S&D Takes Down Houston in Home Opener

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes swimming and diving team rebounded from a tough loss on the road with a key win over the visiting Houston Cougars Saturday at the Whitten University Center Pool.

The Hurricanes (1-1) opened the day’s action with a dominant finish in the 200 Medley Relay and never looked back. Miami’s entry of Katie Ligon, My Fridell, Lucy Worrall and Sofia Johansson finished the event in first place by nearly four seconds (1:46.54), setting the tone for the remainder of the morning.

Divers Kara McCormack (304.95), Carrie Dragland (300.45) and Lindsay Lester (273.75) swept the 1-meter event in the early going. Lester would win the 3-meter (322.28) later in the day, while McCormack would earn third in the same event (314.85)

Head swimming coach Christie Shefchunas, who had high expectations heading into the meet, saw many of her key contributors record victories in the 100’s of stroke. The freshman duo of Ligon (100 Backstroke) and Fridell (100 Butterfly) took first-place in their events, while Katherine Nicholson (100 Freestyle) and Christine Anderson (100 Breastroke) helped close up action by also taking first.

Anderson nearly made it two straight wins to open the meet for the Canes, just missing out on first place in the grueling 1000 Freestyle. She finished behind Cougars’ junior Heather Winn with a time of 10:29.93.

Fellow seniors Hannah Kling and Celeste Degen extended the early streak of success, finishing in first (24.03) and second (24.27) respectively in the 50 Freestyle. Miami’s veteran 200 Freestyle Relay entry of Kling, Kayla Smith, Degen and Nicholson put the finishing touches on the victory with a first-place finish (1:35.68).

The Hurricanes return to the pool Friday, Oct. 19 with a meet against in-state rival Florida State at 4 p.m.