreation Center and diving action from the PEB Building will start at 11 a.m.
Houston
The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team finished 3rd at the 2015 North Texas Relays, held Friday night at the Southlake-Carroll ISD Natatorium. The meet was the first of the season for the Cougars and also marked the official start of the Ryan Wochomurka Era at Houston.
SMU won the event with a total score of 404, while the host Mean Green finished 2nd, scoring 358. The Cougars rounded out the podium at 314, and UALR finished 4th, with a score of 164.
"We raced hard, and I'm proud of the effort tonight," Wochomurka said after his first race leading the Cougar program. "This is great information for us as we head into the dual meet phase of the season. We lacked a little in our execution in some areas, so there is a lot of room for improvement, but overall this was a good night for our program."
Houston finished the evening with 11 podium finishes in the 12-event meet. Each event was a relay race, providing opportunities for the Cougars to participate in several unique races.
In the pool, Houston was led by a trio of runner-up finishes. In the 300-Yard Backstroke Relay, the team of Eleanna Koutsouveli, Jasmine Williams and Doroteja Bednjanec finished 0.49 seconds out of the top spot. The three Cougars swam the race in 2:53.31.
Three newcomers combined to finish 2nd in the 1,500-Yard Freestyle Relay. Freshmen Delia Weber, Hannah Herbst and Conor Glenn swam the race in 15:32.05
Houston also placed 2nd in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay. Bednjanec, Emma Moore, Michaela Hamrick and Julie Gibson clocked in at 3:35.73, narrowly beating out a squad from UALR for the runner-up spot by just .05 seconds.
The Cougars placed 2nd in both diving events. In the 1-meter, Micaela Bouter and Danielle Shedd combined for a score of 441.00, 25 points out of the top spot. In the 3-meter, which did not count toward the overall team score, Bouter and 2015 American Athletic Conference Diver of the Year Taylor Olanski checked in with a score of 440.00, 29 points away from victory.
Houston also came up with six 3rd-place finishes, in the 300-Yard Butterfly Relay, 300-Yard Breaststroke Relay, 800-Yard Freestyle Relay, 500-Yard Freestyle Relay, 400-Yard Medley Relay and 200-Yard Freestyle Relay.
"We lost a few close races, which is always frustrating, but I know our team will use those results to get better," Wochomurka added. "Each meet is a learning opportunity. I'm very excited about how this group has been performing in practice, and I look forward to our next opportunity to race."
SMU Men
SMU men’s swimming picked up seven event victories over Oklahoma Baptist at the North Texas Relays to open the 2015-16 season. Swimmers competed in three and four athlete events to make up the altered format meet hosted by the University of North Texas.
Several Mustang veterans contributed to multiple relay wins for the Ponies, while newcomers Brandon Norman, Charlie Wort, Carson Klein, Aaron Schlemovitz, John Lindros and Lucas Schenke helped SMU to the victory in their first meet with the Ponies.
Mustang event wins:
300 Butterfly
Sam Straughan, Nick Hook, Ziga Cerkovnik – 2:35.90
300 Backstroke
Brandon Norman, Charlie Wort, Straughan – 2:36.00
800 Freestyle
Christian Scherubl, John Lindros, Aaron Schlemovitz, Matthew Colket – 7:09.60
500 Freestyle
Justin Gibson, Hook, M. Colket, Lucas Schenke – 4:16.59
200 Freestyle
Cerkovnik, Gibson, Hook, Scherubl – 1:26.13
1500 Freestyle
Schenke, Carson Klein, Schlemovitz – 14:44.47
400 Medley 4x100 IM
Cerkovnik, Scherubl, Straughan, Gibson – 3:10.64
Next up for the Mustangs is a dual meet at TCU on Oct. 28. Start time is set for 7 p.m. CT in Fort Worth, Texas.
