UH swimmer Sasha Schwendenwein and diver Anastasia Pozdniakova led the Cougars to defeat both Southwestern and North Texas over the weekend, giving Houston its first team wins of the season.
The two were named Conference USA Swimmer and Diver of the Week respectively, on Tuesday.
Houston beat Southwestern 132-88 on Friday in Georgetown, Texas, and continued its winning streak by defeating North Texas 174-126 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium on Saturday.
Senior co-captain Schewendenwein won all eight of her events over the weekend to earn her third career C-USA Swimmer of the Week award.
Schwendenwein’s relay team won the 400-yard medley (4:28.18) against Southwestern, and also took individual firsts in the 50-yard freestyle (25:45, 200-yard backstroke (2:11.45) and 200-yard individual medley (2:10.90).
Against North Texas, Schewendenwein placed first in the 200-yard butterfly (2:05.43), the 100-yard freestyle (51.92) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:04.30).
She ended the meet by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay with teammates freshman Kimberley Eeson, junior Jessica Shamburger and sophomore Brittany Copeland.
Junior diver Pozdniakova, who took a redshirt last season to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, won the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events against North Texas with 307.43 and 281.70 points respectively. Both scores automatically qualify her for the NCAA Zone Diving Meet in Columbia, Miss. in March.
Sophomore Lacey Truelove (265.58 points) placed second and freshman Jessalyn Almond (261.90 points) finished third to complete the Cougars’ sweep of the 1-meter diving event.
This marks Pozdniakova’s fifth C-USA Diver of the Week award. She also won both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the C-USA Championships in 2007 and was named C-USA Diver of the Meet.
Pozdniakova represented Russia at the Beijing Olympics and won a silver medal in 3-meter synchronized diving with former Cougar Yulia Pakhalina.
Houston placed third with 70 points at the North Texas Relays, the team’s first competition of the season, in Keller, Texas on Oct. 3. The Cougars finished behind Southern Methodist with 132 points and Texas Christian University with 96 points. Houston finished ahead of both North Texas (66 points) and Missouri State (56 points).
The Cougars continue competition when they travel to Michigan to face Michigan State on Oct. 31 and Oakland on Nov. 1.
