University of Houston Athletics
Houston Starts Strong Against SEC Foes
1/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
FULL RESULTS
HOUSTON -- The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team turned in 12 podium finishes on the opening day of action against SEC foes Arkansas and Vanderbilt.
"I am extremely proud of how we came out and raced tonight," said Head Swimming and Diving Coach Ryan Wochomurka. "We haven't came out as a whole team since early December. That's a long layoff and we're rusty in a few spots, but we're racing well and seeing what we need to clean-up for four weeks from now. More importantly, I continue to be impressed by the grittiness of this team. Mother Nature and facility issues conspired against us and robbed us of a couple day of preparation, but no excuses. We came out in spite of that and battled two very good SEC teams in Arkansas and Vanderbilt."
The Cougars returned to action for the first time as a team since December, getting out to a strong start and taking first-place in four of the first five events. Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Victoria Tillman and Zarena Brown teamed up for a first-place finish in the 400 Medley Relay to kick things off for Houston. The group finished in a time of 3:45.24, besting their seed time of 3:48.09 by nearly three seconds.
Distance specialist Reese Lamph racked up points for Houston after finishing third-overall in the 1000 Freestyle. The freshman closed out the race with a time of 10:19.13. Conor Glenn earned a sixth-place finish, followed by Hannah Herbst in seventh-place.
Brown had a successful day in the pool and after helping Houston to a first-place win in the opening event of the day earned a top finish in the 200 Freestyle. The sophomore touched the wall in 1:50.49. Samantha Medlin and Mykenzie Leehy rounded out the top-eight finishers in the event.
Laderoute added her name to the Houston record books once again after posting the ninth-best time in program history in the 100 Backstroke. The sophomore closed out the race in 56.16 for a first-place finish. Eleanna Koutsouveli earned a podium finish after finishing third in the event and was followed up by Katie Power in fourth-place and Kaley Hoffman in eighth.
Kondis continued to shine, finishing first in her signature event. The sophomore took top honors in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:03.34. Gaby Jimenez Peon and Angeliki Mavranzta rounded out the top-eight in the event.
Freshman Morgan Rosas led the charge for Houston in the sixth event of the afternoon, earning a third-place finish in the 200 Butterfly. Rosas finished the race in 2:04. 16, besting her seed time by over a second. Rebecca Brandt, Sharo Rodriguez, and Rebecca Cox each earned top-eight finishes in the event.
Cait Horner earned the Cougars highest finish in the 50 Freestyle after posting a time of 24.19 for sixth-place, followed by Leehy in seventh and Ksenia Yuskova in eighth.
Koutsouveli earned her second podium finish of the evening in the ninth event, the 200 IM. The junior touched the wall at 2:05.48 for a third place finish. Rosas, Jimenez Peon and Kondis rounded out the top-eight for Houston.
Horner, Laderoute, Brown and Yuskova closed out the day by teaming up for a second-place finish in the final event of the day. The group finished the 200 Medley Relay in a time of 1:35.15 to rack up 21 points for Houston.
Micaela Bouter had a successful day on the other side of the Natatorium, earning over 300 points in the 3-Meter Springboard event. The senior posted 325.95 points en route to a second-place finish. Katelyn Abernathy returned to action for the first time since November of last year and posted 249.38 points for sixth place, followed by Alexandra Gutierrez in seventh-place.
UP NEXT
Houston will return to action for the final day of competition with start time slated for 10 a.m.
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