Freshmen Lead Charge in Season-Opening Win at Southwestern

(GEORGETOWN, TEXAS, October 12, 2007) Freshman Paige Bissett won two individual events to lead a charge of newcomers during the University of Houston swimming team's 116-85 win over Southwestern on Friday at the Robertson Center Natatorium.

Bissett, competing in her first collegiate meet, won the 200-yard individual medley after a clocking of 2:19.08. The Rumson, N.J., native also finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.15.

However, she was just part of a Cougar newcomer attack. Freshman Brittany Copeland won the 50-yard freestyle competition with a time of 25.71, while Andrea Kells won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.73.

Freshman Lindsey Graves swam the opening leg on the Cougars' 200-yard freestyle relay team that finished first with a time of 1:45.39.

The freshmen were part of a dominating Cougar team that won seven individual events and one relay event to upend the Pirates for the second straight season. A year ago, UH enjoyed a 105-63 win on Oct. 20, 2006, to push its season-opening winning streak to five straight dual matches.

Sophomore Donna MacLeod captured first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:25.94 to finish more than 20 seconds ahead of her closest competitor.

Sophomore Jessica Shamburger, the 2006 Conference USA Freshman Swimmer of the Year, won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.11.

Sophomore Linda Fox claimed top honors in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:32.25.

The Cougars' 200-yard freestyle relay team of freshman Graves, Copeland, Shamburger and junior Doreen Polotzek capped UH's day with a first-place finish after posting a time of 1:45.39.

The swimming team will reunite with their diving counterparts and compete together Oct. 26-27 as they play host to BYU, Florida International, New Orleans and Conference USA rival Rice during the second Phill Hansel Duals Weekend. That two-day meet begins at 5 p.m., Oct. 26 and wraps up at 11 a.m., Oct. 27.

The meet is named after longtime Swimming and Diving head coach Phill Hansel, who led the program from 1975 to 1996, earning 70 dual-meet victories and three Southwest Conference Coach of the Year honors.