Rice Takes Commanding Lead at Conference USA Champs; Big Night for WKU Men

ATLANTA, Georgia, February 28. THE Conference USA Championships continued on the campus of Georgia Tech University with a strong run on meet records this evening.

Rice leads the women’s team battle with a commanding 681 points, while FIU holds second with 500 points. East Carolina (472), Western Kentucky (428) and North Texas (389) are the rest of the top five. Tulane (337), FAU (290.5), Old Dominion (280) and Marshall (218.5) also have scored for the women.

WKU’s men’s team is on top of the four-team battle with 842 points. East Carolina (687), Old Dominion (666.5) and AU (507.5) have also scored.

FIU’s Sonia Perez Arau started the night by jackstomping the meet record in the women’s 400-yard IM with a time of 4:12.11. That swim smashed Quincy Christian’s previous mark of 4:16.13 from 2011 and led a trio of NCAA B cuts in the finale. North Texas’ Krista Rossum placed second in 4:16.95, while Christian wound up third in 4:17.37.

WKU’s Heitor Rodrigues led a 1-2 in the men’s 100-yard fly with a meet-record 46.66. That swim eclipsed his previous record of 46.91 set a year ago. Teammate Tyler Groneck checked in with a second-place time of 47.76, while East Carolina’s Adam Dear took third overall in 48.14. ODU’s Vitor Sa also beat the B cut with a fourth-lpace 48.15.

ODU’s Sidni Hoxha scored his second meet record of the meet with a 1:36.14 to 1:36.18 touchout of FAU’s Matt Burtez in the men’s 200-yard free. Both times beat SMU’s Matt roney’s 1:36.36 from last year. This after taking down the 50-yard free record last night. East Carolina’s Michael Dugan raced to third in 1:37.94.

Heading into today, no woman from the conference had ever beat 1:01 in the 100-yard breast with the meet record at 1:01.05 to SMU’s Rachel Nicol in 2012. That changed multiple times today. East Caroilna’s Megan Sellers clocked a 1:00.56 in prelims before winning the finale in 1:00.42. WKU’s Claire Conlon (1:00.83) and Tulane’s Mia Schachter (1:00.90) both cleared 1:01 as well both in prelims and in finals.

WKU’s Fabien Schwingenschlogl downed a six-year-old mark in the men’s 100-yard breast with a 52.52. That swim beat Alex Hetland’s 2008 record of 52.61 for SMU, and cleared the NCAA A cut as well. Teammate TJ Bland took second in 53.51, while East Carolina’s Rokas Cepulis placed third in 53.88.

East Carolina’s Attila Kiraly picked up the men’s 400-yard IM title with a time of 3:49.35, while teammate Fran Krznaric touched in 3:51.53 to take second overall. WKU’s Louis Little (3:51.76) and Aymer Le Corno (3:54.01) made up the rest of the top four, all under the NCAA B cut.

Rice went 1-2-3 in the women’s 100-yard fly for a big points-scoring bonanza. Casey Clarke won in 53.15, while Marissa Konicke took second in 54.04. Chelsea Fong snagged third in 54.46 to close out the podium. Clarke then doubled up with a 1:46.98 in the women’s 200-yard free for the win, while FAU’s Agi Bucz took second in 1:47.47. FIU’s Johanna Gustafsdottir wound up third in 1:47.55.

ECU’s Colleen Jones took home the women’s one-meter diving title with 221.10 points followed by North Texas’ Bobbi Bliss placing second with 208.05 points. Bliss’ teammate Samantha Scheck claimed third overall with 196.80 points.

WKU picked up a 1-2 in the women’s 100-yard back. Nadine Laemmler posted a 53.68 for the win, while training partner Allie Duff took second in 54.89. Rice’s Shelly Patton clinched third overall in 54.91. WKU’s Seth Musser then won the men’s 100-yard back in 48.14. East Carolina’s Andrew Smedstad (49.40) and Alec Francis (50.16) finished second and third in the finale.

Rice’s Casey Clarke, Rachel Moody, Marissa Konicke and Chelsea Fong closed out the night with a winning 3:39.00 in the women’s 400-yard medley relay. East Carolina’s Anna Gibas, Megan Sellers, Anastasia Amouroglou and Maria Svanbergsson took second in 3:42.92. Tulane’s Elizabeth Cook, Joy Jason, Amy Needham and Mia Schachter picked up third in 3:42.93 in a close battle for second.

WKU’s Seth Musser, Fabien Schwingenschlogl, Heitor Rodrigues and Aymeric Le Corno took home the men’s 400-yard medley relay with a 3:10.49 to beat the NCAA A cut. With Schwingenschlogel earlier setting an NCAA A cut of his own, WKU’s men’s team is assured of competing at NCAAs. ODU’s Francisco Byrne, Jacob Zeidler, Reed Mathews and Eddie Hubert took second in 3:19.81. East Carolina’s Andre Smedstad, Rokas Cepulis, Adam Dear and Nikola Simic placed third in 3:20.59.

Results For: Conference USA; Day Three

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