University of Houston First Chance Meet
- February 14th, 2020
- University of Houston, Texas
- LCM (50m)
- Full Results
A school record, 2 Olympic Trials cuts, and a Greek National Record were the highlights of the University of Houston First Chance meet on Friday afternoon.
The meet, which featured female swimmers from Houston and nearby Rice University, had a session of long course racing to give swimmers a shot at Olympic Trials cuts, and short course racing for those looking to hit times that would qualify for the NCAA Championships or earn a final spot on a conference roster.
“We saw a lot of great things today. I’m very excited to see two more Olympic Trial qualifying times from Mykenzie Leehy and Peyton Kondis, and a Greek National Record for Ioanna Sacha,” said Houston head coach Ryan Wochomurka. “Laura Laderoute setting a school record in the 100 back was a great way to end the day. Across the board the things we saw were very encouraging for next week at The American Championships here in our home pool.”
In the long course session, junior Ioanna Sacha swam a 2:12.84 in the 200 meter backstroke. That breaks the Greek National Record of 2:13.70 that was set by Styliani Boumi in 2009 during the supersuit era. Sacha’s previous best time of 2:14.19 was done at the U.S. Open in December. She’s now well-under the Olympic “B” qualifying time of 2:14.30.
The Greek Winter Open Swimming Championships are happening this weekend in Athens, where athletes are being selected for the Olympic Games and the upcoming European Championships.
Her teammates Peyton Kondis and Mykenzie Leehy both added 2nd U.S. Olympic Trials cuts to their resumes.
Kondis swam 2:32.14 in the 200 breaststroke, which improves her best time of 2:33.57 from Summer Nationals. The U.S. Olympic Trials cut in that race is 2:33.29. She already holds a Trials cut in the 100 breaststroke via a 1:09.55 done at a February long course invite last season.
She also swam a 51.06 in the 100 yard free and a 56.63 in the 100 yard fly on Friday.
Leehy swam a 25.75 in the 50 free, which dips under the Trails cut of 25.99 and her previous best time of 26.30 from a time trial at the U.S. Open in December. She also has another cut already thanks to a 56.02 that she swam at this meet last season.
Later in the day, Leehy swam a 48.97 in the 100 yard free; her season (and lifetime) best swim in that event is 48.66 from the Phil Hansel Invitational in November. Last year, it took a 48.56 to earn an NCAA Invite in the 100 free. Leehy also swam a 58.38 in the 100 yard back.
That 100 back, the last race of the day, saw Houston senior Laura Laderoute swam a 52.47 for the fastest result of the day. That time broke her own personal best and University of Houston Record of 52.84 done at this meet last season. She was 52.93 mid-season. Last year, a 52.46 was invited to the NCAA Championships.
The visiting Rice Owls also had a handful of highlights, including a 1:59.17 in the 200 yard fly from Marta Cano-Minarro that jumps her into 5th place in school history. Her previous season best was a 1:59.85 done at a dual meet 2 weeks ago; she now ranks 2nd in Conference USA this season, behind only her junior teammate Brittany Bui (1:57.60).
Houston will race at the American Athletic Conference Championships from February 19th-22nd in their home pool, while Rice will swim at the Conference USA Championships from February 26th-29th in Atlanta,