Louisville Sweeps American Athletic Conference Foes Cincinnati, Houston

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, January 11. THE University of Louisville emerged victorious in all three of its dual meets against American Athletic Conference members Cincinnati and Houston on Saturday. Cincinnati also defeated Houston in the other women’s dual. A handful of Cardinals won multiple events during the meet, as Louisville recorded two more victories this season.

Louisville Press Release

The No. 13-ranked University of Louisville women’s swimming and diving team beat Houston 210-85 and Cincinnati 211-84 in an American Athletic Conference double dual meet Saturday afternoon in the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The No. 8-ranked U of L men beat Cincinnati 234-65. Houston does not field a men’s team. The Cincinnati women beat Houston 168-130 the AAC matchup.

“The challenge for today was to race the way we want to race at championship time … a championship rehearsal,” said U of L coach Arthur Albiero. “We have great respect for Cincinnati and Houston but today was about us, the whole season has been about us trying to get better each and every time and helop our freshmen continue to make strides. I am very pleased with them. I go back to the leadership of our upperclassmen and the job they’ve done leading the way and it shows.

The Cardinal highlights include multiple wins from Kelsi Worrell (400-medley relay, 200-fly, 100-free), Grigory Tarasevich (400-medley relay, 200-back, 400-free relay), Bryan Draganosky (1650-free, 500-free), and Joao De Lucca (100-free, 200-free). Diver Sean Piner swept both boards and Andrea Cottreell won the 100-breast and 400-medley relay. Other multiple event winners were Krissie Brandenburg (50-free. 400-medley relay), Tanja Kylliainen (200-breast, 400-IM), Pedro Coutinho (100-fly, 400-medley relay) and Kameron Chastain (400-medley relay, 400-free relay.)

“This is about team, the team is only as good as the individual and I think that is important that everybody plays a role whether you’re on the E-relay today or the C-heat, it doesn’t matter, you have a role to play on this team and we certainly expect you to do it,” said Albiero.

Here is a race by race recap of the meet:

In the women’s 400-medley relay, the foursome of Krissie Brandenberg (55.70), Andrea Cottrell (1:02.71), Kelsi Worrell (52.71) and Breann McDowell (50.26) combined for a winning time of 3:51.09

The men’s 400-medley , Grigory Tarasevich’s blazing leadoff back leg of 48.14, put the Cards out in front for Kameron Chastain (54.70), Pedro Coutinho (48.71) and anchored by Trevor Carroll. U of L touched in 3:16.05 two seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

In the grueling 1650-free, Abigail Chin took top honors, touching in 17:08.94 just a second ahead of teammate Abigail Houck’s 17:08.94. Bryan Draganosky won in 15:39.57 with Jake Schultz touching second.

In the women’s 200-free, Cincinnati’s Jackie Keire took top honors with the winning time of 1:48.49. Tanja Kylliainen touched second in 1:48.72. Breann McDowell was third in 1:50.13.

In the men’s 200-free, Joao De Lucca was first in 1:39. Matthias Lindenbauer was second in 1:40.13 and tied with Trevor Carroll for the Cardinals.

Sean Piner won the men’s 3M diving with a score of 326.75 which is an NCAA Zone cut. Sam Blair was second with 271.35.

Houston’s Danielle Shedd (290.65) and Taylor Olanski (267.0) took the top two 1M diving spots with Andrea Acquista taking third with a score of 260.90

In the 100-back, U of L swept the top three spots with Mackenzie Buss winning with a time of 56.26, Krissie Brandenburg was second in 56.42 and Erica Belcher made it a sweep with a 57.23.

In the men’s 100-back, Aaron Greene posted the winning time of 50.01 and Carlyle Blondell was second in 50.49. Nick Hasemann was third in 51.66.

In the women’s 100-breast, Andrea Cottrell was first in 1:03.77 followed by Lucy Kramer’s 1:05.49.

Addison Bray won the men’s 100-breast with a time of 57.65, with Dexter Thomas touching second in 58.42 and Brennen Berger making it a sweep with a 59.39.

Women’s 50-free, Krissie Brandenburg was first in 23.80. Johanna Cowley was second in 24.24 and Rachael Lewis made it a sweep with a 24.34.

Caryle Blondell took the men’s 50-free with a time of 20.24. Thomas Dahlia was second in 21.01 and Kameron Chastain was third in 21.19.

Kelsi Worrell posted another B-cut in the 200-fly with a 1:59.27. Teammate Devon Bibault was second in 2:02.22 and Cardinal Emma Coakley was third in 2:08.47.

In the men’s 200-fly, Juan Lopez was the winner, going 1:50.85. Teammate Joe Brown was second in 1:52.38 and Brett MacKenzie was third in 1:53.83.

In the 100-free, Kelsi Worrell went 50.01 for the win, with UC’s Jackie Keire taking second in 50.56. U of L’s Andrea Kneppers was third in 52.72.

In men’s 100- free, Joao De Lucca put up a B-cut time of 43.87, Caryle Blondell went 46.00 and Matthias Lindenbauer was 3rd in 46.25.

In the women’s 200-back, Erica Belcher won in 2:01.88, with UC’s Jessica Piper touching second in 2:03.64, just edging Mackenzie Buss’ 2:03.74.

Grigory Tarasevich hit a B-cut in 1:46.25 to win the 200-back, Aaron Greene was second in 1:46.83 and Ryan Massey was 1:52.52.

In the women’s 200-breast, Tanja Kylliainen edged teammate Andrea Cottrell (2:20.61) with a winning time of 2:20.41. Gisselle Kohoyda was third in 2:21.37.

In the men’s 200-breast, Thomas Dahlia was first with a 2:01.28 with Kameron Chastain touching second in 2:04.85. Addison Bray was third in 2:08.45.

In the 500-free, Abigail Houck was into the wall first, with a 4:57.25. Breann McDowell was second in 5:02.32 and Andrea Kneppers was third in 5:02.22.

In the men’s 500-free, Bryan Draganosky with a 4:33.31 just edging Trevor Carroll 4:33.77. Jake Schultz’s 4:37.39 was good for third.

In the women’s 100-fly, Brittany Robinson bested the field with a 56.40 with Devon Bibault touching second in 57.02. Mary Mittel was third in 58.18.

In the men’s 100-fly, Pedro Coutinho won in a 49.59 just ahead of Mihael Vukic touching second 49.51 and Josh Quallen was third in 50.10.

In women’s 3-meter diving, Louisville’s Allie Murphy won with a 285.15, edging Houston’s Taylor Olanski’s 281.55. Cardinal Andrea Acquista was third with 277.10.

In men’s 1-meter diving, Sean Piner made it a sweep with a 267.35 for first. Sam Blair was second in 234.00.

There was an NCAA B-cut by Tanja Kylliainen when she hit the wall in the 400-IM in 4:17.94, ten seconds ahead of teammate Abby Chin’s 4:27.75.

Nolan Tesone’s 3:43.93 was an NCAA B-cut in the men’s 400-IM. Juan Lopez was second fastest in 4:03.11.

In the women’s 400-Free relay, Cincinnati scored first place points with a 3:32.05, but Alexandra Sellers (54.07), Johanna Cowley (51.46) Abigail Houck (52.80) and Rachael Lewis (53.67) put up the fastest time of 3:32.00 in exhibition.

In the men’s 400-free relay team of Grigory Tarasevich (45.67), Matthias Lindenbauer (45.89), Brooks Wilmoth (46:15) and anchor Kameron Chastain (47.06) put up a 3:04.77 and led wire to wire.

Cincinnati Press Release

The University of Cincinnati swimming and diving teams both fell at Louisville on Saturday, while the women’s team scored a victory over American Athletic Conference foe Houston.

The meet, which is the only regular season meeting with American members, saw the men fall to the eighth-ranked Cardinals, 234-65, while the women fell to 13th-ranked Louisville, 211-84. The Bearcats women’s team defeated the Cougars, who do not field a men’s team, 168-130.

The women’s team opened with a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay from Jessica Piper, Helena Pikhartova, Iuliia Fedoreeva and Jackie Keire. They finished in 3:52.66. The men’s team of Donovan Kearns, Trenton Harper, Nathan Anderson and Mike Kaplan placed fifth (3:33.97).

The mile saw Taylor Myzska as the top UC finisher in fifth place at 17:48.16, while Joe Bott was the top male in third place in 16:17.24.

The next event saw the highlight of the day for the Bearcats, as Keire picked up the lone individual win in the 200 freestyle. The freshman touched in 1:48.49, edging out Louisville’s Tanja Kylliainen by one-third of a second. Kaplan was the top Bearcat on the men’s side in the 200 free, placing sixth in 1:44.96.

The 100 backstroke followed with Kendra Bierman as the top UC female in fifth with a time of 58.41, while Awse Ma’aya was the top men’s finisher in fifth (54.03).

Sammie Wheeler earned a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke, touching in 1:06.48. Harper was the first men’s finisher from UC in that event, clocking in at 1:00.06.

The 200 butterfly saw Fedoreeva place fourth in 2:08.62. Hunter Pasek was the first Bearcat to touch in the event, finishing in 1:57.61.

The 50 free saw UC’s Weronika Wasiakowska place sixth in 24.70, while Mike Palleros was fifth in 21.83.

Keire had another strong outing in the 100 freestyle, placing second in 50.51. She was just over half a second out of first place. Kaplan was the top men’s finisher in the 100 freestyle in 47.58.

Piper picked up a solid second place performance in the 200 backstroke, touching in 2:03.64. Tim O’Brien led the men’s side in fifth in 1:59.03.

Pikhartova led the effort in the 200 breaststroke, finishing fifth in 2:25.04. Balmer was quickest for the men in fifth in 2:11.02.

The 500 freestyle saw Hope Andrews lead the way for Cincinnati. She finished fourth in 5:07.08. Connor Davis was fifth as the top men’s performer in 4:50.62.

Stacy Loushin was the fast female in the 100 butterfly, clocking in at 1:01.28, while Ma’aya led the way on the men’s side in fifth (52.70).

The 400 individual medley saw Fedoreeva post the quickest time for a Bearcat in 4:36.99. Joe Bott was the quickest male in that event in 4:12.20.

The 400 freestyle relay saw the Bearcat team of Wheeler, Wasiakowska, Pikhartova and Keire post a time of 3:32.05. The men’s team of Pasek, Kaplan, Davis and Jesse Fallon finished the day with a time of 3:13.23.

The one-meter board saw Chloe Merris as the top performer on the women’s side with a score of 198.95. Magill was the top male performer with a score of 225.00.

The three-meter board saw Merris with the top UC score of 222.70, while Jimmy McMahon was the top men’s performer with a score of 228.45.

Next up for the Bearcats is a trip to Kenyon College to take on Kenyon, Oakland and Ashland. Action starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, while the second day of competition begins at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Houston Press Release

The University of Houston swimming and diving team fell in a double dual meet to No. 13 Louisville (210-85) and Cincinnati (168-130) Saturday afternoon at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on Saturday.

“I am pleased to have had a chance today to swim against two new opponents, Louisville and Cincinnati, that are in our new conference,” said head swimming coach Rich Murphy. “We are excited to have the opportunity to grow our success on our next trip to Louisville five-plus weeks from now – we will need to be better on our next trip up north.”

Sophomore Danielle Shedd supplied Houston’s win in the 1M diving competition (290.65) and was followed by teammate Taylor Olanski (267.00) for a runner up finish in the event. Olanski took a second second-place showing in the 3M (281.55).

Houston’s 400-free relay team (Krystan Morrell, Taylor Gregory, Dora Bednjanec, Lindsay Schultz) closed out the meet with a runner-up showing in a time of 3:33.78.

“We entered the meet with some of our strongest scorers managing some nagging injuries and we are appreciative of our outstanding trainer, Corey Newton, who has done such a great job keeping us healthy all season; that being said there are some physical issues we are sorting through.”

“January provides a great chance for us to sharpen our racing skills coming off heavy holiday training and I am confident with our outstanding strength and conditioning staff and with the assistance of our great assistant coach, Keith Dawley, that we will be better on our next visit, much better. Our charge is to grow from today’s lessons.”

“Special congratulations to senior, Colleen Donovan who made it back to action after a difficult journey back from a shoulder surgery last summer. It’s great to have Colleen competing again!”

The dual meet losses end Houston’s winning streak of three straight dual meet victories with just three more competitions left on the schedule.

The home Cardinals topped Cincinnati (211-84) to protect their home pool, which will be the site of the American Swimming and Diving Championships Feb. 19-22.

Houston travels to Texas A&M on Jan. 16 for their next meet with a road meet at Incarnate Word following on Jan. 18.

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