Sports Swimming & Diving

UH swimming and diving edges out Rice on senior day

The UH swimming and diving team defeated Rice in their meet on Wednesday at Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. | File Photo

The UH swimming and diving team defeated Rice in their meet on Wednesday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. | File Photo

The Houston swimming and diving team took on cross-town rival Rice on Wednesday, securing a sound victory on senior night for the program coming off a canceled meet. 

In the day’s second event, freshman Laura Garcia Marin secured a first place finish for the Cougars in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:01.99. 

The dominance continued throughout the day, with seniors Mykenzie Leehy and Sam Medlin securing the top two spots in the 200-yard freestyle. Leehy took first with a time of 1:46:00, with Medlin finishing second with a time of 1:49.13. 

The Cougars were once again able to win first and second place in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman Hannah Farmer led the event with a time of 1:02.25. Audrey McKinnon finished second less than half a second behind, 1:02.42. 

The trend of dominant top finishes did not stop there, however — the 100-yard freestyle saw the Cougars land every one of the top four competitors. Leehy landed another first place finish, a time of 49 seconds leading off a succession of three other consecutive Cougars’ places. 

Senior Katie Power finished second, only a second after Leehy, 50.10. Freshmen Cassie Stegner finished third with a time of 51.64, while Courtney Harris finished fourth. 

In the 500-yard freestyle, the Cougars once again prevailed, taking all of the day’s spots. Garcia Marin led the pack of Cougars with a time of 4:57.91, just in front of sophomore Elizabeth Richardson’s 5:00.99 time. Sophomore Shayla Erickson 5:05.63 earned her a third spot finish. 

After a day littered with dominant performances, UH freshman Abby Jackson 1:59.21 200 fly is now the sixth best 200 fly time in program history. 

The Cougars successful day celebrated the seven seniors, Katie Higgins, Kaley Hoffman, Mykenzie Leehy, Samantha Medlin, Katie Power, Morgan Rosas and Ionna Sacha.

“All of our seniors had phenomenal performances today,” UH head coach Ryan Wochomurka said in a press release. “I’m excited for a lot of them to go out of their last home dual meet with individual wins and a great win against a very good Rice team today.

“I’m excited to turn our attention to the championship season.”

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