Championship Central | Results | Photos
Indianapolis, Ind. – The Houston women had nine podium finishes and took home three event titles on the third day of the 2019 American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, as the Cougars stayed in the lead through Friday’s seven events with 624 points. Houston will look to win its third-straight American title Saturday with prelims beginning at 10 a.m. ET and the finals starting a 5 p.m. ET at the IUPUI Natatorium.
SMU won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, earning five podium finishes Saturday to hold on to its second-place spot with 406 points. Cincinnati remained in third place heading into the final day of competition with 379.5 points.
The final field of the women’s 400 IM featured five Houston swimmers, but it was Tulane’s Olivia Johnson and Jordan Morling who clinched the top-two spots on the podium. Johnson took home the first title for the Green Wave with her B-Cut time of 4:10.58 in the finals, while Morling placed second with her time of 4:15.53. Houston’s Maria Jimenez Peon took bronze (4:17.56), while Teammate Eleanna Koutsouveli finished fourth (4:19.16). Johnson and Koutsouveli finished second and third place, respectively, in 2018.
The American’s reigning 100 butterfly champion, Erin Trahan of SMU, registered a personal-best B-Cut time of 52.25 seconds in the prelims to lead the field of 16 into the finals. She carried the momentum into the championship round, shaving 0.33 seconds off her personal record for B-Cut time of 51.92 seconds. Cincinnati’s Anhelina Kutsko (53.00 seconds) and Felicity Passon (53.29 seconds) also picked up All-Conference honors, finishing second and third, respectively for B-Cut times. Four UConn swimmers made it to the title race.
Houston clocked three of the top-five prelim times in the 200 freestyle with Zarena Brown (1:46.82), Mykenzie Leehy (1:48.15) and Sam Medlin (1:49.49) each returning to the finals. The three Cougars finished in the top five of the finals a year ago with Brown taking home the gold and Leehy finishing third. Brown’s prelim time was good for meeting the NCAA B Standard criteria.
Brown finished first place in the 200 free title race, picking up the sixth title for Houston with her season-best B-Cut time of 1:45.20. Leehy moved up a spot on the podium, finishing as this year’s runner-up (1:47.13), while Cincinnati’s Rocky Laabs improved from a sixth-place finish a year ago to earn All-Conference status in third place (1:47.99).
The finals of the 100 breaststroke featured the top-four finishers from the 2018 conference meet. SMU’s Andrea Podmanikova, last year’s runner-up, swam against two-time American champion, Peyton Kondis of Houston, in the second heat, touching the wall 0.03 faster than Kondis (59.81 seconds) to take home gold this year. Houston’s Maria Jimenez Peon earned her second trip to the podium of the night in third place (1:00.83). The top five finishers each swam under the NCAA B Standard criteria.
Houston and SMU both saw four of their swimmers move on to the 100 backstroke finals. The title race featured two of last year’s podium finishers in Houston’s Laura Laderoute (runner-up) and Tulane’s Wei Zhang (third place). Laderoute medaled again in the finals, earning gold to become the second Cougar in three years to take home the title after clocking 53.21 seconds. SMU’s Felicity Passon finished second place (53.52 seconds), while Zhang retained her All-Conference status in this event in third place (53.94 seconds). The top three finishers each met the NCAA B-Cut standards. Houston rounded-out the top five with Ioanna Power Sacha and Kathryn Power finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
UConn’s Monica Marcello registered a big meet record in the three-meter dive, scoring 349.20 for the highest score in American history. Last year’s champion, Lauren Burrell of Houston finished as this year’s runner-up with her score of 309.05. Freshman Katie Deininger finished third with her score of 293.80.
One of the most exciting performances of the night came in the final event, as Houston won back-to-back 400 medley relay titles and stayed undefeated in relays at this year’s conference meet after winning with its time of 3:34.65. Brown swam the anchor leg, trailing SMU’s Gabriella Grobler before using a powerful turn on the last lap to move ahead and touch the wall first. The first-place Cougar squad consisted of Laderoute, Kondis, Katie Higgins and Brown. SMU placed second with the team of Passon, Podmanikova, Trahan and Grobler clocking 3:34.81. Tulane earned its fourth podium finish in the relays this week with the team of Zhang, Katherine McDonald, Lena Hayakawa and Zelnick placing third (3:40.68).
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 – 624
2. SMU – 406
3. Cincinnati – 379.5
4. Tulane – 350.5
5. UConn – 336
6. ECU – 213
Championships Schedule:
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