Saturday, October 31, 2009

UH's Posdniakova Sets Pool Records to Guide Cougars at UNC-Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA (October 31, 2009) Senior diver Anastasia Pozdniakova set two pool records at the Seahawk Natatorium on the campus of UNC Wilmington Saturday afternoon as the University of Houston swimming and diving team competed against the Seahawks and Emory.

Pozdniakova won the 1-meter event with a record 354.75 points and followed that up with 359.95 points to take the 3-meter title. The Russia native also set pool records in both diving events on Friday at the Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion in Durham, N.C., on the campus of Duke University. Pozdniakova's total in the 1-meter event was also the sixth most points scored in the event in a dual meet in school history.

Sophomore Jessalyn Almond turned in a second place finish in both the 1- and 3-meter events with scores of 254.50 and 246.35, respectively. This was the second time this season that the duo of Pozdniakova and Almond combined to take the top two spots in both diving events. During the season opener, they took the top two honors at the Phill Hansel Duals.

Sophomore Kimberley Eeson followed up her win yesterday in the 200-yard freestyle by taking top honors again on Saturday with a time of 1:53.18. The win was also a pool record. Sophomore Olga Bordatcheva followed in 10th with a time of 2:00.39. Eeson's second win of the day came with her 5:07.08 finish in the 500-yard freestyle. Bordatcheva trailed in eighth 9(5:16.82) and sophomore Rachel Holcomb was 12th (5:37.70). Eeson also turned in a third place performance in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.95 and freshman Holli Pisarski followed in 10th (57.82).

Senior Jessica Shamburger gave the Cougars another win with a 57.93 finish in the 100-yard backstroke, while freshman Kimmie Ballo was sixth (1:00.68) and sophomore Rachel Johnson was 10th (1:12.64). Shamburger also turned in a sixth place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.19. Other swimmers included Ballo in ninth (2:10.32) and Johnson in 12th (2:34.38).

Another Cougar event win came in the 100-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Beccy Hillis turned in a time of 1:05.88, following up her win in the event a day ago. Other competitors include Pisarski in eighth (1:10.26), freshman Christine Salinas in ninth (1:12.46) and freshman Catherine Finley in 10th (1:17.74). Hillis completed the sweep of the breaststroke events with a time of 2:21.70 in the 200-yard event. Freshman Reka Kovacs was second in 2:24.57 and Finley was 11th (2:50.68).

Kovacs was a winner in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:31.98 and sophomore Natalie Newcomb was fifth with a time of 4:38.45. Kovacs also finished fifth in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:37.49 and Newcomb was sixth (10:50.96).

Junior Andrea Kells recorded a second place finish of 2:10.26 in the 200-yard butterfly and Newcomb trailed her in seventh (2:13.37) and Holcomb was 11th (2:32.37). Kells also notched a third place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.67 and Ballo was 11th in 1:04.66. Houston also had three competitors in the 50-yard freestyle. Pisarski was 10th (26.42), Johnson as 11th (28.90) and Finley was 12th (29.93).

In the relay events, Houston finished second in the 200-yard medley with a time of 1:48.05. Members of that relay team included Shamburger, Hillis, Kells and Eeson. Houston's `B' team of Johnson, Finley, Holcomb and Bordatcheva finished 10th with a time of 2:08.31.

The final relay event of the day was the 400-yard freestyle relay. The `A' team of Shamburger, Salinas, Ballo and Hillis was fourth with a time of 3:41.78 and the `B' team of Bordatcheva, Kells, Pisarski and Kovacs was fifth with a time of 3:50.09.

UNCW defeated the Cougars in the overall standings 162-135, while the Cougars came up short against Emory 152-141.

Houston will be back in action Nov. 20-22 when they host the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. Team scheduled to compete at the invitational include SMU, LSU, UNLV, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tulane, Kansas and New Mexico.

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