HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 29, 2008) The 2008 Conference USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Invitational continued on Friday evening at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston with SMU turning in another record breaking day. The Mustangs set four new meet and pool records, recorded four one-two finishes and set nine career and two season bests to extend their lead in the team standings. Marshall also highlighted day three when the Herd won its second individual event since joining the league in 2005-06.
SMU closed the evening with its fourth one-two finish when senior Anja Carman out-touched junior Petra Klosova to set a new meet and pool record in the 100-yard backstroke. Carman's time of 53.38 broke the previous record by almost two seconds and was good for an NCAA `A' qualifying time. Klosova was also ahead of the previous record and touched the wall in 54.67, an NCAA `B' consideration. Nan Liu of invitational member Northern Colorado grabbed third with the NCAA `B' time of 55.57.
Marshall claimed its first event win of the championship when senior Micheala Sceli posted an NCAA `B' time of 1:02.03 to win gold in the 100-yard breaststroke. Her mark was a school record and the win marked just the second individual win for the Herd since it joined the league in the 2005-06. Sceli holds 17 of MU's all-time top 20 times in the 100 breast.
SMU sophomore Devon Callaghan was just out-touched by Sceli and took second in 1:02.09. Her mark was also good for NCAA `B' consideration. East Carolina freshman Stephanie Harper claimed third place in 1:03.86.
The swimming resumed after the men's 3-meter diving event with another SMU victory. Twin sisters Jennifer and Candace Blackman had a one-two finish in the 200-yard freestyle with Jennifer taking the win in a meet and pool record time of 1:45.52 for NCAA `A' consideration. Candace's second place time of 1:47.09 was also an NCAA `A' mark. Junior Sasha Schwendenwein of Houston placed third in a school record time of 1:47.55, good for NCAA `B' consideration.
Event number four featured another Mustang one-two finish that saw both swimmers down the previous meet and pool record. Senior Angela San Juan Cisneros took gold in 53.65 an NCAA `A' mark and a new record. San Juan Cisneros broke Ann Degenstein's previous record of 54.41. The mark was one of the few still held by a former league member. SMU freshman Elzanne Werth took second in 53.81, while NCU's Liu claimed third in 54.80. Both marks were NCAA `B' qualifying times.
The Mustangs finished one-two once again in the 400-yard individual medley, as both junior Jennifer Basel and freshman Maroua Mathlouthi finished faster than the previous meet and pool record. Basel touched the wall in an NCAA `B' time of 4:17.29, to set the new meet and pool record. Mathlouthi was just behind in 4:18.14, also good for NCAA `B' consideration. Former record holder junior Andrea Pa'lmai of Houston took third in 4:21.67. Her time was also faster than the record she set last season and made the NCAA `B' cut.
The second event of the night was the women's 1-meter diving competition. Houston regained its dominant form and swept all three places to grab 53 points. Three-time C-USA Diver of the Week freshman Courtney Forcucci grabbed the gold, scoring 287.15 points. The mark was good for NCAA `A' consideration. Senior Ginni van Katwijk came in second with 284.30 points, while Lacey Truelove totaled 279.85 points. Both times were also NCAA `A' qualifying marks.
Britney Yancey (272.25) of SMU, last evening's 1-meter champion, and teammate Audra Egenolf (269.45), finished third and fourth, respectively. Both of their marks were also NCAA `A' considerations.
SMU began Friday evening where it left off the previous night with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Klosova, C. Blackman, Werth and Sascha Van den Braden were just off the record pace and finished in an NCAA `A' time of 1:30.83. Rice finished in second with an NCAA `B' time of 1:31.57, while East Carolina took third in 1:34.36.
SMU extended its lead in the C-USA Championship team scoring after its impressive day three and now leads with 628 points, followed by Rice with 407 and East Carolina with 352. Houston sits in fourth with 286 points, while Marshall is fifth with 217 points.
First-year women's invitational members Northern Colorado (211) and Cal State Bakersfield (157) 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 three with 648.5 points, followed by Hawai'i with 553, East Carolina with 452.5 and Cal State Bakersfield with 290.
The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Friday with the preliminaries of the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and 1,650-yard freestyle. The women's and men's platform diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m. with the championship awards presentation immediately following.
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