A 1-2-3 finish on the 3 meter and some depth in the swimming has catapulted the home team from University of Houston to the top spot at the C-USA Championships. On the men’s side, Western Kentucky came into the 2nd day in 4th place but has climbed within striking distance of the leaders from SMU.
The Lady Mustangs of SMU battled back from a disappointing DQ in the 200 medley relay on night one, to win 3 out of the 4 swimming events on night 2. It started in the Women’s 500 Freestyle where SMU Junior, Nina Rangelova dominated from start to finish and stopped the clock at 4:44.97. Last night Rangelova lead off a victorious 800 freestyle relay with the fastest split of anyone of 1:45.75. She’ll be the favorite in the 200 freestyle tomorrow and with what she’s shown so far it’ll be tough to bet against her in that one. Heather Winn of Houston dropped under 4:50 for the first time with a monster swim to take second place in 4:47.39. Here teammate Lizzy Justice took 4th in the final with a 4:53.65, providing the depth points that the Cougars are counting on to hold their lead in the team race.
On the men’s side, the big move by Western Kentucky was sparked by a meet record from a freshman in the Men’s 500 Freestyle. Aymeric Le Corno nearly even split the race, finishing like a freight train to make up a second and a half deficit at the halfway mark on SMU Junior Matt Roney. Le Corno finished with a new meet record of 4:20.95, going out in his first 200 in 1:43.13 and closing on his last 200 in 1:44.82 (his last 100 was :51.48). Roney finished 2nd with a 4:23.02, and WKU Senior Adam Dajka completed an opening 1-3 punch for the Hilltoppers with a 4:24.41.
The Rice Owls had the lead coming into day number two and despite the fact that they were unable to maintain that lead in the team race, they remain in contention for the team title. Their 1-2 finish in the Women’s 200 IM is a big reason why. Senior Kylee Talwar rode a swift opening butterfly split of :26.1 to an evenly swum winning time of 2:00.13. Her junior teammate Michele Gean had the fastest back (:30.1) and free (:28.0) splits in the field and touched second with a 2:00.86. Rachel Nicol finished 3rd with a 2:01.64 for SMU. The Mustangs also scored 4 girls in the B final.
Western Kentucky continued their hot hand with a 2nd consecutive event win in the Men’s 200 IM, and they made it a 1-2 punch to follow up their 1-3 move in the 500. Sophomore Seth Musser set a Hilltoper school record with a 1:47.81 in route to victory. His senior teammate Billy Kunkel touched 2nd with a 1:47.96, just .01 in front a Nicolai Hansen of SMU who came charging on the back half with the fastest breast split in the field of :30.90 but had to settle for third with a time of 1:47.97.
In the Women’s 50 Freestyle the Lady Mustangs of SMU showed signs of the dominance that many expected this meet with a 1-2-3 finish. Sophomore Isabella Arcila lead the way in a new meet record of :22.33. Her teammate and classmate Nathalie Lindborg dipped under :23 for the first time this season with a :22.70 and junior Monika Babok completed the trifecta with a :22.89. This result pushed the Mustangs into 2nd place before the University of Houston answered with 1-2-3 of their own on the 3 meter.
Mindaugas Sadauskas put a stop to WKU’s event win streak in the Men’s 50 Freestyle. The SMU sprinting stallion clocked a 19.78, a bit off his 19.67 from prelims, to take the win over WKU’s Heitor Rodrigues who touched 2nd with a :19.92. SMU’s Ramon Melo, a transfer from Missouri, was the only other man under :20 with a :19.98.
After SMU’s 1-2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle it was no surprise to see Arcila, Lindborg and Babok, plus 500 free champ Nina Rangelova, dominate in the Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay. The Mustangs took the win by nearly 3 seconds in a new meet record of 1:28.94. Rice finished 2nd with a 1:31.83 and Houston touched third in 1:32.24. Flip those results around and you have the order of the overall team race going into day 3.
The Men from SMU are now 3 for 3 in the relays after they finished off night number 2 with a new meet record of 1:18.21 in the Men’s 200 Free Relay. Western Kentucky touched 2nd with a 1:20.08 and sit just 14 points back of the Mustangs in the overall team race.
Men’s Team Scores:
SMU 329
WKU 315
ECU 215
FAU 166
Women’s Team Scores:
UH 248.5
Rice 228
SMU 222.5
ECU 198
Tulane 132
Marshall 114