Oct. 17, 2006

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA swimming and diving action began last weekend with East Carolina, Houston, Marshall and Rice all opening their 2006-07 seasons. The Lady Pirates posted a 148-83 win over Davidson on Saturday, while Houston improved to 4-0 in dual meets with two wins over both New Mexico State and Northern Colorado. It is the first time in school history that UH won its first four dual meets to open a season. For only the second time in the program's short five-year history, Marshall began its season with back-to-back wins, sweeping Xavier and West Virginia Wesleyan Friday and Rice rounded out the action with a 161-116 win on the road over the University of Denver also on Friday.

EAST CAROLINA
The East Carolina women's swimming and diving team opened the 2006-07 dual meet season with a win over Davidson at Minges Aquatic Center on Saturday. The Lady Pirates posted a 148-83 win over the Wildcats.

Juniors Rebbeca Perry and Megan Pulaski, both Greenville natives, recorded a pair of first place finishes to pace the Lady Pirates. Perry touched first in the 50-yard (23.50) and 100-yard (51.48) freestyle, while Pulaski claimed first place in the 500-yard (5:06.09) and 1,000-yard (10:16.58) freestyle.

A trio of freshmen won their first collegiate races for the Lady Pirates. Rachel Blue won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:55.85, Jackie Jones won the 200 IM with a mark of 2:08.02 and Dana Gimbor posted the top score in the one-meter dive with score of 238.05 as ECU won 10 of 13 events.

ECU returns to competition on Saturday, Oct. 21, as it hosts College of Charleston beginning at 11 a.m. The women's swim team will also compete against Gardner-Webb in a tri-meet.

HOUSTON
Sophomore swimmers Sasha Schwendenwein and Andrea Pa'lmai each earned a pair of first-place finishes to help lead the University of Houston swimming and diving team to season-opening wins Friday evening at the New Mexico State Swimming and Diving Complex.

The Cougars (2-0) captured a 138-103 win over host New Mexico State and added a 146-96 win against Northern Colorado to win their first two dual meets of the season for the first time since 1984-85.

UH won six individual swimming events, the first relay of the day and swept the Top-Four places in both diving events to earn the wins.

Schwendenwein, a native of Randburg, South Africa, won the 200-yard freestyle with a clocking of 1:55.47 and claimed top honors in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:08.95.

In the 400-yard individual medley, Pa'lmai captured first place with a time of 4:36.27 and followed that with a first-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:08.05.

Senior captain Szintia Szanto won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:22.96 to finish nearly seven seconds ahead of her closest competitor and earned a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.04.

The Cougar diving team, which always ranks among the nation's best, was especially dominant in the wins. Anna Kiess won first place in the 3-meter diving with 290.00 points, while sophomore Anastasia Pozdniakova, the defending C-USA Freshman Diver of the Year, finished with 303.80 points on the 1-meter springboard.

The Cougars' 400-yard medley relay team of Pa'lmai, Szanto, Schwendenwein and Shamburger, started the day on a positive note, winning with a time of 3:57.75.

Szanto finished first in three individual events to lead the University of Houston swimming and diving team to a sweep of host New Mexico State and Northern Colorado for the second straight day at the NMSU Complex on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars (4-0) enjoyed a 160-148 win over the host Aggies and a 184-116 win over Northern Colorado in the 16-event meet schedule. On Friday, the Cougars enjoyed a 138-103 win over New Mexico State and a 146-96 win over Northern Colorado in a 13-event schedule.

With Saturday's wins, the Cougars improved to 4-0 in dual meets. It was the first time in school history that UH won its first four dual meets to open a season.

Szanto won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.54 and earned top honors in the 200-yard event with a time of 2:24.61. The Budapest, Hungary capped her day with another first-place showing in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.12, nearly nine seconds faster than her closest competitor.

Pa'lmai, a fellow Budapest native, won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:40.07 and claimed top honors in the 200-yard backstroke with a clocking of 2:07.82 to finish nearly five seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Pa'lmai also finished second in the 200-yard butterfly.

For the second straight day, the Cougar divers more than lived up to their national reputation as one of the best, sweeping the Top-Four place in both events.

Senior Anna Kiess won the 3-meter diving competition with 298.75 points. Sophomore Anastasia Pozdniakova, the defending Conference USA Freshman Diver of the Year, led the way on the 1-meter springboard, posting 300.55 points.

Junior newcomer Ginni van Katwijk, a transfer from Wyoming, finished second in both events.

The Cougars' 200-yard medley relay team of Shamburger, Szanto, Schwendenwein and Vaiana won with a time of 1:49.13, while the 200-yard freestyle relay finished second.

Houston return to action at 10 a.m., Oct. 28, when they play host to Conference USA rival SMU and Oregon State in a tri-meet at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium. Fans and media should note that the starting time for the Cougars' home opener was recently moved up to accommodate CSTV's broadcast of the Houston-UCF football game later that afternoon.

MARSHALL
For only the second time in the program's short five-year history, the Marshall Thundering Herd began its season with back-to-back wins, sweeping Xavier and West Virginia Wesleyan Friday. The Herd (2-0) showed no signs of a struggle, soundly defeating the Bobcats 163-23 and the Musketeers 119.5-107.5.

Marshall won the first eight women's events of the meet. Junior co-captains Ashley McIlvain and Renee Lambert posted victories in the 1000-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, respectively. McIlvain finished in 10:32.16, cruising to a 10-second victory, while Lambert won her discipline by nearly four seconds (1:55.82).

Senior Emily Edmonson was victorious in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.21.

West Virginia native Lauren Ford also posted a victory Friday. Ford's time of 2:12.83 gave her a win in the 200-yard IM, ahead of freshman teammate Karli Alsop who finished in 2:15.76.

Sophomore Kayla Truswell recorded a career-best time in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall at 2:07.04. Truswell's first-place finish bested her previous career-best time by more than six-tenths of a second.

On the boards, Siobhan Schuurman swept both the one- and three-meter diving events. Schuurman posted a score of 202.43 in the one-meter and 237.45 in the three-meter.

Marshall looks to improve upon its strong start with a pair of home meets. The Herd will host Youngstown State Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. The following weekend, the Herd hosts a quad meet, featuring West Virginia, Duquesne

RICE
Rice swimmers Brittany Massengale, Carlyann Miller, Erin Mattson and Pam Zelnick each won two events to pace the Owls to a 161-116 season-opening dual meet win on the road over the University of Denver Friday evening in Colorado.

The Blue & Gray won 11 of the meet's 13 races. In addition to the Owls' multi-winners, junior Jennifer Hill won the 200-yard individual medley while sophomore sprinter Diane Gu won the 50-freestyle. Gu, Miller, Skylar Craig and Andrea Hurn teamed to win the day's only relay, the 400-yard freestyle.

Massengale, a member of the United States national team over the summer, led a 1-2 Rice finish to sweep both distance events. The junior from Alma, Ark., coasted to a win in the mile with a time of 17:24.58 and was almost caught from behind by teammate Caitlin Warner in the 500.

Miller was sound and solid with wins in the 100-yard freestyle (52.35) and the 200-free (1:53.62) before swimming the lead leg on the winning relay. Gu was second in the 100-free and she led a 1-2 Rice finish with Craig in the 50.

Not to be outdone, the Rice freshmen tandem of Mattson and Zelnick posted a pair of wins in their collegiate debuts. Zelnick's 1:06.05 in the 100-breaststroke is the Parliament's best time in the event in the last two years. The Ohio native then won the 200 with a mark of (2:26.37). Mattson swept both the 100- and 200-butterfly.

Hill's victory in the 200-IM was dramatic, coming from behind in the final 50 yards to win by one-third of a second with a time of 2:10.00. Racing in the Mile High City brought a slight change to the Owls' approach to the meet, just the way head coach Seth Huston had instructed.

The Rice swimmers will remain in Colorado for the next three days while the University is on fall break to take advantage of some high-altitude training at the National Sports Center in Colorado Springs. The Owls' first home swim meet of the season is slated for Oct. 27 against Conference USA rival SMU.