Feb. 6 Swimming & Diving Notebook
Feb. 6, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
IRVING, Texas - Rice swimmers Diane Gu, Brittany Massengale, Caitlin Warner and Pam Zelnick all won individual events and were on winning relays as the Owls coasted to a 131-60 home dual meet victory over the University of New Orleans Friday evening at the Rice Pool. Juniors and freshmen were the stars of the day as Houston enjoyed a 105-71 win over New Orleans on Saturday during the Cougars' final regular-season home meet at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium. SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (2/5) DIVER OF THE WEEK (2/5) 2007-08 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS O9 S- Angela San Juan Cisneros, SMU O16 S- Brittany Massengale, Rice O23 S- Amanda Duncan, East Carolina D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina O29 S- Anja Carman, SMU D- Audra Egenolf, SMU N6 S- Sasha Schwendenwein, Houston D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston N13 S- Michaela Sceli, Marshall D- Siobahn Schuurman, Marshall N20 S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina D4 S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU D- Lacey Truelove, Houston J9 S- Petra Klosova, SMU D- Audra Egenolf, SMU J15 S- Pam Zelnick, Rice D- Britney Yancey, SMU J23 S- Brittany Massengale, Rice D- Ginni van Katwijk, Houston J23 S- Brittany Massengale, Rice D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston F5 S- Andrea Pa'lmai, Houston D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston ATHLETES OF THE WEEK 2007-08 C-USA TOP TIMES 2008 C-USA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP FIVE-TIME HOST C-USA RECAP (Through Meets of Feb. 3) The competition pool at the Minges Aquatic Center on the ECU campus was not available due to a water link break. The meet will not be rescheduled. The Pitates will conclude its season at the Conference USA Championships in Houston Feb. 27-Mar. 1 at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium. HOUSTON Two juniors and three freshmen combined to win all but one swimming event and both diving events to snap a five-meet losing streak. The Cougars, who finished the regular season with a 9-8 overall record, recorded their third straight winning season, the first time that feat has been accomplished since 1983-86. Juniors Sasha Schwendenwein and Andrea Pa'lmai and freshmen Brittany Copeland led the way with a pair of event wins each. Freshman diver Courtney Forcucci helped lead Houston to a sweep of the Top Three place in two events Friday evening during a 145-96 loss at No. 6 Texas A&M at the Student Rec Center Natatorium. The Fort Mill, S.C., native scored 312.83 points to win 3-meter board and wrapped up her day with 284.62 points to win the 1-meter event. UH will take nearly three weeks off to prepare to play host to the 2008 C-USA Championship Feb. 27-Mar. 1. MARSHALL The competition pool at the Minges Aquatic Center on the ECU campus was not available. The meet will not be rescheduled. Marshall will conclude its season at the Conference USA Championships Feb. 27-Mar. 1 at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium in Houston. RICE Not only was Rice was in control for most of the meet, the team looked sharp in the process as 13 swimmers set new season-best times. Competing in her final home meet as an Owl, senior Massengale swept both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle with marks of 1:52.59 and 4:58.47, respectively. Though normally a distance specialist, she showed some sprinting skills by swimming the third leg of the team's winning 200-free relay. Warner swam her best 50 (25.49) on the winning sprint relay's lead leg and she was sound and solid in leading a 1-2 Rice finish in 1,000 with freshman Karen Gerken. Gu swam the anchor leg of the Owls' winning 200-medley relay and she led a 1-2 finish in the 50-free with sophomore Megan Land. Gu was also in a battle for her second individual win of the night in the 100-free with Zelnick as she came in a half-second ahead with a winning time of 53.10. With wins in 10 of the meet's 11 events, including two relays, Rice improved its record to 10-4 in its last dual meet of the regular season. The Owls next compete at the annual C-USA Championships starting on Feb. 27 across town at the University of Houston Rec Center Natatorium. SMU The Mustangs won nine of the 11 events, shutting the Owls down. SMU started strong by picking up a win in the first event. The 200 medley relay squad of Anja Carman, Devon Callaghan, Angela San Juan Cisneros and Candace Blackman touched in at 1:44.12. SMU finished third in the 1000 free, with Federica Felloni clocking a season-best time of 10:33.92. The Mustangs then finished one-two in the 200 free, with Petra Klosova in first (1:51.27) and Callaghan in second (1:54.33). In the 50 free, SMU again finished one-two, this time with C. Blackman taking the top spot with a mark of 23.66 and Jennifer Basel in second with her season-best time of 23.79. Basel then turned around and won the 400 IM outright, finishing the course in 4:23.19. Newcomer Maroua Mathlouthi picked up second in that event, touching in at 4:23.80. SMU coasted by C-USA rival Houston on Jan. 19 at Perkins Natatorium, 140-91, winning 11 of 13 events. The Mustangs again showed why they are the favorite to win the conference title, as they won the first five swimming events before dropping the one-meter diving competition. The afternoon kicked off for SMU with the 200 medley relay team of Carman, Devon Callaghan, San Juan Cisneros and Klosova winning their event handily, clocking a time of 1:44.49. The Mustangs also took second in that event, as Gabriela Soza, Tamara Sambrailo, Elzanne Werth and Anna Ziverts touched in at 1:48.86. BritneyYancey reclaimed the top spot on the three-meter board, amassing 311.40 points, beating second-place finisher Lacey Truelove by over 15 points. The Mustangs continue to be off for the next week, but will return to the pool to host No. 16 Texas at Perkins Natatorium on Feb. 9 at 12:00 p.m.
|