Oct. 30, 2007

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IRVING, Texas - No. 10 SMU finished the 14th annual SMU Women's Swimming and Diving Classic in second place, behind No. 7 Texas A&M. SMU completed the second and final day of competition with 306 points, 24 points behind the Aggies.

SMU freshman Audra Egenolf was named Diver of the Meet, following her two first-place diving performances and also received C-USA Diver of the Week honors. Teammate Anja Carman received C-USA Swimmer of the Week honors for her performance in the event.

After leading No. 10 SMU to a second-place finish at the 2007 SMU Women's Swimming and Diving Classic, the Mustangs' Anja Carman and Audra Egenolf are this week's Conference USA Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively. Carman won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:58.20 and took second in the 400 IM with a time of 4:19.59. Egenolf won both the one-meter and three-meter boards at the Classic. Both wins qualified her for NCAA consideration and she was awarded High-Point Diver of the Meet for her efforts.

SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (10/30)
ANJA CARMAN - SMU
Sr., Godesic, Slovenia (The Bolles School)
Carman helped lead No. 10 SMU to a second-place finish at the SMU Women's Swimming and Diving Classic last weekend. The senior won the 200-yard backstroke in 1:58.20 and took second in the 400 IM with a time of 4:19.59. Carman claimed third-place in the 100-yard backstroke (55.91) and grabbed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:04.57). The native of Slovenia tallied 52 points for her team. The weekly honor is the third of Carman's career, her first in 2007-08.

DIVER OF THE WEEK (10/30)
AUDRA EGENOLF - SMU
Fr., Indianapolis, Ind. (Heritage Christian)
Egenolf won both the one-meter (275.35) and three-meter (283.35) boards at the SMU Women's Swimming and Diving Classic this past weekend. Both wins qualified her for NCAA consideration. She also was awarded High-Point Diver of the Meet. She defeated divers from Wisconsin, Florida State, Alabama and Texas A&M. This is Egenolf's first career weekly honor.

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

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Conference USA will name a Swimmer and Diver of the Week throughout the regular season. The Athlete of the Week awards are selected by the media relations department and announced every Tuesday throughout the season.

2007-08 C-USA TOP TIMES
For a list of the top C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving times/scores, please go to: https://secure.sportssystems.com/ScoreReporting/cusa/sportID/1/g/w

2008 C-USA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2008 C-USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Men's Invitational is slated for February 27-March 1 in Houston, Texas. The four-day event will be hosted by Houston at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. All five C-USA women's swimming and diving programs will participate in the championship, while East Carolina, SMU and Hawai'i will participate in the men's invitational.

C-USA ON THE WEB
For the latest Conference USA swimming and diving meet recaps, times, standings and notes, please refer to the league's official website:

C-USA RECAP (Through Meets of Oct. 28)
EAST CAROLINA
Senior Rebecca Perry registered a NCAA `B' qualifying time of 23.12 in the leadoff split of the 200-yard free relay to help East Carolina improve to 4-0 with a 154-140 win over Towson on Saturday.

With her qualifying time, Perry helped establish a new pool record in the 200 free relay along with teammates Jenna Stewart, Katlin Potts and Rachel Blue. Perry also recorded a pair of first place individual finishes in the 50 freestyle (23.30) and 200 backstroke (2:04.70).

Krista Hanson joined Perry, Potts and Stewart to win the 200-yard medley relay. Stewart earned an individual victory in the 100-yard freestyle (52.35) as did Blue in the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.30)

Freshman Stephanie Harper won a pair of individual events as well, taking home first place in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.94) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:24.02).

ECU returns to dual meet competition on Tuesday, October 30 against arch-rival UNC Wilmington. The meet is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start on the UNCW campus.

HOUSTON
Houston junior Andrea Pa'lmai won the 200-yard backstroke and finished second in the 400-yard individual medley to help lead the Cougars to a 2-2 split during the final day of the Phill Hansel Duals Weekend at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

The Cougars enjoyed a 237-114 win over Florida International and upended New Orleans 244-101 while losing 247-106 to BYU and 214-133 to crosstown and Conference USA rival Rice. With the split, the Cougars stand at 3-2 overall in dual meets.

A day after provisionally qualifying for the 2008 NCAA Championship in the 200-yard freestyle, junior Sasha Schwendenwein finished second in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.91.

The Cougar divers, competing in their first meet of the season, finished 2-3-4 on the 3-meter board. Freshman Courtney Forcucci recorded 265.45 points to finish second on the 1-meter springboard. Senior captain Ginni van Katwijk, winner of the 3-meter competition Friday, finished third with 249.50 points, while freshman Lacey Truelove placed fourth with 241.70 points.

The Cougars return to action next weekend when they hit the road for a weekend trip to Florida. UH opens its trip at 4 p.m., Friday when it faces Miami (Fla.) before facing Florida International and Indian River Community College at 11 a.m., Saturday.

MARSHALL
Marshall picked up its second loss of the weekend Saturday as Duquesne topped the Herd 117-88. Marshall now falls to 2-4 on the year.

MU was led by its breaststroke group. Senior Michaela Sceli, junior Ally Melinsky and senior Erin Hill finished first, second and third in the 200-yard breast.

In the 400-yard medley relay Erin Kennedy, Sceli, Truswell and Lauren Goodwin teamed up to give Marshall the win, clocking in at 4:02.60.

Marshall split its Friday dual meet at Youngstown State, beating the Penguins 170-73 but falling to Wisconsin Green-Bay 132-111.

Marshall dominated in the stroke events, which have been its strength so far in the 2007-08 season. Goodwin, Kristin Wheatley and Melinsky went one, two and three respectively in the 400-yard individual medley and Kayla Truswell, Wheatley, Samantha Noland and Goodwin took the top four spots in the 200-yard butterfly. Marshall returns to the pool when it travels to Radford on November 7.

RICE
Sophomore Pam Zelnick finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke and played a key role on two second-place relays to help pace Rice three dual meet wins on the final day of competition at the annual Phill Hansel Dual Meets, a five-way series of meets held Saturday and Sunday at the University of Houston.

The Rice swimmers went 3-1 in the four simultaneous meets to improve the team's overall record to 7-1 on the young season. The Owls defeated C-USA and crosstown rival the University of Houston by a convincing score of 214-133. The Blue & Gray also claimed wins over Florida International 258-75 and the University of New Orleans 244-101. Rice was defeated by Mountain West Conference power BYU 244-103.

Zelnick swam a season-best time of 1:06.33 to take in the 100-yard breaststroke. The sophomore was also a member of two Rice relays that scored big at the meet. Zelnick swam the second leg of the 400-medley relay with Kait Chura, Keri Hyde and Carlyann Miller that finished second with a time of 3:58.26. She also swam the second leg of the 200-freestyle relay with Hyde, Miller and Diane Gu that took second with mark of 1:36.73.

Rice returns to competition Nov. 15-17 at the Speedo Cup in Irvine, Calif.

SMU
No. 10 SMU finished the 14th annual SMU Women's Swimming and Diving Classic in second place, behind No. 7 Texas A&M. SMU completed the second and final day of competition with 306 points, 24 points behind the Aggies.

SMU freshman Audra Egenolf was named Diver of the Meet, following her two first-place diving performances and also received C-USA Diver of the Week honors.

Day two of the Classic kicked off with the 400 free relay, which Petra Klosova, Jennifer Blackman, Elzanne Werth and Angela San Juan Cisneros finished in 3:24.23, good for second place and NCAA consideration.

In the individual events, Jennifer Blackman took third in the 500 free, touching the wall in 4:53.15, qualifying her for NCAA consideration. Candace Blackman won the consolation final of the 500 free, finishing in 4:51.52, also earning her NCAA consideration. Anja Carman won the 200 back in 1:58.20, good for NCAA consideration, and over a second and a half faster than Holly Mills of Florida State. Klosova turned in a second place finish in the consolation final of the 200 back, touching the wall in 2:02.15. In the 200 breast, Jennifer Basel finished sixth in the championship finals, but Devon Callaghan finished second in the consolation final with a time of 2:21.29.

The final event of the evening was another strong outing by SMU's relays. C. Blackman, J. Blackman, San Juan Cisneros and Basel finished in third place with a time of 1:34.77, just over a second behind the first-place finishers.

Carman received C-USA Swimmer of the Week honors for her performance in the event.

The Mustangs are back in action Nov. 9 as they host Wyoming and North Texas in a double dual meet at 6 p.m. in the Perkins Natatorium.