SMU Records 5 NCAA B Standards, 1 Zone Score on AACs Day 3

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

SMU Records Five NCAA B Standards and One Zone Score in Third Day of AAC Championships

Feb 24

DALLAS (SMU/American Athletic Conference) — SMU Women's Swimming and Diving finished day three of the American Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday. Four Mustangs met NCAA standards and SMU holds a team score of 454 points going into the final day of competition.

"Really happy for the girls and I'm super-excited for Lucrezia for defending her title," head coach Ozzie Quevedo said. "She's been working hard for that all year. The relay at the end, those girls found a way to put everything together and make it count when it mattered most."

Women's Scores Through Saturday
FIU - 523.50
SMU - 454
Rice - 388
ECU - 316
UNT - 279
FAU - 242
Tulane - 234.50
Saturday NCAA Standards
100 Fly - Valentina Becerra - 53.02 (NCAA B Standard)*
100 Back - Jimena Leal - 53.51 (NCAA B Standard)*
100 Fly - Valentina Becerra - 52.32 (NCAA B Standard)
100 Fly - Johanna Gudmundsdottir - 53.55 (NCAA B Standard)
100 Back - Jimena Leal - 53.55 (NCAA B Standard)
Platform Diving - Nicole Stambo - 279.40 (NCAA Zone Score)
* Denotes time from preliminary session

Saturday Night Event Podium Finishes
100 Fly - 52.32 - Third - Valentina Becerra
200 Free - 1:47.91 - First - Lucrezia Napoletano
100 Back - 53.55 - Second - Jimena Leal
Platform Diving - 279.40 - First - Nicole Stambo
400 Medley Relay - 3:36.28 - First -

Saturday Night Noteworthy Results
100 Fly
The 100 fly final saw two Mustangs earn NCAA B Standards, with Valentina Becerra touching third with a final time of 52.33. Teammate Johanna Gudmundsdottir came in fourth behind Becerra, finishing in 53.55.

200 Free
Lucrezia Napoletano earned her second consecutive title, posting a time of 1:47.91 in the 200 free.

100 Back
In the 100 back, sophomore Jimena Leal placed second with her time of 53.55 — the Mustangs' fifth B-Cut of the night.

Platform Diving
Nicole Stambo reclaimed her title on platforms, last earned in 2022, with her score of 279.40. This is the graduate student's new personal best in the event. Senior Jaclynn Fowler scored 211.15 for sixth.

"Nicole dove great, it was a hell of a list," head diving coach Darian Schmidt said. "She executed great, really good on the bottoms [entries]. She just competed all night and went out with a bang. She didn't need much on the last dive but she twisted the knife there to make it fun."

400 Medley Relay
The Mustangs finished the final event of the day with another first place finish. Maddy Lewis, Gudmundsdottir, Leal and Becerra combined to touch first with a time of 3:36.28.

"The girls came out swinging tonight and that's exactly what we're looking for," Quevedo said. "We have a couple more battles tomorrow morning and tomorrow night, we're going to be ready to go."

Remaining Championship Schedule
Sunday Event Schedule
10:30 a.m.: Session Six Swimming Prelims - Stream
5:00 p.m.: Session Seven Finals - Stream
1,650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
Team Diving
400 Free Relay
* denotes timed final event