DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA (October 30, 2009) University of Houston swimming and diving team dropped duals against Duke and Georgia Tech Friday night at the Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion in Durham, N.C.
The Blue Devils topped the Cougars with a score of 188-110 and Georgia Tech came away with the 179-119 win. This was the first ever competition between the two schools in the pool.
Despite dropping the team scores, Houston still competed tough and finished with three pool records and six individual event wins.
"It was an outstanding meet overall," head coach Mark Taylor said. "We just need more depth to be able to finish off our competition. I was excited about our times today and I look forward to being able to compete against two good schools tomorrow."
Today was a learning experience and we swam against two great universities."
Continuing her domination on the diving board, senior Anastasia Pozdniakova set pool records in both the 1- and 3-meter competitions. The Russia native finished with an NCAA `A' mark of 344.85 in the 1-meter competition. She followed that up with a 368.25 finish in the 3-meter competition for another `A' mark.
Freshman Jessalyn Almond rounded out the diving competition with a 254.15 mark in the 3-meter and a 259.60 fifth-place finish in the 1-meter competition. Her 1-meter score was a NCAA `B' mark.
Sophomore Beccy Hillis set a third pool record at the competition. She turned in a first place finish of 2:16.80 in the 200-yard breaststroke, which was also an NCAA `B' time. After turning in a pool record finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, Hillis followed that up with a win of 1:04.03 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Freshmen Christine Salinas (10th), Holli Pisarski (11th) and Catherine Finley (12th) also competed in the event.
Ironically, Houston's three pool record set on the afternoon push the Houston total to five at the Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion. In 1978, Duke hosted the AIAW National Championship and Diane Johannigman set the pool record in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly and those records still stand today.
Freshman Reka Kovacs added another Cougar win with her 2:07.02 finish in the 200-yard IM. Hillis was fourth (2:09.88) and sophomore Natalie Newcomb was 11th (2:15.46) in the 200-yard IM.
Kovacs added a fourth place finish of 10:23.76 in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Newcomb was sixth (10:40.91) and sophomore Rachel Holcomb was ninth (11:36.12). Kovacs third event of the meet was a fourth place finish of 2:04.71 in the 200-yard backstroke. Freshman Kimmie Ballo turned in an eighth place finish (2:08.08) and sophomore Rachel Johnson was 11th (2:32.83).
Houston also recorded a win in the 200-yard freestyle when sophomore Kimberley Eeson turned in a 1:51.83 finish, while sophomore Olga Bordatcheva was 10th with a finish of 1:59.78. Eeson added a third place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.13 and was followed in ninth by freshman Christine Salinas and Bordatcheva in 11th.
Eeson was also third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:01.75. Bordatcheva trailed her in 10th (5:22.04) and Holcomb was 11th (5:44.01).
Senior Jessica Shamburger finished in second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.04. Teammates, freshman Kimmie Ballo and Johnson turned in 10th (1:01.00) and 11th (1:09.90) place finishes respectively.
The trio of junior Andrea Kells, Newcomb and Holcomb finished eighth, ninth and 10th in the 200-yard butterfly. Shamburger turned in an eighth place finish in the 50-yard butterfly, while Salinas was ninth and Pisarski was 11th. Kells was also eighth in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.71 and Ballo was 10th (1:03.58).
Houston's 400-yard medley relay team of Shamburger, Hillis, Kells and Eeson finished second with a time of 3:50.32. The `A' relay team of Shamburger, Salinas, Ballo and Kovacs were fifth in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:40.55 and the `B' team of Pisarski, Bordatcheva, Kells and Johnson were eighth (3:54.34).
Houston will be back in action at 10 a.m. tomorrow for duals against UNC-Wilmington and Emory.
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