Nov. 8, 2006

IRVING, Texas - East Carolina, Houston, Marshall and Rice all participated in Conference USA swimming and diving events last weekend. ECU improved to 7-1 with quad-meet wins over Duquesne and league foe Marshall, while falling to West Virginia. The Thundering Herd fell to both East Carolina and West Virginia, but knocked off Duquesne. Houston and Rice both participated in Phill Hansel Duals at the CRWC Natatorium in Houston. Houston downed Rice for the first time since 1992, while the teams both defeated Mesa State, Trinity and New Orleans and fell to Nevada.

EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina improved its overall team record Saturday in a quad-meet with Duquesne, Marshall and West Virginia.

The Lady Pirates improved to 7-1 with wins over Duquesne (231-63) and Marshall (212-88), while suffering its first setback of the season to the Mountaineers (140.5-159.5).

Junior diver Christie Icenhower continued her outstanding season she swept both of the diving events. Icenhower claimed first place scores on the one-meter and three-meter boards.

Four members of the Lady Pirates won individual events led by a pair of Greenville natives, Rebecca Perry and Megan Pulaski.

Pulaski won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:10.89, nearly two seconds better than second place finisher Lindsey Largo of West Virginia.

Perry claimed her first non-50 or 100-yard freestyle victory of the season, winning the 200-yardfreestyle with a time of 1:51.09.

Senior Kate Gordon posted the Lady Pirates' third top finish of the meet, winning the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 0:56.90, 0:00.22 better than WVU's Taylor Stallings.

Freshman Jacquelynn Jones turned in another first place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:07.76.

ECU returns to competition November 16-18 at the prestigious Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C.

HOUSTON
Sophomore diver Anastasia Pozdniakova and sophomore swimmer Andrea Pa'lmai each posted first-place finishes to Houston Friday evening during the first day of the Phill Hansel Duals Weekend at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

In the six-team, two-day, 19-event meet, the Cougars grabbed big leads over Mesa State (155-21), Trinity (147.50-35.50) and New Orleans (134-49) but were trailing Conference USA rival Rice (93-90) and Nevada (109-77).

Pa'lmai captured first place in the 1,0000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:07.44, the fifth-fastest time in school history. Pozdniakova, the defending C-USA Freshman Diver of the Year and the reigning C-USA Diver of the Week, enjoyed a first-place showing with 377.55 points on the 3-meter springboard, more than 80 points ahead of her closest competitor.

Pa'lmai collected wins in the 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard individual medley to lead the University of Houston swimming and diving team during the second day of the Phill Hansel Duals Weekend at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

The Cougars rallied on the final day of the 19-event, six-team meet to win four of five dual meets. The Cougars posted wins over Conference USA rival Rice (176-171), Mesa State (297-37), Trinity (281.50-66.50) and New Orleans (262-85) with only a loss to Nevada (203-150).

It was the Cougars' first win over Rice since a 147-118 decision to open the dual-meet season on Oct. 16, 1992.

With four dual meet wins this weekend, the Cougars also improved to 9-2 overall. That total tied the UH single-season record for dual-meet wins, equaling the mark set by the 2005-06 and the 2003-04 teams.

Pa'lmai finished first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.72, more than two seconds ahead of her closest competitor. The Budapest, Hungary, native added a similar finish in the 400-yard individual medley with a clocking of 4:27.57.

Senior captain Szintia Szanto finished first in the 200-yard butterfly with a clocking of 2:02.61, nearly a second faster than her closest competitor. The Budapest

Pozdniakova, the reigning C-USA Freshman Diver of the Year, won the 1-meter competition with 336.90 points. The winner of the 3-meter event on Friday, the Elektrostal, Russia, native was the only diver to crack 300 points in either event.

Sophomore Sasha Schwendenwein captured first place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:59.04.

The Cougars' 400-yard medley relay team of Pa'lmai, Szanto, Lauren VanCleave and Jessica Shamburger finished second with a time of 3:55.51.

This weekend's meet was named in honor of former UH swimming and diving head coach Phill Hansel. Hansel, considered the Father of Cougar Swimming and Diving, led the Cougars from 1975 to 1996, racking up 70 dual-meet victories, a school record that still stands.

Hansel, a 1949 graduate of Purdue, was named the Southwest Conference Coach of the Year three times during his tenure, and mentored 31 swimmers to All-America honors, including Diane Johannigman, the first NCAA swimming national champion in UH history.

Hansel also had an impressive resume at the international level, serving as the manager of the 1992 U.S. Olympics teams and working with the Singapore teams at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

The Cougar Diving team returns to action when they compete at the Art Adamson Invitational next weekend in College Station, Texas. The Swimming team returns to the competitive waters at the Miami (Ohio) Invitational on Nov. 30-Dec. 2 in Oxford, Ohio.

The Cougars won't return to the friendly waters of the CRWC Natatorium until Jan. 12-13 when they play host to North Texas, New Mexico State and Florida International in a two-day meet.

MARSHALL
Despite setting several new season and career bests, the Marshall Thundering Herd was only able to knock off Duquesne, while falling to West Virginia and East Carolina Saturday at the Frederick A. Fitch Natatorium.

The Herd (4-2) ran its all-time record to 3-0 against the Dukes (2-3) with a 187-101 win. ECU (7-1) defeated the Herd 212-88, while WVU (3-2) notched its first victories of the season. The Mountaineers upended Marshall 208-92.

Freshman Briana Burns registered one of the Herd's two individual victories Saturday, winning the 100-yard freestyle in a season-best time of 50.93. Junior school record-holder Michaela Sceli was victorious in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.67. Sceli later finished fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke, clocking in at 2:25.29.

Fellow freshman Karli Alsop finished third with a season-best time of 53.88. Alsop also set a season-best in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 2:00.43.

Junior co-captain Ashley McIlvain recorded a new season-best in the 1000-yard freestyle after her third-place performance (10:30.41). Co-captain Renee Lambert finished fifth in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 5:11.46, followed by McIlvain in sixth (5:11.48).

Lauren Ford recorded a season- and career-best time of 2:13.00 in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing seventh.

Freshman Julia Petzka finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke in a season-best time of 1:00.54, followed by teammate Erin Kennedy in sixth place (1:00.86).

On the boards, sophomore Siobhan Schuurman finished second in both the one- and three-meter events. In the one-meter boards, Schuurman set a season-best score of 227.75.

The Herd's 200-yard medley relay tandem of Petza, Sceli, Lambert and Kristin Wheatley finished sixth with a time of 1:52.51. Marshall's 200-yard freestyle relay of Burns, Lambert, McIlvain and Kyla Jungclaus also finished sixth (1:42.37).

The Marshall Thundering Herd will return to action in two weeks when it participates at the Western Kentucky Invitational Nov. 17-19 in Bowling Green, Ky.

RICE
The Rice sophomore tandem of Carlyann Miller and Diane Gu both won a pair of individual sprints before combining to lead the Owls' swim team to a convincing win in the 400-freestyle relay on the first day of competition of the Phill Hansel Duals Weekend Friday evening at the University of Houston Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

Gu and Miller paced a Rice contingent that leads four opponents and trails one in the team scoring through the halfway point (10 events) of the two-day multi-dual meet. The Owls lead crosstown rival and meet host Houston 93-90, as well as Trinity (142 to 38), New Orleans (140 to 27) and Mesa State (142-20) in the event's unique scoring format. Rice trails former Western Athletic Conference rival Nevada 100-83 heading into Saturday's action.

Miller came from behind in the final 50 yards to win the 200-freestyle with a season-best time of 1:50.95. Miller's winning time was just one-tenth of second off her career-best mark in the event that she set in the same pool last spring at the Conference USA championships.

Five events later Gu and Miller led a 1-2 Rice finish, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle. Gu won the event over a field of 22 other competitors with a season-best time of 23.91. It was just enough to edge her teammate as Miller touched-in with a career-best time of 23.93 for very close second place.

With the team's top two sprinters in gear, the Owls coasted to an easy win in the 4x100 freestyle relay with a season-best 3:28.41. Freshmen Erin Mattson and Pam Zelnick swam the relay's leadoff and third leg, respectively. Miller was the second leg and Gu was the anchor.

Rice swimmers posted a total of 20 new season-best times. Junior Brittany Massengale and sophomore Caitlin Warner were second and third in the 1,000-freestyle. Massengale in fact notched a season-best in the 1,000 (10:10.14) then came right back and took third in the very next event with a 1:54.14 in the 200-freestyle. Freshman Justine Lin finished third in the 100-backstroke (59.03) as did Zelnick in the 200-breaststroke (2:23.33). Junior Jennifer Hill placed third in the 200-individual medley (2:08.80).

The Owls' registered a solid 1:46.66 to take second in the 200-medley relay. The Blue & Gray needed as many high finishes as it could get because the team knew going in that it didn't have any entrants, and thus a chance to earn any points at all, in either of the meet's two diving events.

Gu led a 1-2 Rice finish in the 100-yard freestyle then came back to swim the anchor leg on Owls' winning 200-free relay on the final day of competition of the Phill Hansel Duals Weekend Saturday morning at the University of Houston Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

Rice won three of the event's five simultaneous dual meets, defeating the University of New Orleans 264-51, Trinity 268-74 and Mesa State 268-36. The Owls dropped two dual meets, falling to former Western Athletic Conference foe Nevada 191-156 and crosstown rival Houston by a score of 176-171.

Gu followed Friday's convincing win in the 50-free with an equally impressive victory in the 100 Saturday. The standout from Orlando, Fla., posted a season-best time of 51.81 to claim the event over a field of 23 competitors. Sophomore Miller took second with a season-best 52.03, giving the Gu-Miller duo a matching 1-2 finish like they had the day before in the 50. The tandem came back two events later to help lead the Owls, along with sophomore Skylar Craig and senior Andrea Hurn, to a win in the 200-free relay. The foursome clocked a 1:35.31 in their first 4x50 of the year.

The Owls had two other second place finishes on the day with four thirds. Massengale went 5:00.02 for second in the rugged 500-freestyle while Warner was third with a season-best 5:01.47. Though normally a sprinter, Miller showed some versatility by taking fifth in the 500 with time of 5:05.90.

In the 200-backstroke Lin finished second with a Rice-best 2:04.93 while Craig was third (2:06.66) in her first attempt at the distance this season. Hill was fifth in the 200-back (2:08.06) and then returned to finish third in the 400-individual medley (4:35.06).

The team's 400-medley relay had a solid butterfly leg from Mattson and a great closing freestyle from Gu on the anchor, but the Blue & Gray took third behind Nevada and Houston with a 3:56.40.

The Rice swimmers will next be in action at the Indiana University Invitational on Nov. 17-19 in Bloomington, Ind. The meet hosted by the nationally-ranked Hoosiers in one of the country's top multi-team events in the fall season.