HOUSTON – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team will host the annual Phill Hansel Invitational in honor of former head coach Phill Hansel, Nov. 18-20 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. The Cougars are set to compete against nine other teams; UC Davis, Colorado State, Idaho, New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Texas, Rice, Tulane, and Vanderbilt.
The three-day meet begins each morning at 10 a.m. with preliminary sessions. Following a break, the teams will head back into the pool for finals, beginning at 6 p.m. and Sunday’s finals start time at 5 p.m.
This weekend’s meet will also serve as Senior Day for the Cougars. The team will honor its six seniors – Cameron Balkom, Micaela Hamrick, Rachel Hobbins, Marissa Lehman, Taylor Olanski and Jasmine Williams – before Saturday’s evening session gets underway.
The Cougars are coming off a second-place finish at the Rice Invitational. Freshman Laura Laderoute won her second individual event of her collegiate career after taking the 100-yard backstroke at the two-day meet.
ORDER OF EVENTS
The invitational will feature 21 events – 13 individual races, five relays and three diving events. The meet offers the Cougars a preview of the conference championship format with multiple teams and a championship style-scoring format.
Friday: 200 Free Relay, 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle, 1-Meter Dive and 400 Medley Relay.
Saturday: 200 Medley Relay, 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 3-Meter Dive and 800 Freestyle Relay.
Sunday: 1650 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke, 100 Freestyle, 200 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, Platform Dive and 400 Freestyle Relay.
ABOUT PHILL HANSEL
This weekend’s meet is named in honor of former University of Houston Swimming & Diving Head Coach Phill Hansel. Hansel, considered the Father of Cougar Swimming & Diving, led the Cougars from 1975 to 1996, racking up 70 dual-meet victories, a school record that still stands. He helped UH finish in the Top-20 ten times at the AIAW and NCAA Championships.
Hansel, a 1949 graduate of Purdue, was named the Southwest Conference Coach of the Year three times during his tenure, and mentored 31 swimmers to All-America honors, including Diane Johannigman, the first NCAA swimming national champion in UH history.
Hansel also had an impressive resume at the international level, serving as the manager of the 1992 U.S. Olympics teams and working with the Singapore teams at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.
UP NEXT
The Cougars will send a select group of swimmers to the AT&T Winter Nationals, Dec. 1-3 in Atlanta, Ga.
COUGARS TO HOST AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP Houston will host the American Athletic Conference Championships for the second consecutive year as the best swimmers and divers in the league visit the CRWC from Feb. 15-18, 2017. Following the conference meet, the Cougars will look to close the season at the NCAA Championships, to be held March 15-18, 2017 in Indianapolis, Ind.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the swimming & diving team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonCougarSwimmingDiving) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarSwim), which provide regular updates on the team and live results during home meets.
News courtesy of Houston Athletics.