Conference USA Championships: Day Four

HOUSTON, Texas, February 27. THE SMU Mustangs hoisted the 2010 Conference USA Swimming & Diving Championship and Invitational crown for the fifth-consecutive year Saturday night at the CRWC Natatorium on the University of Houston campus. The Mustangs tallied 707 points in the three-day tournament.

East Carolina moved into second place on the final day of the competition with a team score of 611, while Rice (596) claimed third place. Houston (533.50) took fourth place with Tulane (277) and Marshall (188) earning fifth and sixth, respectively.

In the invitational scoring, North Dakota had 340.50 points, followed by Cal State Bakersfield (277) and Northern Colorado (200).

In the 1650-yard freestyle, Rice took the top-three spots, with Alex O’Brien setting the pace with a time of 16:43.95. Teammates Danielle Spence (16:47.56) and Karen Gerken (17:03.16) came in second and third for the Owls.

Next up in the finals was the platform dive where Lacey Truelove of Houston earned the top spot on the podium. Truelove scored 339.95 points and edged SMU’s Audra Egenolf who registered 308.30.

SMU’s Therese Svendsen set her second meet record of the weekend after cutting through the water in a time of 1:54.98 in the 200-yard backstroke. She finished five full seconds ahead of second place and earned an NCAA `B’ qualifying time.

Carissa Gormally of North Dakota won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 49.53. She was followed tightly by East Carolina’s Jenna Stewart (49.92) and SMU’s Sascha Van den Branden (49.95). All three swimmers attained NCAA `B’ qualifying times. Justine Clark of SMU came in fourth place (50.91), while Rachel McCall of Cal State Bakersfield placed fifth (50.68).

Beccy Hillis dipped under the 2:15 mark in the 200-yard breaststroke after she touched in 2:14.99 and earned a first-place nod. A pair of Mustangs kicked to second and third-place finishes when Raminta Dvariskyte ended in 2:15.65 and Devon Callaghan completed in 2:15.89. Reka Kovacs of Houston finished in fourth place with a time of 2:15.19. All four times were NCAA `B’ qualifying times.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Denisa Smolenova of SMU earned the gold medal after she completed the race in a time of 2:00.96. Rice’s Erin Mattson finished in second for the second-straight year with a time of 2:01.75 and Andrea Kells of Houston touched in third (2:02.79).

In the final event of the meet, SMU won the 400-yard freestyle relay with the quad-group of Van den Branden, Clark, Emily Vavourakis and Ana Santos with a time of 3:19.24, while ECU secured second place (3:23.10) and Rice nabbed third place (3:23.33). All three were good enough for an NCAA `B’ qualifying time.

Individual awards were also handed out which were voted upon by the league’s head coaches. Therese Svendsen of SMU was named the Women’s Swimmer of the Meet. The sophomore set two Conference USA and pool records and had an NCAA `A’ qualifying time in the 100-yard backstroke over the weekend. Head coach Seth Houston of Rice earned his first Swimming Coach of the Year. Houston swept both Diver of the Meet and Diving coach of the Year for the second-straight year. Senior Anastasia Pozdniakova claimed both the 1-meter and 3-meter dive again this year behind the guidance of head coach Jane Figueiredo.

On the men’s side, Hawaii’s Luca Mazzurana was named the Invitational Swimmer of the Meet, while head coach Victor Wales, also of Hawaii, grabbed Swimming Coach of the Meet. The Mustangs’ Jim Stillson won his second C-USA Invitational Diving Coach of the Meet award, and junior Matt Culbertson from SMU was handed his second-straight Diver of the Meet honor.

Competing in the C-USA Men’s Invitational are league school teams East Carolina and SMU, as well as invited teams from Hawaii, Cal State Bakersfield and North Dakota.SMU won the invitational with 871 points, followed by Hawaii with 833 points. Cal State Bakersfield earned third-place honors with 534 points, while East Carolina (516) and North Dakota (304) took fourth and fifth, respectively. C-USA teams will now turn their focus towards the NCAA meet, which will take place March 18-20 at the Boilermaker Aquatics Center in West Lafayette, Ind., hosted by Purdue University.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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