Liberty made it a 4-0 weekend in Texas, defeating North Texas and Incarnate Word on Saturday at the PEB Natatorium.
The Lady Flames (5-2) downed the host Mean Green, 140-102, while taking a 156-87 decision from CCSA foe Incarnate Word. North Texas went 1-1 on the day, defeating the Cardinals, 167-76. Liberty defeated Incarnate Word for the second day in a row.
Liberty won both relays, in addition to picking up seven individual event victories. Kendall Hough won both the 50 free and 100 free, while Kristin VanDevnter took first in the 500 free and 1000 free. Prudence Rooker (200 IM), Alicia Finnigan (200 fly), and Victoria Tschoke (200 back) earned one win apiece.
The 200 medley relay went to the Lady Flames, as Tschoke, Ricki Lee Hodges, Rooker and Rachel Hoeve won in 1:47.28.
VanDeventer (10:26.68) and Hannah Wakeley (10:37.78) claimed the top two spots in the 1000 free, in that order, both in season-best time. Later in the meet, VanDeventer won the 500 free in 5:06.68, leading a 1-2-3 Liberty sweep. Finnigan’s 5:09.02 was good for second, while Wakeley placed third in 5:12.21.
Hough broke 24 seconds in the 50 free for the first time this season, with a winning time of 23.97, while Hoeve’s season-best 24.19 earned third place. Hough later earned the 100 free victory in a season-best 51.79. Ashlee Sall (53.18) placed third with a season best, while Hoeve (53.70) took fifth.
Liberty captured the top three spots in the 200 IM, led by Rooker’s 2:08.07. Tschoke was runner-up in 2:08.32, while Finnigan (2:10.47) placed third and Anna Dickinson (season-best 2:11.78), fifth.
Finnigan swam a season-best 2:03.93 to claim the 200 fly victory. Her time of 2:03.93 ranks fourth in program history. Wakeley came in fourth, at 2:09.39.
Tschoke won the 200 back in a season-best 2:02.81.
The Lady Flames’ quartet of Hough, Sall, Chelsea Pond and Rooker won the 400 free relay in 3:31.29.
In the 200 free, Sall (1:55.97), Pond (1:56.45) and Shelby Black (1:56.79) took third through fifth.
Noonan’s season-best 2:24.07 was good for fourth in the 200 breaststroke.
Brooke Fox placed fifth in one-meter diving with a score of 215.03, while Courtney Fox scored 201.3 for seventh. In the three-meter diving, Brooke Fox (199.35) finished fifth, while Courtney Fox (171.60) took eighth.
Liberty closes out the dual-meet portion of its fall schedule next weekend. The Lady Flames compete at James Madison, next Saturday at 11 a.m.
North Texas
Coming off a second-place finish at the North Texas Relays, the Mean Green swimming and diving team hosted Incarnate Word and Liberty in its first dual meets of the season in a double-dual meet format on Saturday morning.
North Texas went 1-1, defeating Incarnate Word, 167-76, and falling to Liberty, 140-102. The Mean Green picked up wins in the 200-yard freestyle and in the three-meter diving competition against both opponents, and nine wins against Incarnate Word and another win against Liberty.
“Any time you win a meet, you have to be happy, so we’re really happy about us winning our meet against Incarnate Word,” head coach Brendon Bray said. “We took another really good step forward. We improved again, and that’s what we wanted to do. “We’re going to continue to build. We’ll be better at Texas A&M, and we’ll be a lot better against Rice and Houston.”
Sophomore Isabelle Morris won first place overall in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.65 and also took first place against Incarnate Word and second overall in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53:04.
North Texas finished first, second and third overall in the three-meter diving competition, with junior Samantha Scheck (247.65) in first place, followed by senior Jasmine Abercrombie (244.13) and freshman Averie Ruiz (220.95).
The Mean Green also finished first, second and third against Incarnate Word, placing three in the top four overall, in the 200-yard backstroke, led by junior Ash Stone in first, second overall, with a time of 2:06.06.
Sophomore Caroline Culpepper posted two wins against Incarnate Word, placing second overall in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:07.34 and fourth overall in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:16.33.
Other highlights included one-two finishes against Incarnate Word in the 200-yard medley relay, 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard freestyle relay, as well as a first-second finish against Liberty on the one-meter diving boards.
It was the first of two home meets this season, with TCU later visiting North Texas on Friday, Jan. 29.
North Texas moves to 6-0 all-time in dual meets against Incarnate Word and 0-1 in dual meets against Liberty.
North Texas won first place against Incarnate Word in both relay races with the team of senior Bianca Bocsa, sophomore Claudia Kitching, freshman Kelsey Opiela and senior Michelle Balcaen in the 200-yard medley relay (1:47.92) and the team of sophomore Lauren Tidwell, senior Bianca Bocsa, sophomore Isabelle Morris and freshman Katie Moore in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:32.77).
Other individual winners against Incarnate Word included senior Haley Goertz in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:47.64), senior Bianca Bocsa in the 50-yard freestyle (24.10), and sophomore Claudia Kitching in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.26).
North Texas also picked up a win against Liberty in the one-meter diving competition with senior Jasmine Abercrombie in first place, second overall, with a score of 230.35 and sophomore Allison Crites in second place, third overall, with a score of 219.45.
North Texas returns to the pool on Friday, Oct. 23, for a dual meet at Texas A&M.
