University of Houston
Boston University
Swimming and Diving Wins Boston Dual Meet
10/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 14, 2011
BOSTON - The University of Houston swimming and diving team provided a win for first year head coach Augie Busch in his coaching debut at Boston University Friday evening. The Cougars outscored the Terries 164.5 to 135.5 to take the dual meet.
"It feels great to get that first win," said head coach Augie Busch. "In the sport of swimming it's all about peaking at the right time so every competition matters. But it's also about setting up the team up for success later down the road. It's always fun to watch people fight, we got ourselves in a little bit of a hole but our girls fought back. I have a lot of pride in them right now."
Houston trailed for the first half of the meet but overtook the Terriers when the 1M dive results were tabulated after the 10th event. Coach Jane Figueiredo's divers would take first through third in both diving events and junior Julia Lonnegren won both events.
"Julia really stepped it up," said head diving coach Jane Figueiredo. "It was awesome to see her put it together. The freshman did an awesome job of competing and they didn't look to nervous which I was really happy about.
After Houston overtook the lead, they never looked back but the meet would be close for the remainder. The victory was in large part because of the Cougars dominating the freestyle events, winning five of six in the stroke.
Heather Winn opened up the freestyle domination by jumping out to an early lead in the 1,000-yard event and fought off late charge to win the race by a half-second. Winn also took first in the 500-yard event and was joined in the point scoring efforts by fellow sophomores Lizzie Justice and Laykin Lowry as they both overtook their Boston counterparts to finish third and fourth in the event.
Kim Eeson took first in the 100 (52.83) and 200-yard (1:54.17) freestyle and held off teammate Moira Frasier as she took second in both races.
Kimmy Ballo won the 50-yard free (24.78) and set a personal best in the event with her time. Heather Coutts would also take first in the 50-yard butterfly (26.98).
Heading into the last individual event before the final free relay, Houston maintained a slim lead over Boston University. The Cougars looked to their 400-IM swimmers to hold the edge and they did not disappoint as Reka Kovacs (1st - 4:30.54), Beccy Hillis (3rd - 43:7.15) and Natalie Newcomb (5th - 4:43.05) outscored Boston by 13-6 in the event.
Houston capped the meet off with another freestyle win, this time in the 200-yard relay. This time Fraser found herself on the same side as Eeson as they teamed with Krystan Morrell and Maddie Clark to take first.
THIS WEEKEND
Houston faces Boston College tomorrow at 12 p.m. EST.
UP NEXT
Houston returns home to host Miami (Fla.) on Oct. 21 at 5p.m. inside the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.
USA Diving's Pan American Games team will train at the University of Houston's Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium from October 20-22 before heading to Guadalajara, Mexico. The diving events at the Pan Am Games are scheduled for October 26-29.
RESULTS
Team Rankings
1. Houston 164.5
2. Boston University 135.5
400 Medley Relay
2. Houston 3:57.15
Kimmy Ballo, Beccy Hillis, Heather Coutts, Moira Fraser
4. Houston 4:08.61
Marisssa Blumenthal, Holli Pisarski, Lizzie Justice, Emma Nelson
1,000 Free
1. Heather Winn 10:21.11
4. Laykin Lowry 10:35.04
5. Lizzie Justice 10:46.81
7. Emma Nelson 11:12.67
200 Free
1. Kim Eeson 1:54.17
2. Moira Frasier 1:55.29
5. Coleen Donovan 1:57.59
6. Nadia El-Hamdi 2:09.56
50 Back
4. Heather Coutts 28.21
5. Kimmy Ballo 28.29
6. Marissa Blumenthal 28.38
50 Breast
2. Beccy Hillis 30.32
3. Holli Pisarski 31.08
6. Lauren Spano 33.17
200 Fly
2. Laykin Lowry 2:09.39
5. Reka Kovacs 2:10.36
6. Natalie Newcomb 2:13.08
7. Emma Nelson 2:24.00
50 Free
1. Kimmy Ballo 24.78
4. Krystan Morrell 25.31
6. Maddie Clark 25.43
7. Holli Pisarski 25.67
1M Diving
1. Julia Lonnegren 337.65
2. Torri Olanski 278.85
3. Natasha Burgess 238.27
100 Free
1. Kim Eeeson 52.83
2. Moira Fraser 52.99
6. Colleen Donovan 54.96
8. Krstan Morrell 57.75
9. Nadia El-Hamdi 58.17
200 Back
2. Kimmy Ballo 2:07.79
3. Heather Coutts 2:08.48
6. Marissa Blumenthal 2:17.26
200 Breast
2. Beccy Hillis 2:22.71
3. Reka Kovacs 2:26.77
4. Natalie Newcomb 2:30.38
500 Free
1. Heather Winn 5:09.03
3. Lizzie Justice 5:10.59
4. Laykin Lowry 5:11.13
8. Emma Nelson 5:37.95
50 Fly
1. Heather Coutts 26.98
5. Colleen Donovan 27.83
6. Nadia El-Hamdi 27.87
3 Meter Diving
1. Julia Lonnegren 206.40
2. Natasha Burgess 198.10
3. Torri Olanski 183.55
400 IM
1. Reka Kovacs 4:30.54
3. Beccy Hillis 4:37.15
5. Natalie Newcomb 4:43.05
7. Laruen Spano 4:56.37
200 Free Relay
1. Houston 1:37.18
Kim Eeson, Moira Fraser, Krystan Morrell, Maddie Clark
4. Houston 1:39.90
Colleen Donovan, Holli Pisarski, Kimmy Ballo, Heather Winn
5. Houston 1:46.81
Marissa Blumenthal, Lizzie Justice, Laykin Lowry, Emma Nelson
Players Mentioned
