Championship Central | Results
Indianapolis, Ind. – The Houston women swept Wednesday’s relay events, as the Cougars lead the way with 116 points through three scored events at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships held at the IUPIU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind.
UConn and SMU ended the day tied for second place with 106 points. The title meet continues tomorrow with prelims starting at 10 a.m. ET and finals beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
Houston repeated in the 800 freestyle relay with its team of Mykenzie Leehy, Samantha Medlin, Morgan Rosas and Zarena Brown earning the conference’s first trip to the top of the podium after clocking 7:11.17 for a season-best time in The American. Leehy, Medlin and Brown each swam as part of last year’s first-place 800 freestyle team. Tulane was the runner-up after its squad of Samantha Morton, Courtney Barker, Isabelle Pelka and Michelle Zelnick clocked 7:15.82. After finishing as the 2018 runner-up, UConn’s team of Ryan Dulaney, Megan Wenman, Madeline Blair and Jacklyn Van Lew clinched the third spot on the podium with its time of 7:17.72.
The championship meet began on the diving board with eight athletes clinching spots in the 1-meter finals. UConn’s Monica Marcello scored 297.80 to lead the field in the preliminary round with her top dive coming on her fifth attempt, performing a reverse 1 1/2 somersault pike to lead the field heading into the finals.
However, it was SMU’s Kathryn Crown who won the 1-meter title with her conference-record score of 309.45. She saved her best dive for last with her top score on a forward 2 1/2 somersault pike. Crown became the first Mustang to win the 1-meter after entering the field ranked 20th in The American in this event. Marcello placed second with her score of 298.15, while last year’s winner and Most Outstanding Diver, Claire Schuermann of Cincinnati, placed third with her score of 279.95.
The Cougars earned a second first-place relay finish, as Leehy used a strong turn on the anchor leg of the 200 medley relay to push ahead of SMU’s Gabriella Grobler. Houston’s team of Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Katie Higgins and Leehy clocked a time of 1:37.47, which was 0.15 seconds off from The American’s meet record. SMU, which won the past four 200 medley relay titles, placed second with Felicity Passon, Andrea Podmanikova, Erin Trahan and Grobler clocking 1:37.65. Tulane earned its second relay podium finish of the night after Wei Zhang, Katherine McDonald, Lena Hayakawa and Lillian Morgan finished third (1:40.59).
For complete coverage of the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, visit The American’s Championship Central page at
www.theamerican.org/swimdive and follow @American_Swim on Twitter.
Women’s Teams Scores
1. Houston – 116
2. UConn – 106
2. SMU – 106
4. Cincinnati – 77
5. Tulane – 69
6. ECU – 61
Championships Schedule:
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28
SESSION 2 – 10:00 A.M. (SWIMMING PRELIMS)
12:30 P.M. (DIVING PRELIMS)
SESSION 3 – 6:00 P.M. (FINALS)
Prelims – Men’s 1M Diving
Consols – Men’s 1M Diving
Women’s 500 Yard Freestyle
Men’s 500 Yard Freestyle
Women’s 200 Individual Medley
Men’s 200 Individual Medley
Women’s 50 Yard Freestyle
Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle
Finals – Men’s 1M Diving
Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay*
Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay*
FRIDAY, MARCH 1
SESSION 4 – 10:00 A.M. (SWIMMING PRELIMS)
12:30 P.M. (DIVING PRELIMS)
SESSION 5– 6:00 P.M. (FINALS)
Prelims – Women’s 3M Diving
Consols – Women’s 3M Diving
Women’s 400 Individual Medley
Men’s 400 Individual Medley
Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly
Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly
Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle
Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle
Women’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
Men’s 100 Yard Breaststroke
Women’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Men’s 100 Yard Backstroke
Finals – Women’s 3M Diving
Women’s 400 Yard Medley Relay*
Men’s 400 Yard Medley Relay*
SATURDAY, MARCH 2
SESSION 6 – 10:00 A.M. (SWIMMING PRELIMS)
12:30 P.M. (DIVING PRELIMS)
SESSION 7 – 5:00 P.M. (FINALS)
Prelims – Women’s Platform Diving
Prelims – Men’s Platform Diving
Women’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle^
Men’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle^
Finals – Women’s Platform Diving
Women’s 200 Yard Backstroke
Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke
Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle
Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle
Women’s 200 Yard Breaststroke
Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke
Women’s 200 Yard Butterfly
Men’s 200 Yard Butterfly
Finals – Men’s Platform Diving
Women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay*
Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay*
All times eastern