Swimming & Diving

Top finishes lead Cougars through strong day two

The Houston swim team continued their strong showing on the second day of the Pearland Invitation Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars had eight top-five finishes on day two, and head coach Rich Murphy was pleased with the team’s improvement.

“Today was a better day than yesterday, and tonight was our best session of the four we’ve had so far in Pearland,” said Murphy in a press release. “Overall, I feel like we raced really well today, I feel like we are starting to turn a corner in terms of competitive momentum. We look to build upon this momentum tomorrow and close the meet out with our best day yet.”

Junior Taylor Derevyanik placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (56.70) and ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.73). Sophomore Cameron Balkom took fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke netting a time of 1:05.73, while fellow sophomore Jasmine Williams swam in the 100-yard backstroke, setting a new career best, 56.52, and winning her heat by two seconds.

In the relays, the Cougars’ 200-yard medley team (Derevyanik, Balkom, junior Holly Criscuolo, junior Doroteja Bednjanec and sophomore Michaela Hamrick) took sixth in their race with a time of 1:46.66, while the 800-yard freestyle team (Hamrick, junior Maya Owens, sophomore Rachel Hobbins and senior Mackenzie Alspaugh) also took sixth place, notching a time of 7:38.32.

Houston will look to close out the tournament strong on Sunday as they currently sit in fourth place behind Rice University, Tulane University and University of North Texas.

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