East Carolina leads the men’s standings, while Houston holds the advantage on the women’s side after Day 3 of the 2017 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus & Wellness Recreation Center Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston.
The Pirates have created separation in the men’s standings with 630 points heading into the final day of competition. SMU trails in second with 502.5, followed by Cincinnati (494) and UConn (421.5). The Cougars lead the six-team women’s field with 507, followed by SMU (438), Cincinnati (408), East Carolina (327), UConn (325) and Tulane (292).
Cincinnati’s Jacqueline Keire captured her fourth straight win in the 200-yard women’s freestyle with a meet-record time of1:43.48. The senior continues to add to her collection as she clinched the 50-yard freestyle and was a part of the gold-medal 200 freestyle relay team on Thursday. In the men’s race, East Carolina took two out of the top three spots. Junior John Myhre (1:35.98) paved the way, while teammate Blaz Demsar collected the bronze (1:37.20). UConn senior James Donlevy took home second place with a time of 1:37.15.
Marne Erasmus of SMU clinched the four-year sweep and broke her own meet record in the women’s 100-yard butterfly. Erasmus touched the wall at 51.42 to once again stamp her name in The American record books. Gustavo Santos captured the gold on the men’s side with a winning time of 47.07 to edge out SMU’s Szymon Golczyk (47.28).
SMU’s Jonathan Gomez set his second meet record of the championships with a first-place finish of 3:43.97 in the men’s 400-yard individual medley. The junior logged a championship-best time in the men’s 500-yard freestyle on Thursday. In the women’s race, Matea Samardzic covered the distance in 4:05.52 to secure the win. Tulane’s Olivia Johnson and East Carolina’s Julie Lajoie followed in second and third.
For the fourth straight year the 400-yard medley relay event went to the Mustangs. The team of Matea Samardzic, Tara Nicholas, Marne Erasmus and Vicky Cunningham earned 40 points for SMU with a time of 3:34.67. The men’s race came down to the wire as the Mustang team of Bartosz Krzyzaniak, Ziga Cerkovnik , Szymon Golczyk and Ralph Koo edged out East Carolina (3:12.01) for the gold with a winning time of 3:11.95.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Will Hicks repeated on the men’s side with a time of 53.06, followed by Cincinnati’s Zachary Hostoff (53.61) and Pirate Erle Craven (53.94). Houston’s freshman duo of Peyton Kondis (1:00.73) and Victoria Roubiq (1:00.97) went one-two on the women’s side.
UConn’s Will Kearsey (48.00) out touched SMU’s Bartosz Krzyzan (48.04) by four-hundredths of a second to take the top spot on the podium in the men’s 100-yard backstroke. The women’s race went to SMU junior Matea Samardzic with a winning time of 53.08. Houston’s Laura Laderoute came in second, followed by teammate Eleanna Koutsouveli.
Houston’s Micaela Bouter and Katelyn Abernat earned the gold and silver the women’s 3-meter springboard. Bouter repeated with a top score of 328.70, while Abernat finished with a score of 295.25.
The final day of the 2017 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships begins with preliminary
swimming events at 10 a.m. CT, followed by men’s and women’s platform diving preliminaries at 12:30 CT. The finals are
scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT and you can watch it live on the American Digital Network. The senior recognition ceremony
will take place at approximately 5:35 p.m. CT, prior to the start of the finals.
For complete coverage of the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, visit The American’s Championship Central at www.theamerican.org/swimdive and follow @American_Swim on twitter.
Women's Scores (through 14 of 21 events)
1. Houston 507
2. SMU 438
3. Cincinnati 408
4. East Carolina 327
5. UConn 325
6. Tulane 292 Men's Scores (through 14 of 21 events)
1. East Carolina 630
2. SMU 502.5
3. Cincinnati 494
4. UConn 267
