Houston Sweeps First Day of American Championships

Wednesday, February 19

Houston, Texas

All day

University of Houston

American Athletic Conference Championships

Photo by: Joe Buvid / Houston Athletics

2/19/2020 8:44:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Cougars walk away with three titles on first day of meet

HOUSTON – The 2020 American Athletic Conference Championships got out to a stellar start for the three-time defending champion Houston Cougars.

DAY 1 - RESULTS

Houston concluded the first day of action with a field-leading 135 points via first-place finishes in the 800-yard Freestyle Relay, 200-yard Medley Relay and the 3-meter.

The Cougars started off the day on the boards as three divers advanced to the A-Final of the 3-meter led by Katie Deininger who finished second in the prelims with 298.95 points. Lauren Burrell finished fourth (290.15), followed by Jolie Blodgett in seventh-place (279.90) to also advance. Things continued to look good for the Cougars as Burrell posted 325.50 points for a first-place finish in the 3-Meter Championship. The senior earned four scores of 50 points or more with her best dive coming on her third attempt when she compiled a score of 63.00 after completing a Back 2 ½ Somersault Tuck.

Deininger earned bronze medal in the 3-Meter Championship with 306.90 points as Blodgett concluded the A-Final in seventh-place with 293.25 points. Sophomore Chase Farris moved on to the Consolation Final where she finished second-place with 286.50 points, tacking on 7 points for the Cougars.

In the first race of the 2020 Championships the Cougars showed up in a big way. Zarena Brown, Samantha Medlin, Rachel Hicks and Monique Rae combined to set a new meet and program record in the 800-yard Freestyle Relay. The squad touched in at 7:06.29 for first-place in the event.

In the final race of the day, Peyton Kondis, Mykenzie Leehy, Katie Higgins and Laura Laderoute combined for a time of 1:37.60 for a first-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. The win helped the Cougars sweep the opening day of action The American Championships.

Championships action will resume on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.

FOLLOW THE COUGARS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the swimming & diving team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/UHCougarSwim) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarSwim), which provide regular updates on the team and live results during home meets.

--UHCougars.com--