SMU will honor Mustang swimming and diving programs, past and present, at the SMU football game against Houston on Saturday at Ford Stadium. Both the 1995-96 and 2015-16 teams will be honored as part of the athletics department recognition of the rich tradition of the program.
The 1995-96 team will be honored through the Lettermen’s Reunion. The team earned runner-up honors at the 1996 NCAA Championship giving the team its seventh consecutive top 10 finish under head coach Steve Collins. Collins was named the NCAA Coach of the Year for the second time at the conclusion of the Championships, while nine individuals and five relays garnered All-America honors.
Courtesy of SMU Athletics
Individually, Martina Moravcova won a pair of National Championships in the 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay. Joining Moravcova on the relay were Lia Oberstar, Katie McClelland and Berit Puggaard. All-Americans included Moravcova, Oberstar, McClelland and Puggaard, as well as Sandra Cam, Alex Hanel, Jenny Lingamfelter, Laura Reback and Collin Sherman. Ellen Elzerman and Marieke Mastebroek joined the list as relay participants.
The Mustangs finished that season with a 5-2 record and a runner-up finish at the Southwest Conference Championships. The second-place performance at the NCAA Championships stands as the highest finish by a women’s swimming and diving team at SMU.
The team will also be honored at the Lettermen’s Dinner on Friday.
The 2015-16 Mustangs won the program’s second consecutive championships for a total of 17 in the last 20 seasons, and two in the American Athletic Conference’s three-year existence. In all, the Mustangs earned five individual championships, and swept the event’s five relays.
Marne Erasmus (butterfly) and Kirsty McLauchlan (individual medley) swept their individual specialties to pick up two accolades each, while Tara-Lynn Nicholas and Vicky Cunningham also earned two apiece. In their first championship with the Mustangs, Anna Cheesbrough, Hannah Rogers and Maddie Hoch were each honored once.
In addition to Cunningham, Erasmus, Hoch, Nicholas and Rogers, who were honored as a part of at least two champion relays, Adrienn Santa, Ursa Bezan, Tiffany Sudarma and Anna Volchkov were included in the relay accolades.
Visit SMUMustangs.com/tickets or call 214.768.GAME(4263) for tickets to the game, and email [email protected] or call214.768.4000 to RSVP if you are a swimming and diving alum wishing to participate in the festivities.
Courtesy of SMU Athletics