University of Houston
<B>C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP</B>
Swimming & Diving Finishes Third at C-USA Championship
2/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 25, 2006
HOUSTON - SMU took home its first Conference USA Women's Swimming and Diving title and Men's Invitational crown in the program's inaugural year in the league. The Mustangs dominated the competition at Houston's Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium each of the four days of the championship, setting 23 new meet records en route to claiming the 2006 C-USA Championship title.
For the women, East Carolina followed in second (587), while the Houston Cougars were only two points behind the Pirates. Rice followed in fourth with 540.5 points, while Tulane (402.5) and Marshall (249) rounded out the women's teams. On the men's side, East Carolina finished second (781), while the University of Hawai'i (583) came in third.
The Mustangs' men's and women's teams, swimming together for the first time in six years, recorded 15 NCAA A Qualifying times, 38 NCAA B Qualifying times, and broke 23 Conference USA meet records over the four-day competition.
"It was great competing over the last few days with our women's program," said 2006 Men's Invitational Coach of the Year Eddie Sinnott. "With the success of our women's program, they tend to breed success and we fed off of them. It always helps having extra bodies yelling in the bleachers."
SMU, competing in its first C-USA Swimming and Diving Championship, opened the final day of action sweeping the first individual events, the men's and women's 1,650-yard freestyle. Flavia Rigamonti, who was recognized among the seniors before the day's events, posted an impressive 15:59.96 finish for the Ponies.
That mark broke the previous meet record as well as an UH CRWC pool record. Teammate Anja Carman came in second with a time of 16:20.29, while Mustang Katie Roberts touched for third with a time of 16:22.84.
Rookie Michael Dmitriev earned his first collegiate individual C-USA Championship award with the best mark on the men's side with a time of 15:17.67, a pool record and an NCAA B Qualifying time. Andrew Affleck of Hawai'i touched in second with a time of 15:34.02, while SMU's Chris Ginder rounded out the top spots with third (16:01.82).
Houston women's swept the platform diving awards with freshman Tania Cagnotto atop the books with 331.80 points, nearly 60 points more than her closest competitor. The Cougars continue the trend of collecting diving honors with their fifth consecutive C-USA platform title, while never dropping a 1-meter or 3-meter springboard title in the conference meet. Teammate Anna Kiess, the 2005 C-USA Diver of the Year, collected 272.70 for second, while rookie Anastasia Pozdniakova earned 247.50 for the third place.
The Men's Invitational Diver of the Meet went to Mats Wiktorsson, who nailed the men's platform diving title with a score of 379.10. The freshman won by a 156.50-point margin of victory. Philip Griffin of SMU earned second place with a score of 222.95, while Peter Bradyhouse of East Carolina grabbed third (144.90).
A Rice duo grabbed two of the three top times in the women's 200-yard backstroke; however, it was Anja Craman of SMU, who jumped passed the other teams to garner the top spot with a time of 1:58.29, a new C-USA meet and pool record. The Owls were represented by Skylar Craig (2:01.28) and Amy Halsey (2:02.88) at the two and three positions, respectively.
Thomas Winkler of the University of Hawai'i captured his third title of the four-day tournament with the fastest time in the men's 200-yard backstroke. SMU's Ian Clark came in second (1:44.42), while sophomore Greg Neville of East Carolina earned third place (1:56.31).
As the SMU Athletic Department says, the Mustangs displayed their decade of dominance as the Ponies took home the first five honors in the women's 100-yard freestyle, led by Petra Klosova. The freshman set a C-USA and CRWC pool record with a time of 49.21.
After a three-year stint of Cincinnati winning the men's 100-yard freestyle, SMU's Luka Vrtovec won the crown with a new meet record time of 44.05. This mark was also an NCAA B Qualifying time and a UH CRWC pool record. Rainbow Warrior Graeme Tozer earned second with a time of 44.83, while JD White posted a time of 45.21 for third place.
Szi Szi Szanto of Houston claimed her first 2006 C-USA championship title with a 2:15.69 finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, just a day after the junior was disqualified in a controversial noise disturbance. Szanto, who had a renewed motivation, set a new C-USA meet record, a CRWC pool record and an NCAA B Qualifying time.
On the men's side, Nicola Xella gave the Warriors another gold medal with a 2:00.14 finish in the men's 200-yard breaststroke event. The time set broke the previous meet and pool records.
Milla Kuurto captured Marshall's first individual title of the championship, recording a time of 2:02.27 in the women's 200-yard butterfly. East Carolina duo of Katie Gordon and Holly Williams quickly followed. Gordon finished in 2:02.98, while Williams posted a time of 2:03.34.
The men's 200-yard butterfly champion was Greg Wilson of the University of Hawai'i, who tabbed a time of 1:47.75. Wilson's time was an NCAA B Qualifying time. SMU once again claimed two of the top three as Justin Smith (1:48.17) and Nate Clark (1:49.01) came in second and third, respectively.
Daniella Irle, head coach of Tulane Green Wave, which was recognized in a special tribute during the awards ceremony, earned the 2006 Women's Swimming Coach of the Year. Last year, in just its second season, the Green Wave won the 2005 Conference USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship. Due to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the team was forced to evacuate to College Station, Texas where they spent this past fall semester. This year's championship will be their final meet together.
In the last event of the day, the men's and women's 400-yard freestyle relays, SMU took home the honors. The champs posted a time of 3:20.00, which set a Conference USA meet record as well as a CRWC pool leader. The foursome included: Candace Blackman, Leane Darling, Jennifer Blackman and Celina Lemmen.
The difference between second and third place for the women's teams was determined during the freestyle relays. East Carolina's third place finish (3:25.42), which defeated Houston's 3:27.00 time, added 32 points for the Pirates. The Cougars' mark gave the squad 28 and pushed the team behind ECU.
On the men's side, SMU's team of JD White, Per Nylin, Emilio Garmendia and Luka Vrtovec won with a time of 2:57.62, a C-USA record and pool record.
"I think it is really impressive that just about all of our women's swimming programs will be represented at the NCAAs," said SMU women's coach Steven Collins. "We had a lot of breakthroughs for us over the last few days and overall this was a great meet for our program."
Players Mentioned
