North Texas topped the Little Rock Invitational by a wide margin this weekend.
Scores
North Texas, 728.5
Little Rock, 550
Incarnate Word, 544.5
Delta State, 538.5
Henderson State, 262.5
North Texas Press Release
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The North Texas swimming and diving team placed first at Little Rock Invitational on Saturday afternoon, marking its first victory of the 2016-17 campaign and the first under interim head coach Brittany Roth.
Athletes from five schools: North Texas, Delta State, Henderson State, Little Rock and Incarnate Word competed in 16 events at the Donaghey Aquatic Center in Little Rock. North Texas finished first with a final score of 728.5. UALR (550) and UIW (544.5) completed the top-three. DSU took fourth with a score on 538.5 and HSU finished with a score of 262.5.
“The way that today’s meet was formatted is different that a regular dual meet, so we told our team that it was going to take a total team effort to win today because it is not about just what the team does, but how each individual does in their race,” Roth said. “A lot of the girls took that responsibility upon themselves and really stepped up their game. We attacked early and kept our momentum going throughout the day.”
The attack began in the 200 individual medley relay. The relay team comprised of Ash Stone, Sarah Vaisse, Jowita Sienczyk and Isabelle Morris finished with a time of 1:46.67 to secure the Mean Green’s first victory of the day.
Emma Beth Jensen (100 freestyle), Vaisse (100 breaststroke), Morris (50 freestyle), and Claudia Kitching (200 breaststroke) each secured one individual victory on the day.
Anchored by Vaisse in the 200 freestyle relay, Morris, Jensen and Sienczyk placed first with a time of 1:37.12, a full second ahead of the UALR relay team.
“Sarah not only swam in the last two events back-to-back, but she swam well,” Roth added. “That was a selfless act and she was a team player to do it.”
Senior diver Samantha Scheck swept the diving competition, securing a first-place finish in both the one and three-meter diving events. She posted a score of 223.19 on the one-meter board and 249.00 on the three-meter board.
“Sam has been one of our most consistent divers and one of our strongest leaders her entire tenure at North Texas,” explained Roth. “The fact that she won both board events today is a testament to the work that she has put in leading up to this point. She is determined to go out strong and she got off to a nice start today.”
Cecilia Hernandez secured a third-place finish in the three-meter with a score of 232.95, while Averie Ruiz finished fourth in the one-meter (215.15) and fifth in the three-meter board events (220.55).
“We are going to take today’s results, be proud and excited about them, but we are going to analyze them and see how we can make them better,” Roth added. “We want to build on these results and find a way to get better heading into the Rice and Houston weekend.”
Little Rock Press Release
LITTLE ROCK – In its first home meet of the season, Little Rock swimming and diving earned a second-place finish in the Little Rock Invitational on Saturday at the Donaghey Aquatic Center.
The Trojans finished the meet with 550 points as North Texas won with 728.5. Incarnate Word finished third with 544.5 points while Delta State and Henderson State took fourth and fifth with 538.5 and 267.5 points, respectively.
Little Rock’s two event wins for the day came from freshmen Isabelle Finzen. Finzen first won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:10.16. Jinson Kang tied for second while Rachel Maradyn, Ginger Bryant, and Ashley Strohmeyer finished fourth, sixth and 14th, respectively. Finzen then won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.48, beating out teammate Courtney Coe by .10 of a second. Cassie Sanchez took 10th, and Strohmeyer finished 12th.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Tori Fryar placed second with a time of 5:03.28 while Maradyn, KateLin Carsrud, Anela Everett and Alexis McCauley took fifth, 12th, 15th and 18th, respectively.
Also taking a second-place finish was Samantha Gray in the three-meter dive with a score of 238.65. She later finished 16th in the one-meter dive with a score of 160.15.
The Trojans placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay as the squad of Laura Ruiz Astorga, Coe, Courtney Goff and Emma Doll came in with a time of 1:38.14. The Trojans’ other team of Ann Kharlamova, Vasiliki Falaina, Saidya Kistow and Imre van Huyssteen came in sixth.
The 1,000-yard freestyle saw Fryar finish third with a time of 10:35.04. Kayla Grimm took ninth while Anela Everett finished 11th.
In the 200-yard individual medley, Jessie Baldwin placed third with a new personal best of 2:12.05. Jinson Kang finished just .02 of a second behind Baldwin in fourth. Savannah Fissenden and Amanda Dreyer took sixth and 17th, respectively.
In the first event of the day, Ruiz Astorga, Nuria Gallego Murcia, Coe and Doll placed third in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:49.77. The squad of Fissenden, van Huyssteen, Finzen and Goff came in fifth while the team of Baldwin, Bryant, Sanchez and Kharlamova finished 10th.
The 100-yard breaststroke had Gallego Murcia finish fourth with a time of 1:08.62. van Huyssteen and Carsrud finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
Tying for fourth in the 50-yard freestyle was Coe with a time of 24.92. Kistow, Sanchez, Kharlamova and Harmon finished ninth through 19th.
Ruiz Astorga was the Trojans’ top performer in the 100-yard backstroke as she came in sixth with a time of 58.88. Fissenden, Baldwin, Goff, Dreyer and Darby Harmon finished 10th through 20th.
Ruiz Astorga came in fourth once again in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.76. Kistow, Falaina and Harmon finished 10th, 15th and 19th, respectively.
van Huyssteen grabbed herself a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:27.64. Gallego Murcia and Bryant finished sixth and ninth, respectively.
Fissenden finished sixth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.09. Charis Won, Goff, Dreyer and Grimm took 12th, 17th, 18th and 19th, respectively.
The 200-yard freestyle saw Doll finish ninth with a time of 1:58.88. Won, Kharlamova, Falaina and McCauley finished 12th, 15th, 16th and 18th, respectively.
Little Rock will return to action against Saint Louis and Western Illinois in double-dual meet action in St. Louis on Friday. The following day, the Trojans will face Saint Louis, Marshall and McKendree in a triple-dual meet.
