Jan. 17, 2004

DENTON, Texas - Freshman Szintia Szanto earned a pair of first-place finishes, and the Cougar divers dominated as the University of Houston swimming and diving team claimed a 131-107 win at North Texas on Saturday at the Student Recreation Center.

UH took control of the meet early and eventually built up a 90-point lead midway through the meet before coasting the rest of the way.

With that win, the Cougars improved to 9-7 overall in dual meets this season and set a new UH single-season record in that category. UH's season win total topped the previous best of eight wins set during the 1999-00 season.

Szanto placed first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:11.46, more than six seconds ahead of her closest competitor. The Budapest, Hungary, native followed that with an even more dominating performance in the 200-yard butterfly as she placed first with a time of 2:08.89, nearly 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

The Cougars dominated the diving events with the top four competitors in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. Freshman Anna Kiess got the Cougars started on a positive note with a convincing win on the 1-meter board after racking up 273.15 points. She was followed by teammates Azul Almazan, Rachel Gitelson and Stephanie Mannella.

On the 3-meter board, Almazan and Kiess traded places as Almazan earned 271.95 points to take top honors in that event.

Senior co-captain Lucile Turpin finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:40.41, while junior Kristin Bay earned a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.25. In the 100-yard freestyle, freshman Haley Menard captured first place with a time of 54.78.

The Cougars 200-yard medley relay team of Brittney Dye, Tatjana Banjeglav, Amanda Rutter and Meagan Wien captured first place with a time of 1:57.55.

The Cougars will take a two-week break from competitive action before they close out the month at Arkansas with an 11 a.m. dual meet on Jan. 31.