The Week Ahead…
The SMU women’s swimming and diving program returns to action on Friday when the Mustangs take on in-state foe North Texas in Mansfield, Texas. This will be the second of three events the Ponies will host, with the last coming on Saturday when they return to the same pool for a pre-conference time trial event. Friday will serve as Senior Night for six Mustangs, and live results can be found on SMUMustangs.com and on the Meet Mobile app. Saturday’s event can be followed via the same outlets and features competition from UNT, Oklahoma Baptist and Wayland Baptist.
Scouting The Mean Green…
UNT is coming off a 180-120 dual-meet victory over Big 12 opponent TCU. Overall, the Mean Green is 7-3 in dual action, with losses to Liberty, Texas A&M and conference foe Rice. The Mustangs won the UNT Relays on Oct. 2, and defeated the Mean Green in dual action, 131-112, a season ago.
Scouting The Bison…
Division II, Great American Conference member Oklahoma Baptist is 4-0 in dual action this season and finished 1st of 7 teams at the Hendrix Relays.
Scouting The Pioneers…
Wayland Baptist, a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference at the NAIA level is 0-4 this season and placed 2nd of 4 teams competing at the Wayland Invitational.
Senior Success…
Caitlin Gutschenritter, Elizabeth Krane, Eleonor Lindborg, Madison Meyer, Tiffany Sudarma and Anna Volchkov make up the Mustangs’ 2016 senior class and will be recognized prior to the start of Friday’s dual meet with North Texas. Since arriving on the Hilltop in the fall of 2012, the class has finished top three at the conference championship each season, including a win at the 2015 American Athletic Conference event. Each semester the team has earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors, and they combine for a total of seven all-conference selections.
Conference Favorites…
Three Mustangs have accounted for four weekly accolades from the American Athletic Conference so far this season. Maddie Hoch (Oct. 20 & Oct. 13) and Tara-Lynn Nicholas (Nov. 3) have been honored on the swimming side, while Madeline Wainman (Oct. 13) has represented the divers.
Ponies On Top…
SMU currently holds 10 top 3 times in the American Athletic Conference, including the top spot in 4 of the 13 events. Overall, the Mustangs have 29 times in the top 10. They also have the top time in each of the 5 relays. The Mustangs have also posted 7 NCAA ‘B’ standards so far this season.
Relay Ranks…
The Mustangs hold the top spot in the American Athletic Conference in all five relay events. Last season, SMU won 4 of 5 relays at the conference championship.
Last Time Out…
The Mustangs fell in dual action to then-No. 5 Texas A&M in its first dual meet of 2016.
SMU’s 200 free relay team of Hannah Rogers, Marne Erasmus, Adri Santa and Vicky Cunningham closed the event with the highest finish of the day placing second in a time of 1:35.51, just under two seconds off the Aggies’ winning A relay.
Six Mustangs placed in the top three of their respective events, including Lauren Lamb in both the 1- and 3-meter dives. In 1-meter, the lone SMU diver on the day posted a 211.95, after opening the event with a 220.21 on 3-meter.
Erasmus and Anna Cheesbrough teamed up to secure third-place points in fly events, with Erasmus touching the wall in 54.81 in the 100 and Cheesbrough going 2:07.01 in the 200.
Anna Volchkov (100 back), Rogers (50 free) and Kirsty McLauchlan (400 IM) were also top-three finishers for SMU.
Scholar All-America…
SMU was named to the fall 2015 Scholar All-America list for Division I teams that achieved a grade-point-average above 3.0. The Mustangs registered a 3.43. The program’s senior class has earned Scholar All-America status since arriving on the Hilltop in the fall of 2012.
“We are very excited about the team’s outstanding performance in the classroom,” head women’s coach Steve Collins said. “Our student-athletes are pursuing many different majors from all of the schools across our campus with great success.”
Grand Prix…
Select Mustangs competed at the 2016 Arena Pro Swim Series at Austin, with eight swimmers advancing to evening finals in their respective events and former Mustang standout Rachel Nicol placing in the top eight.
Nicol placed eighth in the Championship Final of the 100-meter breast clocking in at 1:09.21. The Canadian currently holds an A standard in the event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and has a B standard in the 200-meter distance. In the latter, Nicol posted a 2:29.16 to win the C Final.
Anna Cheesbrough registered the next highest finish for the Ponies at the event with a seventh-place performance in the Consolation Final of the 200 fly.
Tara-Lynn Nicholas was eighth (1:12.30) in the C Final of the 100 breast, while Isabella Arcila (50 free), Marne Erasmus (100 fly) and Kirsty McLauchlan (200 breast) all competed in D Finals. Arcila’s 26.03 in her race was good for the top spot, while Erasmus was the event runner-up.
Making History…
Following the 2014-15 season the Mustang roster accounted for 19 of the all-time top 10 times in SMU history, with four holding the school record. Eight were also in the top three. Team members were also part of eight relays that rank in the top three of their respective events.
In The Rankings…
The SMU women’s swimming and diving team ranked 21st in the first edition of the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) 2015-16 Division I poll, the organization announced on Oct. 27. This is a biweekly poll, which alternates with the men’s Division I poll.
Championship Season…
The 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship is set for Feb. 17-20, and will be hosted by Houston. NCAA Zone Diving takes place March 7-9 in College Station, Texas, and the NCAA Championship will be hosted by Georgia Tech March 17-19 in Atlanta.
Championship Success…
SMU has won 16 of the last 19 conference championships, including a first-place finish at the American Athletic Conference Championship in 2015. The Mustangs have never finished outside of the top three under Steve Collins, with only 2 3rd-place finishes.
American Throwback…
The Mustangs won 12 events en route to the American Athletic Conference Championship Feb. 18-21 in Greensboro, North Carolina. SMU won four of five relays and had eight individual top finishers to secure the victory, and 19 individuals placed in the top 3 of their respective events. Tara-Lynn Nicholas was the victor in the 100 breast posting a 59.12, which was good for an SMU school record and an NCAA ‘A’ cut. Isabella Arcila also set the school record in the 50 free as part of the 200 freestyle relay and won three events to add to the team’s total. The Mustangs finished with 797 points, while Connecticut, their closest competitor, posted a team score of 619. East Carolina (595.5), Tulane (494.5), Cincinnati (461) and Houston (449) followed. The event win was the first at a conference championship for the Mustangs since they took the Conference USA crown in 2012. The title also gave the program its 16th championship in 19 seasons.
Leader of the Pack…
Head coach Steve Collins was named the 2015 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Mustangs to a first-place finish at The American Championship. This was the 10th time Collins has earned the honor since the Mustangs’ 1990 season (American 1x, CUSA 3x, WAC 2x, SWC 4x). Collins was also named the National Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1996 following NCAA finishes of sixth and second, respectively.
Road To Rio…
Eight Mustangs have currently posted at least one ‘B’ standard for Rio, with six posting multiple. Former standout Nina Rangelova (Bulgaria) leads the way with three times, including an A standard in the 200-meter freestyle, while Rachel Nicol (Canada) has a pair with a qualifying mark in the 100 breast. Isabella Arcila (50, 100 free), Nathalie Lindborg (50, 100 free), Kirsty McLauchlan (200, 400 IM), Vicky Cunningham (50, 200 free), Marne Erasmus (100 fly) and Tara-Lynn Nicolas (100 breast) have all made the 2016 provisional list.
2015 NCAA Championship Recap…
The Mustangs had four individuals earn All-America honors, led by Rachel Nicol with an eighth-place finish in the Championship Final of the 100 breast, at the 2015 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championship March 19-21 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Fellow senior Isabella Arcila also picked up honors in the 100 free, while sophomores Tara-Lynn Nicholas and Marne Erasmus picked up accolades for the second year in a row in the 100 breast and 100 fly, respectively. SMU’s 400 yard medley relay team of Arcila, Nicolas, Erasmus and Nathalie Lindborg placed 13th on night one to earn the nod. The Mustangs finished 31st scoring 27.0 team points.
American All-Conference…
SMU picked up All-American Athletic Conference honors in 10 individual events, all five relays and in platform diving. Overall, 13 Mustangs accounted for 24 league honors. Seniors Isabella Arcila and Nathalie Lindborg led the way as they each had three individual selections and were part of three different relays. Nine Ponies picked up multiple nods, while freshman Madeline Wainman secured SMU’s all-league performance in diving with her runner-up finish on the platform.
Swimming news courtesy of SMU Swimming & Diving.