University of Houston Athletics
Swimming and Diving Prepares to Host Final Meet of Year
1/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Jan. 16, 2003
HOUSTON - The University of Houston swimming and diving program wraps up its 2002-03 home season at 4 p.m. Friday afternoon as it plays host to LSU in a dual meet at the UH Natatorium.
The Cougars will honor four seniors in pre-meet ceremonies and say goodbye to their home facility at that meet.
Seniors Jessica Blake, Falon Hopkins, Yulia Pakhalina and Veronica Smith will be recognized for their vast contributions to the Cougar program. In addition, the meet will be the final one at UH Natatorium. In 2003-04, the Cougars will move into the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
Friday's meet should be a festive atmosphere with UH cheerleaders and members of the pep band performing. The meet is free and open to the public, which is invited to attend.
The Cougars (3-3) come into Friday's meet on the heels of a resounding 131.5-111.5 road win at New Mexico State last weekend. At that meet, Pakhalina recorded the 51st and 52nd wins of her collegiate career in only 54 outings. She was the only diver to score more than 300.00 points in each event and was honored as the Conference USA Diver of the Week for the eighth time in her career earlier this week.
Redshirt freshman diver Azul Almazan was equally impressive against the Aggies, finishing second behind Pakhalina on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards.
Three Cougar swimmers recorded five first-place finishes. Junior Lucile Turpin and freshman Stacey Williams each posted a pair of first-place finishes to lead UH.
Turpin was tops in the water in the distance events, recording a time of 11:06.54 in the 1,000-yard freestyle and a time of 5:19.57 in the 500-yard freestyle.
Williams, a two-time C-USA Swimmer of the Week honoree, placed first in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:43.22 and was first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.83, making her the only swimmer in that event to crack the 1-minute mark.
Following Friday's meet, the Cougars compete in only four meets on the road, with the Conference USA postseason and NCAA postseason remaining on the schedule.
