Arkansas vs Houston
- Friday, January 18th
- Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Short Course Yards
- Results
TEAM SCORES
- Arkansas – 193
- Houston – 107
Arkansas won 14 of 16 events in their decisive victory over Houston on Friday, January 18th. Peyton Palsha, Anna Hopkin, Vanessa Herrmann, and diver Brooke Schultz led the way for the Razorbacks, each picking up multiple individual wins.
Palsha won all 3 of her individual events, and in a fairly convincing manner at that. She kicked off her meet with a 10:12.70 to win the 1000 free by nearly 10 seconds. That was actually one of her slower times for a 1000 this season, largely due to her floating up from 30-point 50 splits in the first half of the race to 31s in the second half. Palsha then went on to win the 500 with a 4:57.71, winning the event by 4 seconds. Her final individual event was the 200 IM, where Palsha swam a 2:05.10 to beat teammate Vanessa Herrmann by just under a second (2:06.02).
Herrmann came in 2nd in the IM, but won both the breastsroke events. In the 100 breast, Herrmann scared her lifetime best of 1:02.22, swimming a 1:02.55. Impressively, Herrmann split 29.07 on the B medley relay, yet was out in her 100 breast in 29.61. In the 200 breast, Herrmann posted a 2:17.22 to win by a little over 2 seconds.
Anna Hopkin opted to swim the 200 free instead of her signature 50 free at this meet. In the 200, she swam a 1:49.25, taking 1st over Zarena Brown (1:50.41). She virtually even-split the race, swimming a 54.41/54.84. Then Hopkin took the 100 free, again over Brown, 49.16 to 51.18. Hopkin also provided a 21.90 anchor split on the Arkansas medley relay, and a 48.57 flying split on the 400 free relay.
Brooke Schultz, the defending NCAA champion in the 3 meter diving, broke both the 1m and 3m pool records at the meet, as well as the Arkansas School Record in the 1 meter. In the 3 meter, Schultz posted a score of 391.43, while she received a total score of 375.53 in the 1 meter.
PRESS RELEASE – ARKANSAS:
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.- Sophomore Brooke Schultz set the 3-meter (391.43) pool record and the 1-meter (375.53) school and pool records as the swimming and diving team defeated No. 25 Houston 193-107 Friday night.
This is the second time this season Schultz has broken a record, setting the 3-meter school record in October.
The Hogs got off to a solid start, winning the 200 yard medley relay before recording 13 more wins and 27 podium finishes. Sophomore Peyton Palsha earned three individual first-place finishes, while Vannessa Herrmann, Hopkin, and Schultz each recorded two.
The Razorbacks swept the podium in both springboard events, as Maha Amer finished second in the 1-meter (302.70) and Estilla Mosena finished third (273.53). In the 3-meter, Amer earned a second-place finish (344.93) and Mosena earned a third-place finish (312.08). Both divers recorded personal-bests in both springboard events.
Senior Marlena Pigliacampi set a season-best time of 2:01.08 in the 200 yard butterfly, winning the event in the first of her two podium finishes.
“It was a great way to finish off a hard week of focused training,” head coach Neil Harper said. “I thought the swimmers and divers performed really well. Houston was undefeated and ranked in the top-25, so for us the challenge was clear and we dominated the meet. Brooke’s record on the 3-meter proves she is turning up the level of diving at the right time of the year. I was also very happy with Peyton and Vanessa as they stepped up in key events to take the wins. It was a total team effort and a good sign that we are on track for big things.”
Arkansas will return to the pool Feb. 2 to host Kansas for the home finale. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with senior day activities prior to the first event.
PRESS RELEASE – HOUSTON:
HOUSTON – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team posted 21 podium finishes, including a pair of first-place finishes, falling short in a 193-107 loss to (rv) Arkansas Friday evening at HPER Natatorium.
“I’m very happy with our performance today,” said Head Coach Ryan Wochomurka. “We raced extremely hard on the road against a very good Arkansas, after a lay-off since November. I certainly hate losing, but the point total doesn’t tell the whole story of our performance today. We had multiple individuals put up season-best and lifetime-best performances. That is what we want to see five weeks out of conference championships. We have intentionally scheduled tough meets for this three-week stretch so we will be battle tested when it matters most during the last week of February”.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Cougars racked up 20 top-three finishes, including a pair of first place finishes in the 100 backstroke by Laura Laderoute (55.03) and Ioanna Sacha in the 200 backstroke (2:00.19).
- Sophomore transfer Ioanna Sacha made her Houston debut by posting the seventh-fastest time in program history in the 200 backstroke. The Cougars swept the event with Laderoute finishing second (2:01.65) and Monique Rae in third (2:02.22).
- Houston closed out the meet with second and third-place finishes in the 400 Freestyle Relay, as well as a second-place finish in the opening event of the day, the 200 Medley Relay.
- Several Cougars posted lifetime best, including Shayla Erickson who finished third in the 1000 Freestyle at 10:21.46.
- On the boards Katie Deininger led the Cougars in the 1-Meter, finishing in fourth-place with 261.83 points. In the 3-Meter Makayla Wallar led Houston with a fifth-place finish with 278.85 points.
HOUSTON PODIUM FINISHES
200 Medley Relay
2. Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Katie Higgins, Mykenzie Leehy – 1:42.38
1000 Freestyle
3. Shayla Erickson – 10:21.46
200 Freestyle
2. Zarena Brown – 1:50.41
100 Backstroke
1. Laura Laderoute – 55.03
2. Ioanna Sacha – 56.23
100 Breaststroke
2. Peyton Kondis – 1:03.31
3. Gaby Jimenez – 1:04.14
200 Butterfly
Rebecca Brandt – 2:03.80
Morgan Rosas – 2:05.72
50 Freestyle
2. Zarena Brown – 22.96
3. Mykenzie Leehy – 24.10
100 Freestyle
Zarena Brown – 51.18
200 Backstroke
1. Ioanna Sacha – 2:00.19
2. Laura Laderoute – 2:01.65
3. Monique Rae – 2:02.22
200 Breaststroke
2. Gaby Jimenez – 2:19.53
500 Freestyle
Samantha Medlin – 5:01.77
100 Butterfly
Katie Higgins – 57.06
200 IM
3. Eleanna Koutsouveli – 2:06.08
400 Freestyle Relay
2. Mykenzie Leehy, Laura Laderoute, Zarena Brown, Kylie Andrews – 3:26.33
3. Julie Gibson, Katie Power, Rachel Hicks, Samantha Medlin
UP NEXT
Houston will continue its tour of the SEC when its faces No. 11 Texas A&M and Vanderbilt on Jan. 26 in College Station, before heading to Baton Rouge to face LSU and Rice on Feb. 1-2.