Despite 11 podium finishes, Houston swimming and diving was unable to record its first victory of the season, falling in a tri-meet with No. 3 Texas A&M 140-96 and North Texas 144-86 Friday afternoon in Denton.
The Cougar divers continued their strong start to the season with redshirt freshman Micaela Bouter finishing second in both the 1-meter (261.75) and 3-meter (263.25) dives. Danielle Shedd took third in the 1-meter (251.00), and sophomore Taylor Olanski took third in the 3-meter dive (257.45).
“We came together as the meet went on and swam well with each other,” said head coach Rich Murphy. “Mackenzie Alspaugh continues to grow her performances after being the team’s most improved athlete last year.”
Alspaugh finished third in the 500-yard freestyle for the Cougars, finishing with a season-best time of 5:08.73.
Freshman Ashley Grijalva and sophomore Cameron Balkorn also performed well in the 200-yard breaststroke finishing second (2:22.55) and third (2:27.68) respectively.
Maya Owens finished third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.96), Emma Moore took third in the 100-yard freestyle and Taylor Derevyanik placed third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:11.55) to round out the podium for the Cougars.
The Cougars traveled to Dallas for a meet against in-state rival SMU at 1 p.m today.
“The team energy from today will serve well in tomorrow’s meet,” said Murphy. “I am excited to see us continue to improve and grow as a squad.”
