HOUSTON COUGARS UPDATE

Senior captain Rachel Gitelson capped her collegiate career at home in fine fashion, scoring 293.45 points to win the platform diving championship during the final day of the 2007 Conference USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

Gitelson was just part of a solid effort from the Cougar divers who swept the Top Three places in a diving event for the second straight night. Junior Ginni van Katwijk finished second with 264.05 points, while Pozdniakova finished third with 240.65 points.

After winning both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events and finishing third on the platform, sophomore Anastasia Pozdniakova was honored as the C-USA Diver of the Meet, the sixth straight season that a Cougar has earned that award.

SMU’s Petra Klosova was named the C-USA Swimmer of the Meet.

UH diving head coach Jane Figueiredo was named the C-USA Diving Coach of the Year for the sixth consecutive season, while SMU head coach Steve Collins was recognized as the C-USA Swimming Coach of the Year.

The Cougars scored 577 points to finish in fourth place. SMU won the women’s championship for the second straight season, scoring 853 points. Rice finished second with 653.50 points, while East Carolina placed third with 586 points. Marshall came in fifth with 381.50 points.

Senior captain Szintia Szanto, competing in her final collegiate meet at home, earned the silver medal in the 200-yard backstroke, posting a time of 2:16.39. Her time was the second fastest in UH history and gave her nine of the Top 10 times in that event.

Sophomore Andrea Pa’lmai placed second on the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:01.52, setting a new UH record in the process. Her time topped the previous record of 2:03.02 set by Beverley Rose in March 1985.

The Cougar swimmers and divers will now prepare for various post season competitions

The divers will return to action on March 2-4 in Austin, Texas, when they compete at the NCAA Zone D meet with berth to the 2007 NCAA Championships on the line.

Some of the swimmers will be heading to Texas A&M University for the USA Swimming SPEEDO Champions Series on February 22-25, 2007 while others are preparing the 2007 USA Swimming Spring Championships at East Meadow, New York on March 27-31.

The following athletes and coaches were selected, by the Head Coaches, to receive individual honors following the final session of competition at the 2007 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships.


2007 C-USA Women’s Swimmer of the Meet
Petra Klosova, SMU

2007 C-USA Women’s Diver of the Meet
Anastasia Pozdniakova, Houston

2007 C-USA Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year
Steve Collins, SMU

2007 C-USA Women’s Diving Coach of the Year
Jane Figueiredo, Houston

DAY 4 UPDATE

The 2007 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championship concluded Friday at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston. SMU successfully defended its conference crown with another runaway victory, scoring 853 points overall. SMU's 853 points are the second most points scored in C-USA Swimming Championship history.

The championship is the 11th consecutive overall for SMU and the team set four meet records and won 14 events during the four-day event. In addition, SMU took the top three spots in four events during the meet and grabbed the top two spots in two events.

Rice finished in second place with 653.50 points and East Carolina came in third with 586 points. The host Cougars finished fourth with 577 points, followed by Marshall with 381.50.

DAY 3 FINALS

For the second straight night, University of Houston sophomore Anastasia Pozdniakova captured a diving championship, scoring 337.30 points to easily win the 1-meter springboard event during the third day of the 2007 Conference USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship and Men’s Invitational at UH’s own Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

The Elektrostal, Russia native, who won the 3-meter springboard event on Thursday, scored 323.75 points in the preliminaries and maintained that high level with 337.30 points to win by more than 30 points in the finals.

She was part of a Cougar sweep in the 1-meter event as UH claimed the Top Three places. Junior Ginni van Katwijk placed second with 291.70 points, while senior captain Rachel Gitelson captured third place with 259.15.

Pozdniakova was one of three Cougar student-athletes to win C-USA championships on Friday night. Sophomore Andrea Pa’lmai won the 400-yard individual medley for the second straight season, posting a time of 4:25.89.

Competing in her first C-USA Championship, freshman Jessica Shamburger won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.36. Her time was the second fastest in school history.

After the third day, the Cougars remained in third place with 401 points. SMU, the defending women’s champion, held the lead with 556 points, while Rice was second with 440.50 points. East Carolina (377) and Marshall (231.50) rounded out the rest of the women’s field.

DAY 3 UPDATE (Friday preliminaries)

The University of Houston looks to improve its point total tonight at the day 3 finals for the 2007 Conference USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

The Cougars have their 200 yard freestyle relay in the finals, but really look to jump up a notch as the results of their individual performances.

In the 400 yard individual medley, they have qualified two women for the finals.

Sophomore Andrea Pa'lmai is the top seed going into the finals with the time of 4:26.57. She won the events at the 2006 Championships with a 4:22.11, establishing a new school record.

The Cougars also qualified freshman Donna MacLeod with the time of 4:42.01. She is seeded 10th overall and 2nd in the consolation heat.

In the 100 yard butterfly, sophomore Doreen Polotzek qualified in 9th place (1st in the consolation heat) with the time of: 58.42 seconds.

Sasha Schwendenwein qualified for the championship finals of the 200 yard freestyle with the time of 1:51.38. That places her 7th in the field.

McLeod will return to the pool for the second time this evening, qualifying for the 100 yard breaststroke consolation finals. She is seeded 7th in her heat and the 15th seed overall.

She will be joined by Harmony D'Antonio (1:09.62-8th in the consols) and Szi Szi Szanto, who will compete in the championship final heat as the 5th seed (1:05.01).

The big point scorer for the Cougars tonight will be the 100 yard backstroke. Houston is loaded with a tremendous amount of talent in the backstrokes, with five women making the trip to the finals.

Freshman Jessica Shamburger, who is the 2nd seed (:57.22), will be joined by Pa'lmai, who is the 5th overall seed (:58.42) and 6th seed Nicole Vianna (:58.61).

The Cougars will also have freshman Kristine Kelly (7th in consols, 1:01.32) and Linda Fox (7th in consols, 1:01.76) to contribute to their point total tonight.

The divers will also get into the act, with Rachel Gitelson, Ginni Van Katwijk, and Anastasia Pozdniakova all competing in the finals of 1 meter springboard diving.

With such a fine effort by the Cougars, look forward to them cutting the margin between them and the Rice Owls in the team standings.

DAY TWO RECAP

SMU took a commanding lead after the second day of competition at the 2007 Conference USA Womens Swimming and Diving Championships.

They won the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, and 50 freestyle and would have made it a clean sweep in the swimming events if a false start by the butterfly leg on their 400 medley relay caused them the gold medal.

A protest was file after the meet, and at the time this blog was posted, no decision had been made.

The protest will be to no avail, as a judgement call by an official is not a protestable offense.

In fact, the meet was being operated with Daktronic False Start Pads on the starting blocks, which judges false starts electronically.

The results, which are published on the Conference USA website show that the 3rd leg of the relay left .03 of a second too early.

Rice University took top honors in the 400 medley relay with the time of 3:48.02. Houston and East Carolina tied for the silver medal with the identical times of 3:50.54

The University of Houston won the 3 meter diving to close out the evening.

The medalists in the individual and relay events are as follows:

500 yard freestyle
1. Jennifer Blackman-SMU 4:47.12
2. Anja Carman-SMU 4:47.56
3. Katie Roberts-SMU 4:48.68
All three swimmers were under the NCAA "B" cut of 4:54.02.

200 yard individual medley
1. Jennifer Basel-SMU 2:01.93
2. Szi Szi Santo-Houston 2:03.11
3. Devon Callaghan-SMU 2:03.95
All three swimmers were under the NCAA "B" cut of 2:04.13.

50 yard freestyle
1. Leane Darling-SMU :22.83
2. Diane Gu-Rice :23.26
3. Carly Miller-Rice :23.31
All three swimmers were under the NCAA "B" cut of :32.43.

3 meter diving
1. Anastasia Pozdniakova-Houston 366.75 points
2. Christie Icenhower-East Carolina 291.90
3. Ginni Van Katwijk-Houston 291.00
All three divers were above the NCAA "A" cut of 280.00 points, automatically qualifying them for the NCAA Championships.

400 yard medley relay
1. Rice 3:48.02
2. Houston 3:50.54
3. East Carolina 3:50.54

SMU is leading with 298 points followed by Rice in second with 212 points. The host Cougars sit in third with 192 points, followed by East Carolina with 182 and Marshall with 105.

Check back tomorrow for more posts from poolside after the preliminary session.

DAY ONE RECAP

After the first day of competition at the Conference USA Swimming Championships, it is obvious to this writer that the meet will be all SMU.

Currently ranked number 12 in the country by CollegeSwimming.com, SMU will sweep to it's second Conference USA title in as many years when all is said and done.

That is not to give the other schools their due. Conference USA is not one of the premiere swimming conferences in the NCAA. They do not sport the swimming tradition that the Pac 10, Big 12, or Southeastern Conference have.

Compare them to Stanford, Auburn, or Texas and they will come up on the short end of the stick most of, if not all of, the time.

However, in my humble opinion, that is what makes their competing so much fun to watch and support.

I have met and spent time with all of the University of Houston swimmers in my role as the "Official Voice of Houston Cougars Swimming."

I can tell you this; these girls LOVE TO SWIM! One can see it in their eyes.

It is in the eyes of the women of the Univeristy of Houston.

It is in the eyes of the women from Marshall University.

It is in the eyes of the women from East Carolina University.

It is in the eyes of the women from Rice University.

It is in the eyes of the women from SMU.

Yes, SMU is the elite of the field. But their talent and forthcoming success doesn't take away from the other teams.

They all share one goal...to swim their best and see what they can accomplish when they do.

Indeed, that does sound cliche, but that is what makes sport great. Not the triumph, but the struggle. Not the finish, but the journey. Not the individual but the team.

That is why this meet will be one of the most exciting I have seen in a very long time.

To see what some young women can do when they compete for the love of the sport.

That is what makes it great.

Conference USA Championships-Day 1 Results

The conclusion of the first day of the 2007 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships saw three teams turn in some good performances, one team missing a chance to swim, and another waiting to compete in their first race.

In the first event of the day, East Carolina University's backstroker Alli Miller was called for a false start, and as a result saw their 200 medley relay disqualified.

The race saw SMU win the race with a time of 1:41.03, breaking the pool record and making the NCAA "B" cut. Rice followed with a 1:43.77, followed by Houston at 1:44.57.

The Cougars time of 1:44.57 was the second best time in school history.

All the results were unofficial, as Marshall University, who was unable to get to Houston until 4:30pm, due to travel problems resulting from the massive snow storms in the eastern United States.

As a result of their late arrival, the coaches of the Conference USA schools decided to allow Marshall to swim their 200 medley relay after the preliminaries during one of the next few days.

Marshall’s time will then be added to the unofficial results and the results scored accordingly.

In the 800 yard freestyle relay, SMU blasted to first place wit ht he time of 7:10.41, breaking the meet and pool record, along with making the NCAA "A" cut.

Their splits were 1:46.76-1:46.19-1:49.00-1:48.46.

They were followed by Rice with the time of 7:25.79 (splits: 1:52.38-1:48.56-1:51.85-1:53.00)

Houston finished in third place with the time of 7:29.66 (splits: 1:50.53-1:52.85-1:52.78-1:53.50) and East Carolina in fourth place with the time of 7:32.87 (splits: 1:51.93-1:54.45-1:53.86-1:52.63).

Action will resume on Thursday at 10:00am with the preliminaries of the 500 yard freestyle, 200 yard individual medley, 50 yard freestyle, and 1 meter diving.

C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships Starts Wednesday

TexSport Publications will be on deck daily to bring you the results, highlights and commentary from the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by the University of Houston.

TexSport Publications will have Senior Writer Robert Kelly at the meet and he will be posting and blogging between sessions of the championships.

In addition to posting and blogging from the University of Houston, Kelly will have additional duties at the Championships. He will be the OFFICIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ANNOUNCER at the meet. He has worked during the 2006-2007 swimming season as the "Official Voice of the Houston Cougars Womens Swimming Team."

Check back often for updates on all the action and his unique commentary.

TexSport Publications will be posting daily from the 2007 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Houston's Campus Wellness and Recreation Center Natatorium.

The championships will be held February 14-17, 2007. The championships was previously held at the University of Houston in 2004, 2005, and 2006.