Swimcloud

LSU Sweeps Houston, Rice, Tulane

The University of Houston Swimming and Diving team concluded the 2015-16 regular season with two dual meet wins over Tulane and Rice, in part to the Cougars ending Saturday with 12 podium finishes to conclude the final day of the Houston Quad Meet at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
 
Houston beat Tulane by a score of 235-118, and 252-92 over Rice, their first victory over the Owls since Oct. 10, 2009. The Cougars fell to LSU by a score of 224-129.
 
“It’s great for our seniors, to let them go out on a couple of wins,” said head swimming and diving coach Ryan Wochomurka. “They’ve been phenomenal for us all year. I’m personally very grateful for this senior class. Being a first-year coach here with them, and them really embracing us as a staff. They really embraced our visions that we can build a culture of excellence here.”
 
Houston honored its five seniors during Saturday’s pregame ceremonies as swimmers Doroteja Bednjanec, Holly Criscuolo, Taylor Derevyanik, Maya Owens and diver Danielle Shedd were recognized for their outstanding careers.
 
“Seniors lead the way,” Wochomurka said. “Whether or not they were winning events, they were putting up personal best times. To be at your very best that you’ve ever been in your last dual meet of your career, that’s awesome. That’s just fantastic.”
 
The Cougars came off the blocks strong in the first event of the day, the 400-yard Medley Relay, the Cougars grabbed two podium finishes. The relay team of Eleanna Koutsouveli, Ashley Grijalva, Sharo Rodriguez and Caitlin Horner placed second overall with a time of 3:44.82. Rounding out the podium, the team of Jasmine Williams, Cameron Balkom, Owens and Bednjanec, with a time of 3:45.40.
 
A freshman, Hannah Herbst grabbed her second podium finish of the meet in the 500-yard freestyle. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native swam the race in a time of 4:54.69, a personal best.
 
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Grijalva placed second overall with a time of 1:03.50, her second podium finish of the quad meet.
 
The Cougars grabbed two podium finishes in the 200-yard backstroke, Eleanna Koutsouveli and Jenny Penneck placed second and third, respectively. Koutsouveli netted a time of 1:59.91 to capture second and Penneck grabbed third with a time of 2:00.62, a personal best.
 
Houston grabbed a pair of third place finishes in the next two races. Rodriguez finished third in the 200-yard butterfly, swimming the race in a time of 2:02.56. In the 100-yard freestyle, Horner grabbed a third place finish, she netted a time of 51.79.
 
Koutsouveli captured a podium finish in the 400-yard IM. The freshman, won her individual heat with a time of 4:21.60, which placed her second overall in the event.
 
In the final swimming event of the afternoon, the 200-yard freestyle, the Cougars captured a podium finish. The team of Horner, Bednjanec, Owens and Michaela Hamrick, finished the race in a time of 1:34.14 to net a second place finish.
 
In the 1-meter diving, sophomore Micaela Bouter grabbed a podium finish. The Johannesburg, South Africa, native placed third overall with a score of 281.90.
 
“We’re swimming well,” Wochomurka said. “We’re swimming well. We’re swimming right at career bests, season best times right now. That breeds great confidence going into the conference meet. For us to have a meet like this that’s at home, this is the set up we’re going to see. We’re hosting the conference meet. We’re excited for what’s to come. Conference meet is here. It’s in town. It’s rodeo month, so we have our own little rodeo here, so it’s time to go.”

 

Rice

The Rice sophomore duo of Kaitlyn Swinney and Alicia Caldwell were the swim team’s top finishers on the final day of action at the annual Quad Meet Saturday across town at the University of Houston Rec Center Natatorium.
 
Swinney finished fourth among a field of 17 entries in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:23.51. Caldwell was fourth out of 22 starters in the 100-freestyle with a 51.92. The Caldwell and Swinney tandem were also sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 200-backstroke with marks of 2:02.19 and 2:03.57.
 
In the team scoring the Owls dropped each of the weekend’s three separately-scored dual meets: LSU 280, Rice 67; Tulane 197, Rice 150; and meet host Houston 152, Rice 92.
 
Other finishers for Rice included true freshman Marie-Claire Schillinger taking fifth in the 100-breaststroke (1:04.11) and swimming on both of the Owls’ top two relays. Schillinger anchored the 200-free relay that held-off a final challenge to finish fifth with a time of 1:36.75. She swam the third leg of the 400-medley relay that placed sixth with a 3:52.13.
 
Sophomores Kaitlin Benjamin (2:03.94) and Kiley Beall (2:04.68) were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 200-butterfly. Freshman Hanna Huston was seventh in the 500-free with time of 5:00.63.
 
The Quad Meet was the swim team’s last competition until the Conference USA Championships on Feb. 24-27 in Atlanta, Ga.  The C-USA meet takes place on the campus of Georgia Tech, site of the swimming events for the 1996 Olympics and where Rice won the league title in 2014.

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