Nov. 6, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - East Carolina turned in a dominating performance Tuesday night as they won a dual meet from arch-rival UNC Wilmington. The team remained perfect with a 179.5-114.5 victory to improve to 5-0 on the season. In other action, Houston returned to winning ways on a weekend road trip through Florida. UH fell at Miami (Fla.) but rebounded the next day to sweep host Florida International and Indian River Community College.

SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (11/6)
SASHA SCHWENDENWEIN - Houston
Jr., Randburg, South Africa (Crawford College)
Schwendenwein helped lead the Cougars to a 2-1 week during a road trip through Florida. The junior won two events during each meet, marking the third consecutive meet in which she won at least one individual event. At Miami (Fla.) she won the 200-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle and finished second in the 100-yard backstroke. At Houston's tri-meet with FIU and Indian River CC, she won back-to-back events to help lead the Cougars to the tri-meet sweep. The weekly award is the second of Schwendenwein's career

DIVER OF THE WEEK (11/6)
COURTNEY FORCUCCI - Houston
Fr., Fort Mill, S.C. (Fort Mill)
Forcucci was integral in helping the Cougars to a 2-1 weekend. She won at least one event during each meet and was the only diver to crack 300 points in both meets. Against Miami (Fla.) the freshman won the 3-meter event and finished third on the 1-meter board. At the tri-meet with FIU and Indian River CC, she helped lead the Cougars to a sweep of the top three places while winning both events.

2007-08 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
O9 S- Angela San Juan Cisneros, SMU
O16 S- Brittany Massengale, Rice
O23 S- Amanda Duncan, East Carolina
D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina
O29 S- Anja Carman, SMU
D- Audra Egenolf, SMU
N6 S- Sasha Schwendenwein, Houston
D- Courtney Forcucci, Houston

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Conference USA will name a Swimmer and Diver of the Week throughout the regular season. The Athlete of the Week awards are selected by the media relations department and announced every Tuesday throughout the season.

2007-08 C-USA TOP TIMES
For a list of the top C-USA Women's Swimming and Diving times/scores, please go to: https://secure.sportssystems.com/ScoreReporting/cusa/sportID/1/g/w

2008 C-USA SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2008 C-USA Women's Swimming & Diving Championship and Men's Invitational is slated for February 27-March 1 in Houston, Texas. The four-day event will be hosted by Houston at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. All five C-USA women's swimming and diving programs will participate in the championship, while East Carolina, SMU and Hawai'i will participate in the men's invitational.

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina turned in a dominating performance Tuesday night as they won a dual meet from arch-rival UNC Wilmington. The team remained perfect with a 179.5-114.5 victory to improve to 5-0 on the season. Senior Rebecca Perry and freshman Stephanie Harper each registered multi-event wins. Perry took home first place honors in the 50-yard freestyle (23.73) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:05.69). Harper swept the women's breaststroke events, winning both the 100 (1:05.49) and 200 (2:25.11)-yard races. Senior Christie Icenhower won both diving events posting a score of 249.08 on the one-meter board and 261.45 on the three-meter board. Other first place finishers on the women's side included: Rachel Blue (200 free), Jenna Stewart (100 free), and Jackie Jones (200 IM). ECU returns to dual meet action on Saturday, November 10 at College of Charleston.

HOUSTON
The Cougars returned to winning ways on a weekend road trip through Florida. UH fell at Miami (Fla.) but rebounded the next day to sweep host Florida International and Indian River Community College - the 30-time defending NJCAA national champion. Senior diving captain Ginni van Katwijk and freshman Lacey Truelove helped lead the Cougars to a sweep of the top three places during a sweep of Florida International and Indian River Community College on Saturday. van Katwijk, a 2007 NCAA All-America honoree and the C-USA Co-Newcomer of the Year, finished second in both events, while Truelove earned third-place finishes. Junior Andrea Pa'lmai was another steady performer for the Cougars in the water. The Budapest, Hungary, native won two events in back-to-back meets. She captured first place in the 1,00-yard freestyle (10:16.68) to finish more than 10 seconds ahead of her closest competitor and won the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.26) at Miami (Fla.). Then Pa'lmai won the 200-yard freestyle (2:09.16) and the 100-yard butterfly (58.41) against FIU and Indian River CC. Houston will take a couple of weeks off before the divers return to action Nov. 15-17 during the Houston Diving Invitational at UH's own Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium. Swimmers won't compete again until Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the Miami (Ohio) Invitational.

MARSHALL
Despite falling to 174-121 to polished WVU squad, the Marshall swimming and diving team made strides Saturday. Marshall took first, second third and fourth in the 200-yard IM. Lauren Goodwin brought home the win, clocking in at 2:11.37. The Herd also took the top three spots in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Michaela Sceli turned in a time of 1:05.62 to win the 100-yard breaststroke. Erin Hill and Ally Melinsky finished third and fourth in the event respectively. Diver Siobhan Schuurman came up with a personal-best performance in the three-meter event, earning a score of 246.45. Shuurman also won the one-meter with a score of 239.17. Marshall's swimmers will look to continue their improvement next week as they travel to Radford on Wednesday.

RICE
Senior Brittany Massengale and freshman Sarah Korellis finished first and second, respectively, in the individual standings to pace Rice to the team title of the 2007 Open Water Swimming Collegiate National Championships Saturday (Nov. 3) at Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. Led by Massengale's winning time of 55:09 for the 5,000-meter race in the main basin of Lake Travis, the Owls claimed five of the top nine spots to win the American Swimming Association's first-ever Open Water Collegiate National Championship. Rice finished with a team total of 43 points, a comfortable margin ahead of national runner-up the University of New Mexico (22 points). Massengale has already made a name for herself as an open water swimmer. The native of Alma, Ark., was a member of the United States national team in an international open water event in the summer of 2006. She also competed in the 2007 national team trials last month in Florida. Massengale won the 5K ahead of Korellis, who registered a time of 55:42. Fellow Rice freshman Karen Gerken was fourth while junior Carlyann Miller was sixth and Kait Chura was ninth. Rice returns to competition Nov. 15-17 at the Speedo Cup in Irvine, Calif.