University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Tulane
Swimming and Diving Takes Down Rice and Tulane at LSU
1/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 29, 2011
BATON ROUGE, La. - The University of Houston swimming and diving team wrapped up a tough weekend of competition at the LSU Dual Invitational on top of Conference USA rivals Rice and Tulane Saturday afternoon.
Houston (6-5) entered the final day of competition with a lead over both C-USA rivals andtrailed No. 23 LSU by just 21 points. Saturday's meet was witness to a close dual meet between the four as Houston prevailed over the Owls (192.5-148.5) and Green Wave (235-112), but came up short against nationally ranked LSU, 212-135.
Sophomore Reka Kovacs led the Cougar charge on Saturday, posting a win the 400-yard IM and recording a second-place performance in the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Kim Eeson also pushed for a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
Freshmen Emma Nelson (500-yard freestyle), Leah Sanchez (200-yard backstroke) and Colleen Donovan (100-yard freestyle) each set personal bests on their last day in Baton Rouge.
"They were fantastic," head swimming coach Mark Taylor said. "I'm so pleased with them, especially considering they haven't even rested yet. We had some super performances by everyone on this team this weekend as we're getting ready for conference. It seems that we are going to have a great (Conference USA) championship meet."
Houston began the meet with a strong showing in the 400-yard medley relay. Kovacs, junior Beccy Hillis, senior Andrea Kells and Eeson pulled together to record a time of 3:52.23. The effort put them in second and also marked the second-fastest time of the season, while falling less than a second short of breaking into the all-time top 10 in program history.
Sophomores Kimmy Ballo and Holli Pisarski joined junior Natalie Newcomb and fellow sophomore Moira Fraser to finish with a time of 4:03.49. Freshmen Marissa Blumenthal, Sanchez, Donovan and Krystan Morrell also competed in the relay, swimming the event in 4:06.74.
In the 500-yard freestyle, freshman Laykin Lowry (5:03.53) and Eeson (5:05.96) set the pace, finishing in third and fourth, respectively. Freshman Heather Winn, who celebrated her birthday onSaturday, posted a time of 5:06.13 for fifth place.
Nelson excelled in the event, knocking nearly five seconds off of her career best when she turned in a 5:17.35.
"They did an awesome job today," Taylor said. "I thought Laykin was especially tough, but all of them did an awesome job today."
Hillis set the pace in the 100-yard breaststroke as her 1:05.36 is the second-fastest time this season and was good for third place on Saturday. Pisarski came in behind her in seventh (1:07.57), while Sanchez swam her lifetime best in the event (1:07.78) to take eighth. Freshman Lauren Spano finished it out in 1:12.07.
As the dual between Rice and Houston continued to tighten, Kovacs gave the Cougars a boost with her second-placeperformance in the 200-yard backstroke (2:02.83), missing her personal best by less than a second. Ballo followed her up in eighth (2:08.89) while Blumenthal closed out the event in 2:14.32.
Kovacs got a quick break before jumping back in the pool for the 200-yard butterfly. She raced in 2:06.76 to place in the top four for the second-straight event. Lowry (2:07.57) and Kells (2:07.79) challenged each other in fifth and seventh, respectively. Newcomb tapped in at 2:13.39.
Eeson kept the scoring rally alive with her second-place performance in the 100-yard freestyle (51.64). Fraser followed suit with a strong swim (53.43). Donovan set a new personal record (53.82),while Winn missed her career best by less than two-tenths of a second (54.82). Morrell clocked in at 55.58.
"Kim was outstanding today," Taylor said. "She did a tough 100 on the end of the relay at the start of the meet and then came back and swam a pretty good 500 (yard freestyle) and a good 100-yard freestyle."
Kovacs shined in her specialty, taking the top spot in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:22.41, the seventh-best performance in Houston's history. Hillis came in at 4:30.34 to claim fourth place. Newcomb (4:41.22) and Spano (4:56.29) rounded out the event.
With both diving events taking place on Friday, the meet concluded with an intense 200-yard freestyle relay. Eeson,Fraser, Kells and Morrell busted out the second-best time of the year (1:37.47) to take third, while Donovan, Winn, Blumenthal and Pisarski went 1:42.99 tofinish the afternoon.
The Cougars are in action again when they play host to No. 6 Texas at the annual Sprint for the Cure meet on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
