Swimmers and Divers on their way to CUSA Meet: Good Luck

[Water Pony]

The SMU No. 25 men's and No. 12 women's swimming and diving team are headed to Houston this week to defend their Conference USA Championship and Invitational crown. Last year was the first season for the women's team in C-USA and the first season for the men to compete in the invitational as both squads rewrote the record books en route to taking two first-place finishes.

[Water Pony]

The SMU men's and women's swimming and diving teams picked up with the record-setting trends they started yesterday in Houston at the Conference USA Championship and Invitational. Both squads are in the lead after day two.

Jennifer Blackman began with notching first-place in the 500 free with a career-best time of 4:47.12, posting a NCAA B qualifying time. Anja Carman followed in second place as she swam a NCAA B qualifying time and season-best time of 4:47.69. Katie Roberts topped off the top three as she touched in with a NCAA B qualifying time of 4:48.89. Tiffany Sammis clocked in at 5:03.76 time for eighth-place in the finals and swam a career-best time of 5:01.79 in prelims. Federica Felloni notched a career-best time of 5:02.95 for 14th place.

In the men's 500 free, Nate Clark posted a career-best time of 4:28.17 for second-place while Michael Dmitriev followed in third with a time of 4:31.92 and Chris Ginder stopped the clock with a career-best time of 4:36.12 in fifth-place.

Defending 200 IM champion, Jenny Basel repeated this season as she clocked a NCAA B qualifying time of 2:01.93 which also marked a personal season-best. Devon Callaghan posted a career-best time of 2:03.95 for third-place which also qualifying as a NCAA B time. Tamara Sambrailo finished fourth with a time of 2:05.75. With a career-best time of 2:10.73, Jaime Williamson placed 13th.

The Mustang men took the top four spots in the 200 IM with Alex Hetland leading the way as he posted a NCAA B qualifying time of 1:46.85. That time marked a new career-best for Hetland. Ian Clark followed in second, also posting a NCAA B qualifying time. I. Clark posted a season-best time of 1:47.17 while Maverick Smalley placed third with a career-best time of 1:49.86. Justin Smith posted a season-best time of 1:50.67 for fourth-place. Mitchell Johnson swam a time of 1:53.86 for sixth-place in the finals but posted a career-best time of 1:53.80 in the prelims.

Leane Darling took the gold in the 50 free with a NCAA B qualifying time of 22.83. Angela San Juan Cisneros posted a time of 23.49 in fourth-place but swam a career-best time of 23.41 in the prelims. Celina Lemmen touched in at 23.72 for sixth-place while Justine Clark swam a time of 24.06 in eighth-place. Michelle Vlasakova finished ninth with a time of 23.71.

Luka Vrtovec set a new meet record in the men's 50 free with a first-place time of 19.74. Shane Milu followed in second with a career-best time of 20.47 and Thomas Fadnes stopped the clock at 20.60 for fourth-place but swam career-best time of 20.59 in the prelims. In the finals, Pontus Renholm swam a time of 21.21 for seventh-place but set a new career-best time in the prelims with a time of 20.92. Jani Brackett finished eighth with a time of 21.29. Jerr Merritt notched a time of 21.39 for 10th place in the finals but posted a career-best time of 21.37 in the prelims. Brett Denham finished 14th with a time of 21.64 but swam a season-best time of 21.54 in the prelims.

Kristen Schild finished fourth in the women's three-meter diving with a mark of 272.25 which qualifies as a NCAA B time. Mara Morhouse posted a season-best score of 213.15 for sixth-place.

The meet resumes at 10 a.m., Friday with the preliminaries of the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard backstroke. The women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter diving preliminaries will begin around 1 p.m. The finals for those events are slated to begin around 6 p.m.

Source: SMU

[Maryland78]

Water Pony or other interested Pony swimming fans...can someone please explain to me what a qualifying B time gets you?...will our swimmers with B times get into the NCAA or does it just depend on how many NCAA swimmers post A times?...thanks!

[mustangbill67]

According to the DMNs both the women and the men won their second consecutive swimming and diving C-USA championships. Way to go Ponies. All of our non-revenue sports make me proud to be a Mustang.

[Water Pony]

"A" times automatically qualify, with B times considered, based on how the field fills out.

Congrats to the Men and Women. Nationals are approaching. Good luck!