HOUSTON - In the second day of competition at the 2005 C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship and Men’s Invitational, Tulane women, in just their second-year as a school sponsored sport, have taken the lead with a team score of 246. The four-day event, held at Houston’s Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium, concluded its second day of events on Thursday. TCU’s women (234) stand in second place, followed by Louisville (186), Houston (169), East Carolina (166), Cincinnati (129), and Saint Louis (111). On the men's side, TCU jumped into first place with a commanding lead of 287 points, followed by Louisville (262.5), East Carolina (210.5), Cincinnati (206.5), and Saint Louis (130.5)

To start the finals on Thursday evening, Cincinnati’s Ann Degenstein, who was named to the C-USA Women’s Swimming and Diving All-Decade Team earlier in the week, captured the 500 freestyle title. Her time of 4:51.71 beat the previous championship record that she set in Indianapolis on Feb. 19, 2002. For the men’s 500 free, Adam Madarassy of Louisville posted a time of 4:26.92 to add 20 of the Cardinals 186 points.

Sophomore SziSzi Szanto of the Houston Cougars set a school record with a 2:04.47 time in the 200-yard individually medley, the first time in C-USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship history for a Cougar to garner an individual title. The mark was .008 seconds short of a NCAA B Qualifying time.

Cincinnati’s David Gustavsson could not pass his original C-USA championship time of 1:49.30, which was set last year, in the 200 IM as the sophomore posted a 1:49.96 first-place finish for the Bearcats.

In the 50-yard freestyle event, Tulane’s standout and meet record holder Linda McEachrane posted a 23.31 NCAA B time, just .03 behind this year’s champion Leann Cathcart (23.28) of TCU. Bearcats’ Ryan Yearwood tabbed the 50 free for the men with a finish of 20.33.

The meet host decided to show no mercy to the visiting participants as the Cougars women swept the 3-meter diving awards. 2004 C-USA Diver of the Year Azul Almazan collected her second consecutive even and earned her third C-USA diving championship title of her collegiate career. Teammate and sophomore Rachel Gitelson finished second in the event with 415.75 points, while junior Stephanie Mannella was a close third with 413.75.

To close the second day of competition, Green Wave women’s 400-yard medley relay hit a new C-USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship record with a time of 3:47.38. The team, consisting of Tiffany Brown, Linda McEachrane, Taylor Emerson and Sarah Dicharry, helped their squad earn its first relay championship title and lead Tulane into Friday’s events.

The meet continues Friday, starting with the preliminaries of the 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard backstroke. The preliminaries of the women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter competition is slated to begin at 1 p.m. (CST). The finals will resume at 6 p.m.

Women's Team Scores
1. Tulane (246)
2. TCU (234)
3. Louisville (186)
4. Houston (169)
5. East Carolina (166)
6. Cincinnati (129)
7. Saint Louis (111)

Men's Team Scores
1. TCU (287)
2. Louisville (262.50)
3. East Carolina (210.50)
4. Cincinnati (206.50)
5. Saint Louis (130.50)