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Rice Wins Four Events, But Houston Women Lead After Day 1 of Phill Hansel Invite

2022 Phill Hansenl Invitational

  • November 17-19, 2022
  • CRWC Natatorium, Houston, TX.
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Women’s meet
  • Day 1 Results (PDF)

Team Standings

  1. Houston, 536.2
  2. Rice, 351
  3. U.S. Air Force, 347
  4. North Texas, 279
  5. Tulane, 198
  6. New Mexico, 186.5

Courtesy: Houston Athletics

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving program won two events after the opening day of action at the Phill Hansel Invitational on Thursday at the CRWC Natatorium.

Houston closed out the opening day of action with 536.5 points and sits 185.5 points ahead of second-place Rice (351 points) heading into the second day of competition. Air Force rounds out the top three (347), followed by North Texas (279) in fourth, Tulane (198) in fifth and New Mexico (186.5) in sixth.

The Cougars found success in the 200-yard IM with freshman Virag Peter taking first place and posting the fifth-fastest time in program history in the event at 2:00.51 Alondra Ortiz followed in second place with a time of 2:00.80. Ortiz’s time landed her sixth all-time in program history in the event.

Houston’s 200 free relay of Mary Catherine JuricaEmma WrightJenna Kerkman and Adelaide Meuter finished the day in second place with a time of 1:33.51.

Freshman Eden Humphrey placed third in the 500-yard freestyle clocking in at 4:49.85. Landry Hadder took first place in the consolation final with a time of 4:55.48.

The Cougars continued to pick up additional points in the 50-yard free consolation final with Jenna Kerkman taking second with a time of 23.58 in the event.

Houston earned second place in its final relay of the evening as Meuter, Henrietta FangliAbbie Alvarez and Emma Wright combined for a time of 3:42.36.

All six of Houston’s competing divers qualified for finals with the first three places held by the Cougars. Sophomore Josie Graves finished the 1-meter in first place with a final score of 293.20 and earned a zone cut. She was followed by Hedda Grelz (287.95) in second and Emilia Waters (283.50) in third. Katie Deininger (269.95) and Jolie Blodgett (269.05) placed fourth and fifth.

FRIDAY SCHEDULE

Phill Hansel Invitational
Events 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 200 Medley Relay, 800 Free Relay, 3-meter diving
Prelims | Finals 10 a.m. | 6 p.m.
Location Houston, Texas | CRWC Natatorium
Live Stream UHCougars.com/Watch (Finals only)
Admission Free

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JOIN the FREESTYLE FUND
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Courtesy: Rice Athletics

In Brief: Zoe Spitz broke the school record in the 100 back while Arielle Hayon and Lauren McDougall posted personal bests while capturing individual events and leading the Owls to a pair of relay wins on Day One of the Phill Hansel Invitational at the University of Houston’s CRWC Natatorium on Thursday.

The Details:  After opening the evening session by combining with Spitz and Imogen Meers to win the 200 free relay, McDougall and Hayon captured the 500 and 50 freestyle events.   McDougall out-touched teammate Ella Dyson to win in 4:47.33, knocking over six seconds off her previous best of 4:53.48 at the 2022 C-USA Championship.   Dyson was second in 4:47.35 while Shannon Campbell was fourth (4:51.36), Amelia Kane fifth (4:54.76) and Ginny Quian was eighth (5:01.29).  Hayon broke 23 seconds for the first time in her career in the 50 free, winning the sprint in 22.92. McDougall was second in 23.15.  Meers added a third-place finish in the 200 IM to go along with her relay win. Hayon, McDougall and Spitz were joined by freshman Lily Cramer to close out the first night of action by winning the 400 medley relay in 3:38.78. Spitz’ leadoff 100 back leadoff leg of 53.36 eclipsed the previous school record of 53.49 set by Alicia Caldwell in 2015.  Spitz has broken both backstroke records in the first two months of the 2022-23 season.

Seth Huston: “Strong performances today, led by school record backstroke lead-off on the 400 MR by Zoe SpitzLauren McDougall won gold over teammate Ella Dyson in the 500 free–both lifetime best performances–along with two relay victories and a runner-up to Arielle Hayon, in the 50 free.  I was overall, pleased with the team’s energy and performance today. I feel like too many team members are expecting too much of themselves and could relax just a bit and really embrace each race as it happens. I am looking forward to seeing how we adjust going forward.

The Standings: Houston 536.5, Rice 351, Air Force 347, North Texas 279, Tulane 198, New Mexico 186.5.

Up Next: Action resumes at 10 a.m. on Friday with preliminaries in the  400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, and 100 Backstroke.  Finals for those events in addition to the  200 Medley and 800 Freestyle Relays will begin a 6 p.m.   There is no admission charge to attend the competition.

Tune In: Friday’s finals will be streamed live, beginning at 6 p.m.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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