University of Houston
North Texas
Swimming and Diving Moves Past Mean Green, 171-129
1/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Complete Results in PDF Format 
Jan. 15, 2011
HOUSTON - The University of Houston swimming and diving team won every event but two as the Cougars defeated North Texas, 171-129, at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Saturday.
The Cougars set the tone in a hurry, winning six-straight events to kick off the dual, while each of Houston's divers collected a win. Although head swimming coach Mark Taylor detected some fatigue and soreness out of his swimmers, he was pleased with their performance.
"We worked really hard over Christmas break," Taylor said. "But we need to work through that and continue to step up and race. We did a good job today; I am always pleased with a win. What we need to do now is keep moving forward and focus on how we could be better."
Picking up a win in the first event was Kimmy Ballo, Beccy Hillis, Andrea Kells and Kim Eeson, who swam the Cougars' second-fastest 400-yard medley relay time of the season (3:56.99), en route to the victory. Marissa Blumenthal, Leah Sanchez, Natalie Newcomb and Krystan Morrell teamed up for a fifth-place finish in the event (4:11.36).
Freshman Laykin Lowry followed suit by taking first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 10:16.33, the sixth-fastest time in program history. Fellow freshman Heather Winn followed her in third place (10:28.42), while rookie Emma Nelson clocked in at fifth (10:58.71).
"Laykin was fantastic today," Taylor said. "She had two first places (in the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle), and she was moving like crazy in that last 50 yards (of the 500-yard free event). She was one of our top workers in Hawaii and we were thrilled with her performance today."
Eeson knocked out the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.59 four the third-consecutive Cougar victory, while freshmen Colleen Donovan (1:58.95) and Lauren Spano (2:18.91) earned sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Ballo kept the streak alive with her first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. The sophomore was just over a second away from her personal best (59.59), while Blumenthal came in fifth with a time of 1:02.36.
Continuing to build the lead, Hillis clocked in at 1:06.82 to claim the victory in the 100-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Holli Pisarski (1:10.36) and Sanchez (1:11.09) came in at fifth and sixth, respectively.
Junior Reka Kovacs gave the Cougars six different winners in six events when she claimed the top spot in the 200-yard butterfly (2:07.81). Lowry completed the one-two punch by taking second (2:08.27). Newcomb (2:13.53) and Nelson (2:20.49) rounded out the Cougar lineup.
The 50-yard freestyle marked the only event before the first diving break that the Cougars did not win, as sophomore Moira Fraser took third with a time of 24.83. Kells jumped in with a personal best in the event (25.49) to help take Houston into the first diving break with a 72-59 lead.
Senior Lacey Truelove set the tone in the 3-meter event, recording another NCAA `A' qualifying mark with her score of 334.95 to win the event. Sophomore Julia Lonnegren right behind her in second with personal best score of 326.55.
"I thought we would see a little bit of rust from them after coming back from Hawaii," head diving coach Jane Figueiredo said. "But both of them were really outstanding today. We have done a lot of work on the platform lately since we couldn't do much of that in Hawaii, so when it came to today's springboard events I told them to `do what you do,' and that's what they did."
Eeson notched her second win of the day immediately following the break, with a time of 53.18 in the 100-yard freestyle. Fraser followed her with her second-straight third place finish. Winn and Morrell took seventh and eighth, respectively.
Back-to-back wins for Kovacs (2:06.44) and Hillis (2:25.14) in the 200-yard backstroke and breaststroke helped push the Cougar lead to 107-81 with five events remaining.
Lowry's personal best time of 5:04.80 in the 500-yard freestyle earned her the victory as Winn came in right behind her in second (5:06.45). Newcomb and Nelson finished in fifth and eighth. By the time Kells nabbed the win in the 100-yard butterfly, swimming the second-fastest time this season (57.33), the Cougars had pushed the dual out of reach.
Diving wrapped up its competition with the 1-meter event, and it was Lonnegren's turn to take first place. She also set an NCAA `A' qualifying score with a 327.91. Truelove then set an NCAA `A' standard and a personal best of her own with a score of 296.10, good for second place.
Kovacs showed her expertise in the individual medley, and won her third race of the day when she took first in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:07.40. With a time of 2:14.94, Hillis took fifth. Newcomb and Sanchez finished up in seventh and eighth, respectively.
North Texas took their second of two wins in the final event of the meet, while Fraser, Kells, Winn and Eeson claimed second, swimming the Cougars' third-fastest time this season (3:35.23).
Houston now turns its focus to SEC opponent, Arkansas. The Cougars travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on the Razorbacks on Jan. 21.
Players Mentioned
