Tulane University
Conference USA Championships
Swimming & Diving Wins 2005 Conference USA Championship
Feb 26, 2005 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 26, 2005
HOUSTON, Texas - The Green Wave won the 100- and 1650-yard freestyles and emerged victorious in the 400 free relay as well as the Tulane University swimming and diving team won the 2005 Conference USA Championship Saturday evening at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium on the University of Houston campus.
Tulane entered the day tied with defending champion TCU with 484 points each, but the second-year Green Wave would out-score the Horned Frogs 245-235.5 to win the conference title by 9.5 points. In addition, Tulane head coach Daniella Irle was named Conference USA Coach of the Year.
"A couple of days after last year's conference tournament, we held a team meeting and I looked the girls in the eye and asked, `what do you want to accomplish next season?'" Irle recalled. "They all stared back and simply said, `We want to win it.' When we got back to work in offseason practice, the work ethic and focus was there and you could see that they all wanted it.
"I've never doubted this team's ability or dedication. For a second-year program to win a Division I conference championship is a rarity. This team did not act like a second-year team at any point in time, and as a result, we now have a big ol' trophy to put in our trophy case."
Tulane and TCU traded blows throughout the final day of the C-USA Championship, and the title would come down to the last event - the 400 free relay. The Horned Frog quartet was up to the challenge, posting a 3:25.74, but the Green Wave squad of Devlyn Quinn, Sarah Dicharry, Tiffany Brown and Linda McEachrane were even better with an NCAA "B" Cut standard, school-, pool- and meet record time of 3:23.98.
"It came down to the last relay," Irle said. "Our goal going into today was to stay close, stay within striking distance and then let our freestylers win it. Needless to say, they did not disappoint."
The Green Wave got off to a good start as sophomore Nicole Taheri won the 1650 free with a time of 16:57.49, and fellow second-year standout Leslie Christian came in third at 17:02.89. Two events later, sophomore Linda McEachrane and Quinn posted NCAA "B" Cut standards in the 100 free, as McEachrane successfully defended her C-USA title in the event with a school- and meet-record mark of 50.01, and Quinn finished second with 50.91 on the clock.
In addition to McEachrane and Quinn, Tulane had another two finishers in the top eight as Sarah Dicharry (51.70) and Katherine McCoy (52.74) finished fifth and eighth, respectfully, and Cara Davidoff won the B Final with a time of 52.06.
Brown led Tulane in the 200 back with a 2:04.32 to finish fourth, and redshirt-freshman Lauren Patterson was one place back with a mark of 2:04.57. Sophomore Maureen Quinn paced the Green Wave effort in the 200 breast, finishing 11th with a 2:27.17, and rookie Sarah Zomchick was just four-one hundredths back (2:27.21) to finish 12th.
Sophomore Taylor Emerson finished fourth in the 200 fly with a 2:04.38, and Kate Naglick (2:04.33), Leeann Laing (2:09.54) and Maureen Quinn (2:12.39) finished ninth, 12th and 15th, respectively.
In diving action, freshman Danielle Carrillo finished fifth in the platform with a score of 287.95.
2005 Conference USA Scores 1. Tulane 729 2. TCU 719.50 3. East Carolina 542.50 4. Louisville 487.50 5. Houston 491 6. Cincinnati 341 7. Saint Louis 241.50
Players Mentioned
