University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Set for American Championships
2/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
| HOUSTON at the 2015 AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS | |
|---|---|
| Tickets | BUY Tickets |
| Dates | Feb. 18-21, 2015 |
| Location | Greesnboro Aquatic Center • Greensboro, N.C. |
| Live Video | American Digital Network |
| Championships Central | TheAmerican.org |
| Social Media |   |
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The 2014-15 swimming and diving season has reached its crescendo, and the University of Houston is set to compete at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Competition runs from Feb. 18-21 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
Live video coverage of the season-ending event will be carried live through the American Digital Network. Finals coverage begins at 5 pm CT on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with the stream beginning at 4:35 pm CT on Saturday as The American broadcasts their senior recognition ceremony.
Houston will be looking to repeat in two events after taking a pair of titles in the 2014 American Championships. Natasha Burgess won the 1-meter diving title last season and was crowned Most Outstanding Diver, and Taylor Olanski was the platform diving champion.
In addition, Houston assistant coach for diving Yulia Pakhalina was named American Diving Coach of the Year at last season's meet.
Burgess was also the 1-meter champion at the 2013 Conference USA Championship. With a victory in Greensboro, she would become the 15th Cougar to win three individual conference crowns.
The Cougars will be looking for their first team conference title this week. Houston has earned five second place finishes in conference meets, most recently finishing as runner-up in the 2013 Conference USA meet.
Two Houston divers were named American Diver of the Week this season and will be looking to cap the conference campaign with titles. Micaela Bouter was named the conference's top diver on Nov. 5 after winning the 1-meter and 3-meter titles against SMU. On Nov. 25, Danielle Shedd won the honor after taking second place in the 1-meter dive against a nationally-respected field at the Texas Diving Invitational.
Four Houston swimmers have already seen the pool in Greensboro this season. Mackenzie Alspaugh, Taylor Gregory, Ashley Grijalva and Maya Owens represented the Cougars with strong performances at the AT&T Winter National Championships in December.
The Cougars are coming off of two days of quality efforts at the LSU Quad Meet, held Jan. 30-31 in Baton Rouge, La. Grijalva and Sharo Rodriguez led the swimmers, with Grijalva finishing fifth in the 200-yd Breaststroke and Rodriguez taking fifth in the 200-yd Butterfly. Shedd paced the divers with a second place finish in the 3-meter dive and a third place result at 1-meter.
Competition on Wednesday begins at 11 am CT with diving, and swimming relays will take place beginning at 5 pm CT. On the final three days, swimming preliminaries begin at 9 am CT, diving will follow at 11:30 am CT, and swimming finals start at 5 pm CT. A complete schedule and links to live video streaming can be found at The American's Championships Central Page.
 | UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS |
The NCAA Zone Diving meet will be held from March 9-11 in Columbus, Ohio. Those that qualify will return to Greensboro for the NCAA Championships, which run from March 19-21.
| FOLLOW THE COUGARS! |
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougarSports), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the swimming & diving team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonCougarSwimmingDiving) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarSwim), which provide regular updates on the team and live results during home meets.
--UHCougars.com--
Players Mentioned
