Championship Central | Results
Indianapolis, Ind. – The Houston women continued to lead through the second day of the 2019 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, registering 303 points through seven scored events. The Cougars won three titles on Thursday and claimed five podium finishes.
SMU moved into the sole second-place spot with 211 points, while Cincinnati finished Thursday’s action in third place with 194.5 points. Friday’s prelims begin at 10 a.m. ET with finals starting at 6 p.m. ET.
The second day of the title meet began with the 500 freestyle prelims, as Cincinnati and Houston each had four swimmers punch tickets to finals in a field of 16. Houston’s Zarena Brown repeated in the event, registering a season-best and B-Cut time of 4:45.58. Also recording an NCAA B Standard time was Tulane’s Olivia Johnson, who clocked 4:47.18 to finish in second place. UConn’s Ryan Delaney placed third with a personal-record time of 4:49.05. Cincinnati rounded-out the top five with last year’s fourth-place finisher Rocky Laabs reclaiming her spot and Katelyn Qualls placing fifth.
Houston and UConn each placed five athletes in the finals of the 200 IM. The top-five finishers in the title race each clocked B-Cut marks, as two Cougars earned podium finishes with Laura Laderoute moving up seven spots from last year’s championship meet to take home gold with her time of 1:59.20. The 2018 runner-up, Peyton Kondis of Houston, placed third (1:59.50). Tulane’s Michelle Zelnick finished second with her time of 1:59.34. SMU’s Andrea Podmanikova took fourth (1:59.79), and Tulane’s Katlyn McDonald placed fifth (1:59.86).
Last year’s runner-up in the 50 freestyle, SMU’s Erin Trahan, clocked 22.87 seconds for the fastest prelims time in the event. The Bearcats made their presence felt in the 50 free, placing five swimmers in the finals. Trahan then swam the sprint free in 22.53 to bring home gold. Houston’s Mykenzie Leehy also moved up a spot from the 2018 American Championships, finishing as this year’s runner-up with her time of 22.76 seconds. Cincinnati freshman Olivia Schmelzer earned her first podium finish, registering a time of 22.89 seconds to finish third. The Bearcats saw two other swimmers finish in the top eight.
Houston remained undefeated in the relays, capturing a third-straight relay title. The team of Brown, Laderoute, Kathryn Power and Leehy brought home the first 200 freestyle relay title for the Cougars. Houston finished with a time of 1:30.59. Brown and Leehy swam as part of Houston’s second place relay squad in last year’s meet. SMU’s team of Trahan, Felicity Passon, Samantha Smith and Podmanikova clocked 1:31.56 and placed second, while Tulane placed third with the team of Judith Desforges, Wei Zhang, Zelnick and Lillian Morgan swimming for a time of 1:32.23.
Women’s Teams Scores
1. Houston – 303
2. SMU – 211
3. Cincinnati – 194.5
4. UConn – 192.5
5. Tulane – 170
6. ECU – 119
Championships Schedule:
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