Night 1 of Conference USA Championships Ends with Ties for First in Women’s and Men’s Scoring

C-USA Championships 2015

• Wednesday, February 18- Saturday, February 21
• Knoxville, TN- Allan Jones Aquatic Center
• Prelims/Finals Wednesday 2 PM (diving)/6 PM, Thursday-Saturday 10:30 AM/6 PM (Eastern Time Zone)
• Championship Central

Day 1 results

Women’s Session

Rice University took the first relay of the night to get off on the right foot in their quest to repeat as Conference USA Champions. They had a strong finish by tomorrow’s top seed in the 50 freestyle, senior Marissa Konicke (22.42). Konicke was well under her season best 50 flat start time of 23.06. Look for her to put on a show during her individual race tomorrow. Western Kentucky University had an explosive start by sophomore Nadine Laemmier (24.64), but it wasn’t enough in the end as they took second.

Western Kentucky University had the final say of the night as they won the 800 free relay by a slim .09 seconds. WKU and Florida International University jumped out to the early lead with both school’s leadoff swimmer going a 1:46. Senior Casey Clark was able to make up some ground with her 1:45.91, but it was only enough to claim the second place position. WKU and Rice University share the lead in the team scores after night one, but Florida International University isn’t far behind in third.

Men’s Session

The 200 medley relay showcased a tight race with only .71 separating first-third. Old Dominion University ended up on top (1:29.35) with Florida Atlantic University finishing as the runner-up. WKU suffered an unfortunate DQ in the first event of the meet. Later on that night Florida Atlantic University was able to avenge their loss from earlier and finished on top in the 800 free relay. They took the lead when senior Rich Andrews started off with a 1:37.13. This was the fastest time and over two seconds faster than the time Andrews is entered in for his individual swim later in the week.

Day one for the men also ended with a tie for the top position at 74 points. It will be interesting to see if Florida Atlantic University or Old Dominion can break away tomorrow, or if Western Kentucky can start to chip away at their 42 point lead.

Team Scores

Women
1. Western Kentucky University- 74
1. Rice University- 74
3. Florida International University- 64
4. Florida Atlantic University- 60
5. University of North Texas-54
6. Marshall University- 54

Men
1. Florida Atlantic University- 74
1. Old Dominion University- 74
3. Western Kentucky University- 32