University of Houston
Phill Hansel Invite
Swimming Finishes Fifth on Senior Day
11/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
HOUSTON - Doubling as senior day for five Houston student athletes, the Cougars finished in fifth-place as the host of the Phill Hansel Invitational. Houston set 20 personal-best times and two school records during the three-day competition.
"This was a great weekend for our team," said head swimming coach Augie Busch. "There were multiple personal bests achieved. I'm watching our upperclassmen really start to respond to our style of training and our freshmen are making immediate impacts which is what I hoped for."
"We feel like we're in a great place moving forward into the second half of the season. Looking at last year's results, we were significantly better this weekend than we were at conference last year. That's a tremendously positive sign. Even more encouraging is the way our women continue to embrace and understand what "team" is all about. Our culture is improving all the time and, as a coach, that's incredibly satisfying to see"
The five seniors honored before Saturday's finals included Kimmy Ballo, Moira Fraser, Reka Kovacs, Julia Lonnegren and Holli Pisarski.
With Houston being the annual site of the Conference USA Championships, the five seniors will still have one more chance to compete at home with the NCAA Zones hosted at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center on tap for Lonnegren as well.
Ballo had a memorable senior day as the Round Rock, Texas, native set the school record in the 200 back (2:00.32) and teamed up with fellow senior Fraser to break the record in the 400 free relay (3:24.19). Maggie McCord and Krystan Morrell contributed on the relay swimming the middle legs of the event.
Lonnegren was the highest finisher for Houston for the second time of the meet as she took third (245.15) in the platform competition. It was the first time this year the senior competed in the platform as she notched an NCAA qualifying standard.
Kovacs cleared the NCAA `B' standard with in the 200 breast (2:15.73) to finish in eighth-place in the event and scored the most points for Houston in the swimming events.
Texas A&M won the meet with 1,284.5 points followed by Arkansas, SMU, LSU and Houston.
Standings
1 Texas A&M 1284.5
2 Arkansas 699.5
3 SMU 501
4 LSU 450.5
5 Houston 259
6 Wyoming 243
7 Fresno State 126
8 Texas 98
9 Idaho 93
10 New Mexico State 75
11 Tulane 66.5
12 U.S. Air Force Academy 55
13 UCLA 47
14 Nebraska 27
15 Clemson 4
Platform Diving
Julia Lonnegren 3 245.15
Danielle Shedd 18 189.50
1,650 Free
Heather Winn 14 17:10.58
Lizzie Justice 17 17:16.99
Emma Nelson 23 17:30.62*
200 Back
Kimmy Ballo 18 2:00.32*#
Mackenzie Alspaugh 35 2:05.52
Marissa Blumenthal 38 2:08.10
Taylor Derevyanik 49 2:10.18
Lauren Spano 61 2:14.71*
100 Free
Maggie McCord 11 50.47
Krystan Morrell 26 51.28*
Colleen Donovan 35 51.93*
200 Breast
Reka Kovacs 8 2:15.73*
Holli Pisarski 19 2:20.66
200 Butterfly
Laykin Lowry 8 2:03.06*
Mackenzie Alspaugh 14 2:04.54
Lizzie Justice 21 2:06.71
Emma Nelson 24 2:09.99
Maya Owens 26 2:05.18
400 Free Relay
Houston 7 3:24.19#
Maggie McCord, Moira Fraser, Krystan Morrell, Kimmy Ballo
Houston 19 3:28.62
Colleen Donovan, Michelle Detka, Maya Owens, Heather Winn
Houston 29 3:34.12
Mackenzie Alspaugh, Holly Criscuolo, Holli Pisarski, Reka Kovacs
Houston 33 3:36.98
Taylor Derevyanik, Marissa Blumenthal, Lauren Spano, Laykin Lowry
*Personal Best #School Record
Players Mentioned
