Nov. 20, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - No. 10 SMU completed the final day of the Art Adamson Invitational at Texas A&M by earning automatic NCAA qualifications in two individual events and one relay. The Mustangs finished the invitational in third place with a final score of 841.5. In other action, East Carolina had more than 50 finals performances at the prestigious Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C., while Houston's divers performed well at the Houston Diving Invitational. Rice finished fourth overall with a final total of 727 points in the Nike Cup in Long Beach, Calif.

SWIMMER OF THE WEEK (11/20)
JENNIFER BLACKMAN - SMU
Sr., Dallas, Texas (Highland Park)
Blackman automatically qualified for the NCAA meet in two individual events and two relays this weekend at the Art Adamson Invitational hosted by Texas A&M. Blackman punched her first ticket in the 200 free, posting a career-best time of 1:46.32, good for second place. Her second individual qualifying time came in the 100 free as she touched the wall in a personal-best 49.19. She also swam the first leg of the 400 free relay to help the Mustangs earning another automatic qualification in 3:17.97. Blackman then swam the second leg of the 800 free relay, which finished in 7:09.79, almost a full second faster than the NCAA qualifying time.

DIVER OF THE WEEK (11/20)
CHRISTIE ICENHOWER - East Carolina
Sr., Lawrenceville, N.J. (Lawrenceville)
Icenhower took first in the 3-meter diving event at the prestigious Nike Cup with a score of 336.65. The senior from New Jersey broke her own ECU record with her winning score. Earlier this season, Icenhower qualified for the NCAA Regionals. The weekly award is the sixth of Icenhower's career, her second honor in 2007-08 (10/23).

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
N13 S- Michaela Sceli, Marshall
D- Siobahn Schuurman, Marshall
N20 S- Jennifer Blackman, SMU
D- Christie Icenhower, East Carolina

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.

C-USA SWIMMERS IN THE TOP 50
Check the above PDF for a look at where C-USA swimmers are ranked in the latest CollegeSwimming.com Top 50 times list. SMU currently leads C-USA with 10 individuals and five relays with Top 50 times.

C-USA RECAP
(Through Meets of Nov. 18)
EAST CAROLINA
East Carolina concluded fall semester competition over the weekend at the prestigious Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C. There were more than 50 finals performances by the Pirates during the event highlighted by senior Christie Icenhower's individual championship performance.

Icenhower took home first place honors in the three-meter diving events by setting a new ECU varsity record with a score of 336.65. Icenhower has qualified for the NCAA Zone Regional Championships for a third consecutive season.

The 200-yard free relay team of Rebecca Perry, Jenna Stewart, Amanda Duncan and Alli Miller set a varsity record at the event as well with a time of 1:34.69.

Perry has also made her NCAA `B' time in 100-yard freestyle over the weekend. She previously registered a `B' cut in the 50-yard freestyle earlier in the year against Towson.

East Carolina returns to dual meet competition against UMBC on January 19. The Pirates host their next dual meet at Minges Natatorium on January 26 against Duke.

HOUSTON
Houston senior Ginni van Katwijk was the only competitor to crack 300 points on the 1-meter springboard Thursday during the first day of the Houston Diving Invitational at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

van Katwijk posted 302.85 points during the finals to claim first place in the event. Earlier in the day, the Grootebroek, Netherlands, native set the pace with 269.90 points during the preliminaries.

van Katwijk was part of a Cougar contingent that finished 1-2-4 in the meet.

Freshman Courtney Forcucci scored 318.10 points to win the 3-meter championship Friday evening.

Forcucci, a native of Fort Mill, S.C., was the only diver to crack 300 points, and she reached that milestone in both the preliminaries and the finals. Her total was her second-highest mark, trailing only the 327.10 points she scored in the preliminaries earlier in the day.

For the second straight night, the Cougars earned three of the Top Four places.

van Katwijk earned 259.15 points to win the platform competition and help lead the Cougars to a sweep of the Top Three places during the final day.

MARSHALL
Marshall picked up its third win of the season beating Radford University 197.5-85.5 Nov. 7. On the night, the Herd won 13 of 16 events and set multiple new season bests

Diver Siobhan Schuurman broke the Marshall record and set a new lifetime best in the one-meter dive with a score of 280.72, which qualifies her for the NCAA Zone Championships. The Edmonton, Alberta native also finished first in the three-meter dive with another personal best score of 238.80. Both scores set Radford pool records.

Michaela Sceli turned in a strong time of 1:06.43 in the 100 breaststroke and also picked up a win in the 200-yard event, clocking in at 2:24.82.

Marshall won its home opener on Saturday 179-59 over Vanderbilt, while posting 47 season best times.

Sceli broke pool records in both the 200-yard and 100-yard breaststroke and her own school-record in the 100.

The Herd swimmers will return to action at the Miami Invitational hosted by Miami University on Nov. 29-Dec

RICE
Senior Brittany Massengale set a quick early pace and then added to her winning margin of victory on the way to taking first place in the 1,650-yard freestyle on the third and final day of competition at the prestigious Nike Cup Saturday evening at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif.

As a team Rice finished fourth overall with a final total of 727 points. The Owls managed to close the gap on third place with some strong showings in the distance and backstroke events and the foursome of Carlyann Miller, Keri Hyde, Pam Zelnick and Diane Gu took second place in the 400-freestyle relay and finished ahead of 38 other teams from 21 schools at the meet.

In Massengale's first time to race in the mile this season, the Alma, Ark., native posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:37.65 to win the rugged distance race over 60 other competitors entered in the event. Her time was just two seconds off her school record.

Not only did Massengale finish a convincing 30 seconds ahead of second place, she sparked a Rice charge in the event as Owl swimmers claimed three of the top nine spots and five of the top 23 places.

The team will next be in action at the West Florida Relays in Largo, Fla., on Dec. 29. The Owls' next dual meet is after New Year's.

SMU
No. 10 SMU completed the final day of the Art Adamson Invitational at Texas A&M by earning automatic NCAA qualifications in two individual events and one relay.

Anja Carman posted a time of 1:54.24 in the 200 back to earn her second automatic bid of the meet. Jennifer Blackman earned her second NCAA ticket by touching the wall in 49.19 in the 100 free. The 400 relay team of J. Blackman, Candace Blackman, Angela San Juan Cisneros and Petra Klosova also earned their automatic bid, stopping the clock at 3:17.97, good for second place.

The Mustangs also earned NCAA consideration in several individual events. In the 100 free, Klosova, C. Blackman, San Juan Cisneros and Sascha Van den Branden each earned consideration. Klosova finished third in the event, just over a half a second behind J. Blackman, stopping the clock at 49.57. C. Blackman took fourth in 49.78, while San Juan Cisneros finished seventh in 50.22. Freshman Van den Branden finished second in the "B Final" and 10th overall, stopping the clock at 50.54.

Devon Callaghan took third in the 200 breast, touching the wall in 2:16.49 and Jennifer Basel finished fifth in 2:18.02, both good for NCAA consideration.

In platform diving, SMU freshman Audra Egenolf finished second, tallying a final score of 257.60.

The Mustangs finished the Art Adamson Invitational ranked third with a final score of 841.5. Texas A&M finished first with 1,561 and Michigan came in second with 1,145.5.

SMU is back in action Nov. 29-Dec. 2 at the U.S. National Short Course Championships, while the diving team heads to Austin Nov. 29-Dec. 1 for the University of Texas Diving Invitational.