strong>C-USA Teams Score at NCAA Swimming/Diving Championships

IRVING, TEXAS (March 26, 2008) The SMU swimming and divng team ended another solid season by finishing 11th at the NCAA Championships last week. The Mustangs have finished in the Top 12 or better in 16 of head coach Steve Collins' 22 years at the helm of the program. Houston sent multiple divers to the event and scored 29 points to finish in 28th in the team standings, while Rice's Brittany Massengale notched nine points to help the Owls place 39th.

SMU
The SMU women's swimming and diving team will take home a final ranking of 11th in the country, missing the top 10 by just two points. On the last day of the NCAA Championships, the Mustangs set a new SMU record in the 400 free relay and scored in a total of three events, including freshman Audra Egenolf taking seventh in platform diving.

"We had a great day," said head coach Steve Collins. "I'm really, really happy. We swam great splits tonight, including Jen Blackman's lifetime-best leading off our 400 free relay. It was very exciting to watch. We always preach that it takes a total team effort and I really believe we did that here."

The Mustangs broke the school record in the 400 free relay set in 2006. J. Blackman, Candace Blackman, Petra Klosova and Sascha Van den Branden combined for a time of 3:15.45 in the prelim round, breaking the old school record by over a second. Then, in the finals, the squad clocked a blazing-fast 3:14.86, breaking the record a second time, bettering the mark by over two full seconds. The finish was good for sixth place in the event, earning the Mustangs 26 points.

Anja Carman scored in the 200 back, taking the consolation heat by storm. Carman touched the wall in 1:54.85, scoring nine points for SMU.

Egenolf became the latest NCAA scorer in a storied SMU diving program. In the prelims, Egenolf tallied 268.00 points to put her in the top-eight for the finals. Saturday night, she managed 233.55 in the finals to notch seventh place and 12 points.

"Audra did really well tonight," said Collins. "To get herself in the finals like that, as a freshman, is really a hard thing to do. It was just awesome to see her place."

C. Blackman swam a season-fastest 49.24 in the 100 free, but did not qualify for the finals in that event.

"Three days and six sessions," remarked Collins. "The team never gave up. They just kept fighting through. I'm so proud of this team and very, very happy with the effort throughout the season and the meet. I also want to say how proud I am of the two seniors who represented us at the meet. Anja had an incredible season and really started us off with great splits. The whole team was able to build on her momentum and I think that helped carry us through. Jen also had an amazing season. She was an individual scorer in the 200 free for the first time ever, her senior year and then swam great in the relays. The two of them were great leaders for us all season and throughout this meet."

The NCAA meet marked the official end to the season, but members of the team will continue to swim in an effort to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Next on the slate will be the U.S. Grand Prix in Palo Alto, Calif. April 3-5. For the complete schedule and results, log on to SMUMustangs.com.

Eight Mustangs will take home All-American accolades for their performances:
Candace Blackman: 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Jennifer Blackman: 200 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Devon Callaghan: 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Anja Carman: 100 back, 200 back, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Audra Egenolf: Platform diving
Petra Klosova: 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Sascha Van den Branden: 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Elzanne Werth: 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay

HOUSTON
Three University of Houston divers capped their 2007-08 season in impressive style by earning All-America honors on the platform during the final day of the NCAA Championships on Saturday at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State.

Freshman Lacey Truelove, competing in her first NCAA Championship, earned the best finish by any Cougar at the 2008 meet, finishing sixth on the platform with 272.35 points during the finals.

It was the first All-America honor for the London, Ontario, native, who recorded 304.95 points during the preliminaries earlier in the day.

Senior captain Ginni van Katwijk won the consolation finals with 296.20 points, while freshman Courtney Forcucci finished 15th with 224.40 points.

It was the second All-America honor at the 2008 NCAA Championship for van Katwijk, who finished 10th on the 3-meter springboard on Friday.

Competing in her first NCAA Championship, Forcucci collected the first All-America honor of her career.

With their performance on Saturday alone, the Cougar trio earned 24 points to help lead Houston to a final team score of 29 points. The Cougars finished 28th in the overall team standings, the first time during the last eight seasons that UH failed to finish among the Top-25 team leaders at the nation's top collegiate meet.

van Katwijk collected 252.70 points, while Forcucci posted 226.35 points during the preliminaries earlier in the day.

Brittany Viola of Miami (Fla.) won the platform national championship with 362.60 points during the finals.

Arizona won the 2008 team national championship with 484 points, while Auburn finished second with 348 points. The Cougars earned the second most points among Conference USA teams, trailing only SMU, which earned 126 points to finish 11th.

Forcucci earned her place at the NCAA Championship after finishing second on the 1-meter springboard during the three-day meet's first day. van Katwijk and Truelove qualified the next day after finishing 1-2, respectively, on the 3-meter board.

Truelove added to her impressive resume during her first collegiate season by winning the platform title at the NCAA Zone D meet on Sunday.

While Truelove and Forcucci will compete in their first NCAA Championship, the event is nothing new for diving head coach Jane Figueiredo. During her illustrious 18-year career at UH, Figueiredo now has led 26 divers to the NCAA Championship.

Adding her divers' 2008 performances to her resume, Figueiredo has mentored 13 divers to 39 All-America honors.

This marked the eighth consecutive year that at least one UH diver competed at the NCAA Championship, and it was the fifth straight season that the Cougars sent multiple divers to the Championship.

RICE
Rice senior swimmer Brittany Massengale shattered her own school record to finish 12th out of a field of 40 competitors in the 1,650-yard freestyle Saturday at the 2008 NCAA Championships held the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Massengale was second in her heat with a time of 16:12.12, breaking her Conference USA-winning and school record time in the event by more than five seconds. There were five heats of eight swimmers, and all heats for this lengthy event are for the Championship's final placings. In her 1,650 race, the Owls' distance specialist from Alma, Ark., also swam the best-ever Rice time in the 1,000-freestyle (9:47.86).

Massengale's 12th place finish in the mile added five points to Rice's team score for the meet. She also finished 13th in the 500-freestyle on Thursday to score four points in that event. Massengale accounted for all nine of Rice's team points to tie for 39th place in the standings on her own. She is the first Owl to score in two events at the NCAA Championships since Mandy Mularz in 2002. That year Rice was 25th in the final NCAA standings. The Owls tied for 33rd in the country in 2003, the last time for Rice to score in the NCAA meet.

It has been an impressive four years for the Rice senior. Massengale set four school records in her career with Rice bests in the 200-, 500-, 1,000- and ,1,650-yard freestyle. She became the first Rice swimmer to make the United States National Team, representing her country in an international competition in the summer of 2006.

SMU Leads After Day 2 of C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 28, 2008) The 2008 Conference USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Invitational continued on Thursday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston with another dominating performance by defending champion SMU. The Mustangs set new meet and pool records in two events, while winning all five events that took place during day two.

The 400-yard medley relay squad of Anja Carman, Devon Callagan, Elzanne Werth and Petra Klosova closed out the evening by taking the event gold in 3:38.86. The time was good for NCAA `B' consideration. Rice (3:47.52) and Houston (3:51.74) took second and third, respectively.

The Mustangs made history in the 3-meter diving event, becoming the first team other than Houston to win gold in a diving event. SMU Sophomore Britney Yancey claimed first place with a mark of 329.50, an NCAA `A' qualifying score. Three-time C-USA Diver of the Week Courtney Forcucci (314.80) of Houston took second also with an NCAA `A' qualifying mark. Mustang freshman Audra Egenolf claimed the bronze with an NCAA `A' mark of 306.05.

In the 50-yard freestyle, SMU had a one-two finish with junior Candace Blackman taking gold in 22.79 and senior Angela San Juan Cisneros just behind in 22.92. Both times were NCAA `B' qualifying times. Rice junior Carly Miller was third with a time of 22.96.

The Mustangs were dominant in the 200-yard individual medley, taking the top six places. Klosova, the 2007 C-USA Swimmer of the Year, set a new meet and pool record, taking the gold in 1:59.48. The time was also an NCAA `A' qualifying mark. Junior Jennifer Basel, was just off her record pace from last season and finished second in 2:00.99, while freshman Maroua Mathlouthi won bronze in 2:01.89. Both times were good for NCAA `B' qualification.

Callaghan (2:03.08), Carman (2:03.37) and sophomore Justine Clark (2:03.66) took places three through six for SMU, respectively. All three of their times were good for NCAA `B' consideration.

SMU took two of the top three places in the 500-yard freestyle final to begin the night, with Jennifer Blackman claiming her second consecutive 500 free title in an NCAA `A' qualifying time of 4:45.27. Rice's Brittany Massengale touched second (4:48.38) for an NCAA `B' qualifying time, while SMU's Katie Roberts grabbed third in 4:52.47, also an NCAA `B' qualifying time.

SMU took control of the C-USA Championship team scoring after the dominant day and now leads with 323 points, followed by Rice with 213 and East Carolina with 178. Houston sits in fourth with 125 points, while Marshall is fifth with 116 points.

First-year women's invitational members Northern Colorado (106) and Cal State Bakersfield (90) sit in sixth and seventh in the invitational team scoring.

Men's teams from league schools East Carolina and SMU along with Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield are also competing in the C-USA men's invitational. SMU leads that event after day two with 337.50 points, followed by Hawai'i with 270, East Carolina with 218.50 and Cal State Bakersfield with 135.

The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Friday with the preliminaries of the 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke. The women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m.

All-session tickets are available for only $25 for adults and $10 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. Youth includes children from 3 years old to high school. Children who are 2 years old and younger are admitted free.

All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID.

Fans should note that cash only will be accepted at the Tickets table.

Gates will open, and tickets will be sold beginning one hour prior to the meet. In addition, a wide variety of Championship merchandise will be available near the Tickets table.

Click here for complete meet results, team scores, and live stats.

Rice Leads Field After Day 1 of C-USA Championships

By Robert H. Kelly
Copyright 2008 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 27, 2008) - The 2008 Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship and Invitational got off the an exciting start on Wednesday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston with a record performance by the SMU 800-yard freestyle relay team.

The squad of Jennifer Blackman, Petra Klosova, Candace Blackman and Sascha Van den Branden finished with the time of 7:04.87, shattering the pool and meet record they set last year of 7:10.49. The mark was good for an NCAA `A' qualifying time.

Rice came in second (7:21.75) with an NCAA `B' time, while East Carolina finished in third (7:34.43). The host Cougars finished in fourth (7:37.63) and Marshall took fifth (7:42.73).

In the first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay, the Rice team of Angela Wo, Pam Zelnick, Skylar Craig and Diane Gu finished in 1:43.29 to take the win and grab 40 early points. Defending champion SMU finished in a record time of 1:39.32, making the NCAA “A”cut. but was disqualified fot an early takeoff. League members East Carolina (1:45.01) and Marshall (1:47.64) officially came in second and third, respectively.

Rice leads the C-USA Championship team scoring after day one with 74 points, followed by East Carolina with 66 and Marshall with 60. SMU sits in fourth with 40 points on the strength of their record-setting relay, while Houston is fifth with 30 points.

On the men's side, teams from league schools East Carolina and SMU along with Hawaii and Cal State Bakersfield are also competing in the C-USA men's invitational. SMU leads that event after day one with 108 points, followed by East Carolina and Hawai'i with 104 and Cal State Bakersfield with 44.

The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Thursday with the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle. The women's 3-meter diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m.

All-session tickets are available for only $25 for adults and $10 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. Youth includes children from 3 years old to high school. Children who are 2 years old and younger are admitted free.

Click here for complete meet results, team scores, and live stats. Championship information came be accessed by clicking here.

Houston Swimming and Diving Plays Host to 2008 C-USA Women¹s Championship

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 26, 2008) ­For the fifth straight season, some of the nation's top collegiate swimmers and divers will visit Houston during the 2008 Conference USA Women¹s Swimming and Diving Championship and Invitational.

The meet begins at 3 p.m., Feb. 27 at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium with the preliminaries of the men's 1-meter diving. Finals begin at 6 p.m. and will include the men's 1-meter diving as well as the men¹s and women's 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay.

The final three days of the four-day meet features swimming preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m., each day. Diving preliminaries are slated to start at 1 p.m., with the finals for all events beginning at 6 p.m., each day.

In addition to the Cougars, the women¹s side of the meet features C-USA rivals East Carolina, Marshall, Rice and SMU as well as Cal State Bakersfield, Northern Colorado. The men¹s side of the Invitational features East Carolina, SMU, Hawai¹i and Cal State Bakersfield.

This marks the fifth straight season that Houston has hosted the league's postseason extravaganza. The Cougars are the only school to host the Championship at an on-campus site.

All-session tickets are available for only $25 for adults and $10 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. Youth includes children from 3 years old to high school. Children who are 2 years old and younger are admitted free.

All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID. Fans should note that cash only will be accepted at the Tickets table.

There will be no charge for all fans for Wednesday night's opening session. Fans attending sessions beginning Thursday morning will be charged accordingly.

Gates will open, and tickets will be sold beginning one hour prior to the meet. In addition, a wide variety of Championship merchandise will be available near the Tickets table.

The Cougars, competing under sixth-year head coach Mark Taylor, finished fourth a year ago and look to improve their standing during the 2008 meet. UH finished the regular season with a 9-8 record in dual meets, marking the program's third straight winning season.

It was the first time since 1983-86 that UH accomplished that feat. This season, the UH swimmers are led by juniors Sasha Schwendenwein and Andrea Pa'lmai.

Schwendenwein has posted the Cougars¹ season-best times in the 50-, 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyle events as well as the 200-yard butterfly. The Randburg, South Africa, native already has provisionally qualified for the 2008 NCAA Championships with her time of 1:49.88 in the 200-yard freestyle during the Miami (Ohio) Invitational on Nov. 30, 2007.

Pa'lmai also has emerged as one of the Cougars¹ most consistent performers. The Budapest, Hungary, native leads all Cougar swimmers in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke as well as the 200-yard backstroke.

As impressive as the Cougar swimmers have been this season and at past C-USA Championships, the UH divers have established themselves as some of the nation's best.

Under the leadership of 18-year head coach Jane Figueiredo, senior captain Ginni van Katwijk and freshmen Courtney Forcucci and Lacey Truelove are expected to do well at the 2008 meet.

The Cougars have dominated diving at the C-USA Championship, winning six straight championships on the 1- and 3-meter springboards and the platform.

Cougar divers also have been honored as the C-USA Diver of the Year and Diver of the meet during each of the last six seasons, while Figueiredo has been honored for six straight years as the Diving Coach of the Year.

SMU comes into the meet as the two-time defending champions, while Rice and East Carolina each finished second in the standings during the last two years.

On the men¹s side, SMU returns as the two-time defending champions with East Carolina and Hawai¹i finished second in each of the last two years.

Ticket Prices Announced for 2008 C-USA Women’s Swimming Championship

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 11, 2008) With a little more than two weeks before the start, ticket prices for the 2008 Conference USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship and Invitational were announced Monday afternoon.

All-session tickets are available for only $25 for adults and $10 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. Youth includes children from 3 years old to high school. Children who are 2 years old and younger are admitted free.

All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID.

Fans should note that cash only will be accepted at the Tickets table.

There will be no charge for all fans for Wednesday night’s opening session. Fans attending sessions beginning Thursday morning will be charged accordingly.

Gate will open, and tickets will be sold beginning one hour prior to the meet. In addition, a wide variety of Championship merchandise will be available near the Tickets table.

The meet begins at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 27 with the preliminaries of the men’s 1-meter diving. Finals begin at 6 p.m. and will include the men’s 1-meter diving as well as the men’s and women’s 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay.

The final three days of the four-day meet features swimming preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m., each day. Diving preliminaries are slated to start at 1 p.m., with the finals for all events beginning at 6 p.m., each day.