The TCU women and East Carolina men lead after the first day of the 2005 Conference USA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship and Men’s Invitational at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

In just the second day of competition, the Horned Frog women atop the women’s leaderboard with 80 points, while Louisville is in second with 66 points. Tulane and East Carolina are currently tied for fourth with 62 points. The Houston Cougars stand in a tie with Cincinnati for fifth place with 54 points.

In the first event of the day, the Horned Frog relay, consisting of junior Leann Cathcart, sophomore Karen Sandifer, senior Aimee Moreau and sophomore Erica Tate, broke the previous records and claimed the conference championship in the 200-free relay when they finished in 1:33.01. The previous school and conference record was set last season at the C-USA meet when Erin Irons, Moreau, Cathcart and Tate touched the wall in 1:33.78.

In the next relay on the day, the Frogs smashed the previous school and C-USA records in the 800-free. Sophomore Rikki Covey, freshman Emily Duerringer, sophomore Tara Sullivan and Sandifer broke the school record by more than six seconds as they finished the race in 7:25.96. The previous school record, which was set last season, was 7:32.38, while the previous C-USA Championship record was held by the Bearcats’ women with a time of 7:30.24.

On the men’s side, East Carolina tallied 117 points to grab a five-point advantage over Louisville. TCU was third with 89 points with Cincinnati (79) and Saint Louis (71) rounding out the field.

Cincinnati’s team of Ryan Yearwood, David Gustavsson, Marcel Kleiner and Enrique Bayata won the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay with another meet record time of 1:20.58.

The 2005 C-USA Championship continues today as the full slate of swimming events begins with the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and 50-yard freestyle at 10 a.m. (CST).

Tickets for the meet are still available. Adult all-session tickets can be purchased for $25, while adult single-day tickets are $10.

Day One Results
CRWC Natatorium
Houston, Texas

WOMEN
1. TCU 80
2. Louisville 66
T3. Tulane 62
T3. East Carolina 62
T5. Houston 54
T5. Cincinnati 54
7. Saint Louis 60

MEN
1. East Carolina 117
2. Louisville 112
3. TCU 89
4. Cincinnati 79
5. Saint Louis 71