Zarena Brown Leads Houston Past Tulane In 151.5-148.5 Win

Houston vs Tulane (Women Only)

• October 6th, 2018
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

1. Houston – 151.5
2. Tulane – 148.5

Tulane hosted Houston in a women’s dual on Saturday, October 6th, narrowly falling to the Cougars by just 3 poiunts despite winning 9 of 16 events. Depth was able to keep Houston on top despite losing the majority of the races. 1-2-3 finishes in the 100 fly and 500 free, as well as a handful of 2-3-4 finishes were able to boost Houston over Tulane in a down-to-the-wire finish.

Houston star Zarena Brown won the 100, 200 and 500 free, her usual events. Brown started her day with a 1:51.12 in the 200 free, coming in well off her best time of 1:44.89, but not super far off for an early season time. She then went on to take the 100 free in a 51.86, just under 3 seconds off her personal best of 49.09. She also split that race very tightly, going out in 25.31 and coming home in 26.55. Brown  also took the 500 in her 3rd individual event, touching in 5:03.12. She came in off her personal best of 4:44.13, but managed to hold off freshmen teammate Haley Benjamin (5:05.03). Brown capped off her day with a 51.42 anchor split on the winning 400 free relay.

Olivia Johnson (Tulane) claimed victory in the 1000 free and 400 IM. In the 1000, Johnson out-paced the field massively, finishing in 10:08.85. That time was pretty close to her career best of 10:01.49. Johnson then went on to win the 400 IM in a 4:19.04, beating the field by 6 seconds. That time comes in 7 seconds off her personal best of 4:11.98.

Houston claimed the top 3 spots in the 100 fly, with Katie Higgins leading the way (57.30, followed by Victoria Tillman (57.92), and Becca Brandt (58.73). Kate McDonald (Tulane) put up a pair of quick breast times. In the 100, McDonald swam a 1:03.38, splitting the race tightly (30.43/32.95). She then went 2:16.48 (31.96/35.42/34.83/34.27).

OTHER EVENT WINNERS:

• 100 back: Paris Zhang (Tulane) – 56.26
• 200 back: Jordan Morling (Tulane) – 2:02.53
• 200 fly: Jordan Morling (Tulane) – 2:05.04
• 50 free: JuJu Desforges (Tulane) – 24.25
• 1 meter diving: Jaylynn Whitt (Houston) – 257.33
• 3 meter diving: Claire Liptak (Houston) – 241.80

PRESS RELEASE – HOUSTON:

NEW ORLEANS – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team posted 26 top-three finishes and swept two events, Saturday morning at the Reily Student Recreation Center Natatorium for a 151-50 – 148.50 win over Tulane.

“We barely snuck out with the win today,” said Head Coach Ryan Wochomurka. “We opened the door early for Tulane and they took advantage. I’m proud of the toughness and grit we showed in battling back from a large deficit early. We have put our group through a very tough few weeks of training and it showed today, but we have a few more hard weeks ahead of us. This experience will pay dividends later in the season. Our focus continues to remain on February and March. We are playing the long game.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Houston posted 26 podium finishes for its first come-from-behind win of the season.
• The Cougars swept two events, the 500 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly.
• Zarena Brown posted three first-place finishes in the 100 Free (51.86), 200 Free (1:51.12) and the 500 Free (5:03.12).
• Gaby Jimenez had a stellar outing for the Cougars, leading Houston in three events; the 100 Breaststroke (1:03.38), 200 Breaststroke (2:21.64), and the 400 IM (4:30.54). Jimenez’s time in the 100 Breaststroke is the ninth-best in program history.
• Houston swept both diving events. Claire Liptak posted a personal-best of 241.80 points for first in the 3-Meter and posted a third-place finish in the 1-Meter with 233.40 points for her second lifetime-best of the day. Jaylynn Whitt won her first collegiate event with 233.40 points in the 1-Meter.
• Houston is now 12-0 against Tulane all-time.

HOUSTON PODIUM FINISHES

200 Medley
2. Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Katie Higgins, Kathryn Power – 1:46.13

1000-yard Free
2. Haley Benjamin – 10:24.76

200-yard Free
1. Zarena Brown – 1:51.12
3. Samantha Medlin – 1:53.29

100-yard Back
2. Laderoute – 57.71
3. Power – 58.45

100-yard Breast
2. Gaby Jimenez Peon – 1:05.33

200-yard Butterfly
2. Rebecca Brandt – 2:05.88
3. Morgan Rosas -2:07.91

50-yard Free
3. Leehy – 24.60

3-Meter
1. Claire Liptak – 241.80

100-yard Free
1. Brown – 51.86
2. Leehy – 52.59

200-yard Back
2. Monique Rae – 2:03.15
3. Laderoute – 2:03.91

200-yard Breast
3. Jimenez -2:21.64

500-yard Free
1. Brown -5:03.12
2. Benjamin – 5:05.03
3. Medlin – 5:05.06

100-yard Butterfly
1. Higgins – 57.30
2. Victoria Tillman – 57.92
3. Brandt – 58.73

1-Meter
1. Jaylynn Whitt – 257.33
3. Liptak – 233.40

4 x 100 Freestyle Relay
1. Leehy, Laderoute, Medlin, Brown – 3:29.01
3. Hanna Blewett, Power, Rachel Hicks, Kylie Andrews – 3:33.03

WHERE TO WATCH
All home meets will feature live results through the Meet Mobile App available in the Google Play store and the App Store.

UP NEXT
Houston will continue its season as it returns to Houston for a meet at Rice University on Oct 12-13, with the Houston Diving Invitational taking place at the CRWC also on Oct. 12-13.

PRESS RELEASE – TULANE:

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University women’s swimming and diving team dropped a hard-fought matchup with the University of Houston, falling 151.5-148.5 Saturday afternoon at the Reily Center.

Houston, which entered the season as the defeating American Athletic Conference Champions, trailed for a majority of the meet, as the Green Wave captured six of the first seven events, but the Cougars fought back to win six of the final nine events to claim the meet.

“The team did a phenomenal job of racing and that’s pretty much what the focus has been to this point,” head coach Leah Stancil said. “I could not be happier with their performances. A lot of the girls did a really good job of just getting their hands on the wall and being competitive today.”

Juniors Olivia Johnson and Jordan Morling and sophomore Kate McDonald led the way for the Green Wave, as all three captured a pair of individual victories.

Johnson won the 1,000 yard freestyle (10:08.85) and the 400 yard IM (4:19.04). McDonald’s winning times came in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:03.38) and the 200 yard breaststroke (2:16.48). Morling captured first in the 200 yard backstroke and the 200 yard butterfly.

“I was a little nervous going into today,” Johnson said. “I think we did an amazing job today. We really threw it down today both in the pool and on the deck and really supported each other. The ball is rolling for us and we have the momentum and we just have to keep training really hard.”

McDonald also teamed up with senior Paris Zhang, freshman Olivia French and sophomore Courtney Barker to win the 4×50 yard medley relay in a time of 1:44.71.

Tulane also received individual winning performances from Zhang and freshman JuJu Desforges in the 100 yard backstroke and the 50 yard freestyle (24.25), respectively.

Tulane returns to action on Oct. 19 at Dual-A-Pa-Looza in Denver Colorado.

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