Swimming & Diving Prepares to Host Phill Hansel Invitational
11/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 16, 2011
HOUSTON - The University of Houston swimming and diving program hosts their biggest meet of the fall this weekend with the Phill Hansel Cougar Classic Nov. 17-19 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. This meet features ten visiting women squads in addition to Houston and three men's teams.
The meet runs two sessions per day with the finals at night. The morning preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. and the diving prelims take off at 11 a.m. The finals will be in event order from the morning session starting at 6 p.m.
The annual meet has honors the late Cougar great Phill Hansel. Hansel coached the Cougars from 1957-1996 and guided the Cougars to more than 70 dual meet wins and ten Top-20 finishes at the AIAW and NCAA Championships.
200 Free Relay
500 Freestyle
200 I.M.
50 Freestyle
3M Diving
400 Medley Relay
FRIDAY
200 Medley Relay
400 Individual Medley
100 Butterfly
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
1M Diving
800 Freestyle Relay
SATURDAY
1650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
Team List
Women
Houston
Colorado State
New Mexico
New Mexico State
Rice
SMU
Tulane
University of Idaho
Air Force
Wyoming
Men
SMU
Texas A&M
Wyoming
That legacy is not lost to head coach Augie Busch.
"Phill (Hansel) carries a huge legacy and lots of respect around the swimming community, here at Houston, around the country and internationally. My dad (Frank Busch and current USA Swimming National Team Director) actually worked on a staff with Phill during the 1990s. He had some great things to say about him from their time together and I hope we can make him proud."
The Cougars are anxious to get back to the pool after three weeks of training sessions under Busch. After ratcheting up the work in the weight room and on dry land this season, Houston has been building momentum towards this huge home meet.
"I'm really proud and excited how this group of girls have reacted to our new training techniques. They have been racing well in the pool these prior meets but have just been exhausted physically. We've given them a little bit more rest this stretch of the season so we can see how well they do this weekend and have something to build off next semester."
The divers will look to hold form as they protect their home boards over the weekend's competition. Junior Julia Lonnegren and freshman Natasha Burgess have already secured a spot in the NCAA Zone Championships in both the 1M and 3M. Freshman Torri Olanski stands on the cusp of qualifying for the Zone Championships in the 3M and has already secured her spot in the 1M portion.
The Cougars started the season with three dual-meet wins as they swept Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern over the Oct.14-15 weekend in Boston. Following a dual meet loss to Miami at home, the Cougars were last in the water on Oct. 28-29 at the Rice Invitational and had to swim outside in cold and windy conditions.
With the indoor meet, weather will not be a factor but a host of strong competition looks to challenge the Cougars as they get ready to wrap up their fall season.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's action, the divers return to the boards on Dec. 1-3 at the Texas Invitational hosted in Austin, Texas. The swimmers will enjoy a break until their next meet, which is a dual meet against Conference USA foe SMU, on Jan. 21 at the CRWC. Both the swimmers and divers will report to Hawaii for the Holiday Training Meet in Honolulu on Jan. 7.
Players Mentioned
