University of Houston
Rice
Swimming and Diving Defeats Rice, New Mexico State
11/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 6, 2008
Complete Results in PDF Format 
HOUSTON - The University of Houston swimming and diving team defeated Rice, 173-121, and New Mexico State, 152-146, Thursday afternoon to improve to 5-1 this season.
The Cougars win over Rice snapped a four dual losing streak against the Owls and they are now 7-1 all-time against the Aggies.
Houston got off to a rough start to begin the meet when the 400-yard medley relay `A' team was disqualified. The `B' team of Rachel Johnson, Andrea Kells, Danica Lubbers and Anne Stone finished fifth with a time of 4:22.08.
In the second event of the meet, Andrea Pa'lmai won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:14.18. Other Cougar competitors included Lubbers and Rachel Holcomb, who finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Pa'lmai also took the top spot in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.99, the 10th fastest time in school history. Paige Bissett added a seventh place finish, with Rachel Johnson and Markee Johnson coming in 10th and 11th.
Pa'lmai's third win came in the 200-yard IM. She finished with a time of 2:07.66. Hillis followed in third with a time of 2:10.14, while Bissett and Natalie Newcomb finished in eighth and ninth.
Kim Eeson continued the winning trend for the Cougars, taking the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:52.00. Olga Bordatcheva added a seventh place finish with a time of 1:57.54 and Markee Johnson was ninth (2:05.98).
In the 100-yard backstroke, Jessica Shamburger recorded a second place time of 57.85 and Rachel Johnson was 10th with a time of 1:05.15. Beccy Hillis recorded a third place finish of 1:04.97, the sixth fastest time in school history, in the 100-yard breaststroke. Andrea Kells added an eighth place time of 1:13.72, while Borbala Juhasz was ninth with a time of 1:17.55.
Hillis followed her performance in 100-yard breaststroke with a second place finish of 2:18.28 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Bordatcheva, Newcomb and Juhasz combined to finish seventh, eighth and ninth.
Eeson finished second in her second event of the day with a 24.30 finish in the 50-yard freestyle. Brittany Copeland added an eighth place finish (25.23) and Shamburger was 10th (25.54). Eeson finally took the top spot in an event, winning the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:59.91. She was followed in 11th and 12th by Lubbers and Holcomb.
Sasha Schwendenwein won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:03.18 and Newcomb was ninth. Doreen Polotzek followed in 11th and Danica Lubbers was 12th. Schwendenwein won her second event of the meet with a 51.64 finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Copeland and Stone followed in seventh and 10th, respectively.
Schwendenwein took her third win with a 56.97 time in the 100-yard butterfly. Polotzek added a seventh place finish, with Kells and Copeland in eighth and 11th, respectively.
The team of Schwendenwein, Eeson, Shamburger and Pa'lmai won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:30.12., to cap the meet.
In the diving events, Anastasia Pozdniakova won her fifth-straight 1-meter competition scoring 354.45 points. Teammates Lacey Truelove and Jessalyn Almond finished second (271.95) and third (265.50) to give Houston the top three finishes in the event. Truelove's 271.95 points in the event is a `B' standard for the NCAA Zone meet.
Pozdniakova also won the 3-meter competition with 351.16 points and Truelove and Almond once again followed in second and third. With her 299.25 points, Truelove recorded an "A" standard finish.
UP NEXT
Houston will remain at home next weekend when they host the Phill Hansel Dual Meet. The Cougars will swim against Rice, Incarnate Word, Florida International and Vanderbilt in the two-day meet that starts at 6 p.m. on Nov. 14 and will conclude at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 15.
Players Mentioned
