Houston Wraps Up Day Two at Big 12 Championships

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team secured two spots in the top finals groups while also earning a NCAA B-Cut on the second day of the Big 12 Conference Championships on Wednesday at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

After clinching a spot in the finals with a seventh-place showing (288.75) in prelims, fifth-year Hedda Grelz led the way in the day's diving event, taking eighth place in the 1-meter with a finals score of 280.00. In the consolation, sophomore Michelle McLeod placed 10^th (275.15), fifth-year Emilia Waters took 12^th (264.70) and freshman Caroline Roelen closed out the Cougars in 13^th (264.00).

Clinching a spot in the B-Finals of the 50-yard freestyle with the second fastest time (22.59) in program history in the prelims, junior Liya Goupil won the second finals heat with an NCAA B-Cut time to finish in ninth overall. She improved her prelims time in the finals as well, posting a 22.47 and sitting just .05 seconds off the program record.

Sophomore Evelyn Entrekin highlighted the 200-yard individual medley, placing eighth with a 2:01.90. Sophomore Nora Hetyei took 14^th (2:01.33) with junior Jenna Kerkman touching the wall just behind in 16^th (2:02.75). Junior Virag Peter won the C-Finals for 17^th place with a time of 2:00.36, improving her sixth-fastest time in team history. Junior Noor El Gendy capped the event with a 2:01.81 for 19^th place.

In prelims, Kerkman jumped onto Houston's 200 IM Top 10 Times list with the 10^th fastest time (2:01.37) in program history. Senior Henrietta Fangli also set a new personal best in preliminary heats, touching the wall in 2:03.57.

Freshman Mariana Cote paced the Cougars in the 500-yard freestyle. After posting a personal-best of 4:52.52 in the prelims to secure a spot in the B-Finals, the Pembroke Pines, Fla., native won the heat to take ninth in the event, touching the will in 4:50.56. Behind her, freshman Kaeli White placed 16^th (4:53.43) while sophomore Sydney Nethercutt finished 23^rd (4:57.16).

Arizona State leads the meet with 544 points, followed by Arizona with 409.5 and Houston with 352. TCU sits in fourth (306), Utah is in fifth (278.5) and BYU holds sixth (251). In seventh, Cincinnati has 233 points, followed by Kansas (194), West Virginia (170) and Iowa State (161).

UP NEXT
Houston continues competition at Big 12 Championships on Thursday. Prelims begin at noon CT with finals beginning at 8 p.m. CT. Included in the day's events are the 100-yard butterfly, 400-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle, 3-meter diving and 400-yard medley relay.

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– UHCougars.com –

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Players Mentioned

Mariana Cote

Noor El Gendy

Evelyn Entrekin

Henrietta Fangli

Liya Goupil

Hedda Grelz

Nora Hetyei

Jenna Kerkman

Michelle McLeod

Sydney Nethercutt

Virag Peter

Caroline Roelen

Emilia Waters

Kaeli White

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