Jan. 25, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - No.13 SMU took on its first conference opponent of the season, beating Rice 123-75 Friday night at Perkins Natatorium. The Mustangs won nine of the 11 events. On Saturday, the Mustangs coasted by C-USA rival Houston, 140-91, winning 11 of 13 events.

SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (1/23)
BRITTANY MASSENGALE - Rice
So., Alma, Arkansas (Alma)
Massengale won three individual events and swam as a member of a winning relay as the Owls defeated the University of North Texas in a dual meet Saturday in Denton. Massengale had an impressive accomplishment with back-to-back victories. The Alma, Ark., native won the rugged 1,000-yard freestyle and then came back and won the very next event, the 200-yard freestyle. The weekly award is the fifth of Massengale's career, her second in 2007-08 (Oct. 16).

DIVER OF THE WEEK (1/23)
GINNI VAN KAWIJK
Sr. Grootebroek, Netherlands (Wyoming)
van Katwijk was the Cougars' leading diver during a road swing through north Texas last weekend. The senior swept both events at North Texas and earned second- and fourth-place finishes at No. 12 SMU. This is van Katwijk's second career C-USA weekly honor, her first in 2008.

2007-08 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
O9	S- Angela San Juan Cisneros, SMU
O16	S- Brittany Massengale, Rice
O23	S- Amanda Duncan, East Carolina
	D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina
O29	S- Anja Carman, SMU
	D- Audra Egenolf, SMU
N6	S- Sasha Schwendenwein, Houston
	D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston
N13	S- Michaela Sceli, Marshall
	D- Siobahn Schuurman, Marshall
N20	S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU
	D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina
D4	S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU
	D- Lacey Truelove, Houston	

J9	S- Petra Klosova, SMU
	D- Audra Egenolf, SMU
J15	S- Pam Zelnick, Rice
	D- Britney Yancey, SMU
J23	S- Brittany Massengale, Rice
	D- Ginni van Katwijk, Houston	

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Conference USA will name a Swimmer and Diver of the Week throughout the regular season. The Athlete of the Week awards are selected by the media relations department and announced every Tuesday throughout the season.

2007-08 C-USA TOP TIMES
For a list of the top C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving times/scores, please go to: https://secure.sportssystems.com/ScoreReporting/cusa/sportID/1/g/w

 

2008 C-USA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2008 C-USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Men's Invitational is slated for February 27-March 1 in Houston, Texas. The four-day event will be hosted by Houston at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. All five C-USA women's swimming and diving programs will participate in the championship, while East Carolina, SMU and Hawai'i will participate in the men's invitational.

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina improved to 7-0 with a 168-138 win over UMBC on Saturday.

Amanda Duncan, Alli Miller and Rebecca Perry each posted a pair of individual wins. Duncan took home first place in the 100 (57.39) and 200 butterfly (2:06.54). Miller swept the backstroke events, finishing first in the 100 (59.75) and 200 (2:08.22), while Perry won both of the sprint freestyle events. She posted a time of 23.87 in the 50 and 51.62 in the 100.

Christie Icenhower completed a sweep of the diving events with scores of 245.78 on the one-meter board and 252.98 on the three-meter board.

Jackie Jones posted a first place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:09.76.

The Pirates also won the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. ECU returns to competition on Saturday, Jan. 26, against Duke.

HOUSTON
Junior swimmers Andrea Pa'lmai and Sasha Schwendenwein and senior diving captain Ginni van Katwijk each won multiple events, but it would not be quite enough as North Texas claimed a 133-110 win over Houston Friday afternoon at the Pohl Recreation Center Natatorium.

Although the Cougars won the majority of the individual swimming events and swept the Top Three places in both diving events, the Mean Green began and capped the meet with relay wins to enjoy its first win against UH.

Diver Courtney Forcucci scored 270.45 points on the 1-meter springboard to lead the Cougars during a 140-91 loss at No. 13 SMU on Saturday afternoon at Perkins Natatorium.

Forcucci grabbed top honors in a close race that saw less than five points separate the four competitors. van Katwijk was a close second with 269.69 points.

The Cougars' 200-yard freestyle relay team of Schwendenwein, Brittany Copeland, Doreen Polotzek and Lindsey Graves capped the day with a first-place finish after posting a time of 1:40.38.

The Cougars return to action this weekend when they play host to LSU and C-USA rival Rice during a two-day meet at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Natatorium.

MARSHALL
Marshall dropped its meet at Ohio on Tuesday by a score of 182-131.

Senior Michaela Sceli swept the 100 and 200-yard butterflies and finished just off of her school record times.

Jenny Johnnsson finished third in the 200-yard IM and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle, but saved her best performance for the 500-yard free where she turned in a new personal best time of 5:13.29 and a second-place finish.

Junior Kayla Truswell through a slow start in the 100-yard butterfly to finish second and won the 200-fly in 2:09.70.

The Herd will have one more meet to prepare for the Conference USA championships when it travels to East Carolina on Feb. 2.

RICE
Senior Brittany Massengale led a 1-2 finish in the the 1,000-yard freestyle and Rice took the top spot in the 200-free relay, but it wasn't enough to stop the 12th-ranked SMU swim team as the Mustangs coasted to a 123-75 Conference USA dual meet win over the Owls Friday evening at the Perkins Natatorium in Dallas.

Massengale, a native of Alma, Ark., posted a steady time of 10:11.09 to win the rugged 1,000. Owl junior Caitlin Warner finished second with a mark of 10:23.44 for a 1-2 finish by the Blue & Gray.

Rice closed out the meet with the top finish in the 200-free relay. The Owl foursome of Keri Hyde, Skylar Craig, Carlyann Miller and Diane Gu raced to a time of 1:37.42.

Massengale won three individual events and was member of a winning relay to help lead the Owls' swim team to a 154-134 non-conference dual meet win over the University of North Texas Saturday afternoon.

Massengale led a charge that resulted in Rice winning nine of the meet's 14 swimming events. Miller won both freestyle sprints while sophomore Angela Wo won the 100-yard butterfly and freshman Kait Chura took first place in the 200-backstroke. The Owls also won both of the day's relays to close out the meet victory. Rice is now 8-3 in dual meets.

This weekend Rice swims in the very same pool that hosts the C-USA Championships. On January 25-26 the Blue & Gray swims against SEC power LSU and rival Houston across town at the UH Rec Center Natatorium in an extended two-day meet.

SMU
No.13 SMU took on its first conference opponent of the season, beating Rice 123-75 Friday night at Perkins Natatorium.

The Mustangs won nine of the 11 events, shutting the Owls down. SMU started strong by picking up a win in the first event. The 200 medley relay squad of Anja Carman, Devon Callaghan, Angela San Juan Cisneros and Candace Blackman touched in at 1:44.12.

SMU finished third in the 1000 free, with Federica Felloni clocking a season-best time of 10:33.92. The Mustangs then finished one-two in the 200 free, with Petra Klosova in first (1:51.27) and Callaghan in second (1:54.33).

In the 50 free, SMU again finished one-two, this time with C. Blackman taking the top spot with a mark of 23.66 and Jennifer Basel in second with her season-best time of 23.79. Basel then turned around and won the 400 IM outright, finishing the course in 4:23.19.

Newcomer Maroua Mathlouthi picked up second in that event, touching in at 4:23.80.

SMU coasted by C-USA rival Houston Saturday at Perkins Natatorium, 140-91, winning 11 of 13 events.

The Mustangs again showed why they are the favorite to win the conference title, as they won the first five swimming events before dropping the one-meter diving competition.

The afternoon kicked off for SMU with the 200 medley relay team of Carman, Devon Callaghan, San Juan Cisneros and Klosova winning their event handily, clocking a time of 1:44.49. The Mustangs also took second in that event, as Gabriela Soza, Tamara Sambrailo, Elzanne Werth and Anna Ziverts touched in at 1:48.86.

BritneyYancey reclaimed the top spot on the three-meter board, amassing 311.40 points, beating second-place finisher Lacey Truelove by over 15 points.

The Mustangs are off for the next few weeks, but return to the pool to host No. 16 Texas at Perkins Natatorium on Feb. 9.