On Day 1 of the Texas Diving Invite, several teams traveled to Austin to compete. The winner of the women’s 3 meter diving event was ASU’s Mara Aiacoboae.
Houston
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Houston sophomore Micaela Bouter finished second in the 3-meter dive Thursday at the 2015 Texas Diving Invitational, held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Teammate Danielle Shedd also qualified for finals in the 3-meter, placing seventh.
Bouter finished with a total score of 337.35, just 7.65 points behind the winner, Mara Aiabocoae of Arizona State. The Johannesburg, South Africa, native earned her best score in finals with her last dive, a Back 2 1/2 Somersault Tuck that was graded at 60.20.
Shedd placed seventh in finals, with a score of 317.30. Her best marks of the evening session came with a Back 2 1/2 Somersault Pike that received a 63.00
Houston got off to a great start in the afternoon session, with all three Cougars finishing in the top-12 of the preliminary round. Bouter finished first in prelims, with a cumulative score of 322.15. Her top dive, a Reverse 2 1/2 Somersault Tuck, received a 61.60.
Shedd finished third in prelims, with a score of 309.75. Her second dive was her best of the round, a Back 2 1/2 Somersault Pike that was marked at 58.50.
Junior Taylor Olanski placed 12th in the preliminary session, scoring 280.40 over six dives. Her best marks came with a Back 2 1/2 Somersault Tuck, which received a score of 56.00.
UP NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
Bouter and Shedd continue their run at the Texas Invitational Friday with the 1-meter springboard competition. The prelims start at 10:30 a.m. CT, with finals beginning at 5 p.m. CT. Live scoring is available here, and television coverage of the finals is available on Longhorn Network.
COUGARS TO HOST AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Houston will host the American Athletic Conference Championships for the first time as the best swimmers and divers in the league visit the CRWC from Feb. 17-20, 2016. Following the conference meet, the Cougars will look to close the season at the NCAA Championships, to be held March 17-19, 2016 in Atlanta.
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North Texas:
Houston Invitational Day 1 Results 
| UT Diving Invitational Day 1 Results
DENTON — The North Texas swimming and diving team opened its weekend of competition, with the swimmers competing at the Phill Hansel Invitational in Houston and the divers at University of Texas Diving Invitational in Austin.
The swimmers set several season bests, and three different swimmers finished in the top 10 of their respective events. Paced by those individual efforts, North Texas is in seventh place of 10 teams with 171 points after the first of three days of competition in Houston.
Sophomore Isabelle Morris advanced to the A final of the 50-yard freestyle and finished seventh overall with a time of 23.66. Also in the 50-yard freestyle, senior Bianca Bocsa won the B final with a time of 23.43, which places her ninth overall in the event. Her time of 23.43 was not only the fastest by a North Texas swimmer this season, but it was also fourth-fastest in the finals session and the fifth-fastest of the entire day.
In addition to Morris and Bocsa, sophomore Sarah Vaisse also finished in the top 10, placing second in the B final — 10th overall — in the 200 individual medley finals. She eclipsed her previous North Texas season-best time in both the preliminaries and then again in the finals with a time of 2:03.87.
North Texas also competed in two relays events, taking sixth in both the 200-yard freestyle relay with a season-best time of 1:34.48 and the 400-yard medley with a season-best time of 3:46.14.
In all, the Mean Green had a combined 17 swimmers finish in the top 40 of the preliminaries and advance to the finals of the three individual events, in addition to the teams that competed in the two relays.
On the boards in Austin, the divers competed in the 3-meter preliminaries and quarterfinals. Junior Samantha Scheckposted the best mark with an average round score of 36.07 and an event average score of 5.11.
“The divers did well today,” diving coach Mark Murdock said. “The atmosphere of the competition is much more intense than what they are used to and they are doing a good job of performing under the pressure. They are beginning to show more control and understanding of themselves and their dives during competitions. Today was a good start for the rest of this very competitive invite.”
Quick Hits
- Six North Texas swimmers ranked among the top 40 in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries, advancing to the finals, led by sophomore Isabelle Morris with a time of 5:00.53, the team’s best mark this season, which was also the 15th-fastest time of the preliminaries.
- In addition to Morris, sophomore Barbara Wasilewska (5:01.20, 17th), senior Haley Goertz (5:04.73, 26th), sophomore Deneen Carter (5:05.44, 29th), sophomore Caroline Culpepper (5:06.23, 32nd) and senior Sarah Manning (5:08.21, 38th) qualified for the finals of the 500-yard freestyle.
- Culpepper placed second in the D final of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:01.20, a personal-best for her and tied for the second-fastest time by a North Texas swimmer this season.
- Four more swimmers advanced to the finals of the 200-yard individual medley, led by sophomore Sarah Vaissewith the 11th fastest time of the preliminaries. Her time of 2:05.68 topped her previous season-best time of 2:06.97, which was the fastest by a North Texas swimmer this season.
- In addition to Vaisse, freshman Natalia Kwiatkowska (2:07.81, 28th), sophomore Sydney Buckley (2:08.51) and sophomore Claudia Kitching (2:08.63, 36th) also qualified for the finals of the 200-yard individual medley.
- KItching (2:07.77), in the finals, and Kwiatkowska (2:07.81), in the preliminaries, both set personal bests in the 200-yard individual medley, which is the fourth-fastest and fifth-fastest times by a North Texas swimmer in the event this season.
- In the final preliminary event, seven more swimmers advanced to the finals of the 50-yard freestyle. Two finished among the top 11 with Morris in eighth place (23.69) and senior Bianca Bocsa in 11th place (23.75), both eclipsing the team’s season-best time this season previously held by Bocsa.
- After Morris and Bocsa, sophomore Lauren Tidwell (24.09, 23rd), freshman Brittany Thurstin (24.10, 24th), juniorCourtney Connelly (24.13, 26th), senior Zoe James (24.24, 34th) and senior Michelle Balcaen (24.28, 35th) also qualified for the finals of the 50-yard freestyle.
- The team of Morris, Bocsa, Vaisse and Thurstin took sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a season-best time of 1:34.48.
- The team of Bocsa, Vaisse, Buckley and Morris also took sixth, in the 400-yard medley relay, with a season-best time of 3:46.14.
What’s Next
Both the North Texas swimmers and divers continue their respective weekends on Friday and Saturday at the Phill Hansel Invitational and Texas Diving Invitational. The swimmers will compete in five individual races and two relays, while the divers will compete on the 1-meter boards on Friday.
Colorado State:
HOUSTON/AUSTIN, Texas – The Colorado State swimming and diving squad finished its first day split across two events in Texas on Thursday, with the divers at the University of Texas Diving Invitational and the swimming side at the Phill Hansel Invite in Houston.
The Rams had strong performances in both locations, including senior diver Ariana Milone’s fifth-place effort in the 3-Meter Springboard, posting a score of 324.85 in the finals. Her score beat out the best two scores from the top divers from host Texas.
CSU also had impressive results in Houston, highlighted by the four members of the 400 medley relay group – Jess Shepard, Jenna Beaury, Karin Roh and Kelsey Lawton. The foursome took third in the event, and head coach Christopher Woodard was thrilled.
“Our 400 medley relay was great, every leg was a good leg but Karin Roh was the standout in the 100 Fly,” Woodard said. “She posted our fastest split in the last two years in her leg.”
Woodard also pointed out the results from all his competitors in the 500 Freestyle, led by Mackenzie Halligan, who took 11th with a time of 4:56.87. The Rams’ 200 Freestyle Relay group took seventh place (1:35.08), and Carmen Mand provided an eighth-place result in the 50 Freestyle.
CSU is in sixth out of 10 squads on the team leaderboard, and Woodard believes that his team can continue to rise up the standings with what they showed on Thursday.
“I’m very happy,” Woodard said. “We’ve had a tough fall season, and sometimes until you see results it’s hard to see if you’re doing things right.
“We’re not necessarily paying attention to the scoreboard at this point. I’m pleased, and I expect them to keep rolling. If they do, then we’ll all start to pay attention to the scoreboard.”
Both the UT Diving Invitational and the Phill Hansel Invite will continue tomorrow and will conclude on Saturday.
Miami:
AUSTIN, Texas – Sophomore Briadam Herrera captured top honors in the men’s 1-meter Friday on the opening night the UT Invitational, while two Miami women’s divers placed in the top five in the 3-meter event.
Herrera, who earned two medals at the 2015 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships as a true freshman, edged Cory Bowersox, Sean O’Brien and Mark Anderson of the University of Texas to finish with top honors.
Herrera finished with a score of 436.00, besting Bowersox (404.30), O’Brien (392.10) and Anderson (355.05). Though he placed second in preliminaries with a score of 383.70, Herrera turned it on in the finals to exit with the top finish at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Sophomore Wally Layland (third place, 334.25) and freshman Marcela Maric (330.65, fourth) both impressed in the 3-meter. Layland rebounded from a preliminary score of 293.95 to finish third, while Maric, who impressed with a top score of 316.85 in preliminaries, exited with a fourth-place finish.
Freshman Carolyn Chaney did not qualify for the finals, finishing with a preliminary score of 264.10.
The Hurricanes women continue the UT Diving Invite Friday with the one-meter preliminary round at 10:30 a.m. The finals air live on Longhorn Network at 5 p.m.
The men’s diving competition continues Friday with the three-meter preliminary round at 1:30 p.m. CT. The finals air live on Longhorn Network at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Swimming news courtesy of Houston, North Texas, Colorado State, and Miami Swimming & Diving.