Hurricanes Drop Houston; Fall to (9) Texas A&M in Dual Season Finale
Feb. 5, 2005
HOUSTON, Tex. – The University of Miami swimming and diving team split their double-dual meet against Houston and ninth ranked Texas A&M to close out the dual meet season Saturday afternoon at the CRWC Natatorium on UH’s campus. The Hurricanes defeated UH 75-56 and fell to Texas A&M 78-46 to finish with a 7-7 overall record.
The Hurricanes won six of the meets’ 15 events off the strength of 11 season-best performances.
Miami opened the meet with a season-best time in the 400-yard medley relay. The Hurricanes touched in third when the team of Ashley Knapp, Katalin Ferenczi, Nancy Gajos and Taylor McFarlane combined for a time of 3:56.43.
Individually, freshman Lauren Shue led the way as she won both the 1000-yard and 500-yard freestyle events while placing third in the 200-yard freestyle. Shue finished with season-best performances in the 500-free, breaking the five minute barrier with a time of 4:59.95, and in the 200-free with a time of 1:55.95.
McFarlane finished first in the 200-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 1:53.10. The freshman from Elizabeth, Maine touched third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:05.45.
Knapp finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.08 followed by Ferenczi in third with a time of 58.47. Knapp finished second in the 200-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 2:06.15.
Gajos placed first in the 100-yard butterfly out-touching Aggies swimmer Erin Mahoney with a time of 58.14 before freshman Casey Heffernan touched the wall with a season-best mark of 1:00.31.
Freshman Jenna Dreyer continued her success on the diving boards with a first place finish in the 1-meter with a score of 314.50. The 3-meter diving event was cancelled after UH diver Anna Kiess struck her head on the board during a dive. Kiess was taken to a local hospital for observation but seemed alert and responsive as paramedics took her away.
The Hurricanes had five more swimmers finish the meet with season-best marks including senior Colleen Adkins in the both the 100-yard (1:08.23) and 200-yard (2:27.13) breaststroke events; sophomore Kristen Lunak in the 100-yard Breastroke (1:10.34); and freshmen Melissa Froelich and Capria DeVenuto in the 100-yard freestyle with times of 56.29 and 56.67, respectively.
Miami will now get ready for their inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference Championships that will begin February 16th at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga. The women’s competition will take part from Feb. 16th through the 19th, while the men’s diving squad will compete Feb. 23-26.
