Tulane University
Cougar Classic Fall Invitational
Swimming & Diving Remains Fifth At Cougar Classic
Nov 21, 2009 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nov. 21, 2009
HOUSTON - One day after three players posted lifetime bests, four members of the Tulane University women's swimming and diving team - Gisele Calderon, Erin Cunningham, Lauren Pfohl and Elizabeth Whitaker - did it again as the Green Wave finished day two of the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational fifth among nine teams Saturday at the University of Houston Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
The Green Wave scored 78 points on Saturday, 29 more than their 49 points from the opening day, to sit 198 behind fourth-placed Houston and 28 ahead of sixth-placed Incarnate Word. The three ranked teams in the tournament - No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 19 SMU and No. 21 LSU - hold the top three spots in the Cougar Classic through two days at 1,054, 496 and 436 points, respectively.
"I think we had another great day today," Tulane head swimming and diving coach Lena Guarriello said. "The 200 medley relay set the pace for finals and we just got faster as the day went on. We had a lot of Top 16 finals tonight, which improved our scoring potential. We put ourselves in much better scoring position for this session than we were in yesterday which was great."
Calderon, who had a lifetime best in the 500 free on Friday, posted a time of 58.44 in the 100 fly to finish 19th and post her second lifetime best in as many days. Cunningham clocked a 4:37.53 in the preliminaries of the 400 IM to set a lifetime best and was even better in the finals where she touched the wall at 4:33.96 to finish 13th and shave nearly nine seconds off her previous best time coming into the day.
Pfohl posted a lifetime best in the 100 back with a 58.81 in the prelims before besting that mark with a 58.04 in the finals to finish 14th. Whitaker, meanwhile, followed suit with a lifetime best 1:55.55 in the 200 free preliminaries before clocking a 1:54.68 in the finals to finish 19th.
"The girls are making a great mount of progress," Guarriello said. "They came into the meet maybe a little intimidated by the competition. We're going up against three ranked teams. Some teams are rested and wearing their fast suits. We aren't tapered or shave and are wearing the equivalent of a practice suit. So for them to be reaching season and lifetime bests on a pretty regular basis during this meet is a huge achievement for any team, much less and team as young as ours.
"With each session, they are becoming more relaxed and enjoying the meet more. That's really allowing them to race better. We're really looking forward to tomorrow where we'll have Allie Evans and Kristin Ates in the mile and both the 200 fly and 200 back are very strong events fur us as well."
In addition to the lifetime bests, Tulane also posted season-best times in the 200 medley relay to open the day as the quartet of Pfohl, Cunningham, Grace Tarka and Kristine Gu finished 12th with a time of 1:51.27 while Kayla Alf-Huynh, Jillian Daleiden, Kristin Ates and Hayley Tilton finished 15th at 1:52.90.
Cunningham led the Green Wave effort in the 400 IM while Ates finished 22nd with a time of 4:51.61. Tarka led Tulane in the 100 fly with a 57.76 to finish 14th, followed by Calderon at 19th, Kastes at 20th with a 58.82, Emily Needham at 23rd with a 59.70 and Alf-Huynh at 24th with a 59.90.
Evans finished 16th in the 200 free with a time of 1:55.22 while Whitaker was 19th, Gu was 24th at 1:59.62 and Bolton Harris was 27th at 1:59.87. Cunningham and Daleiden finished 19th and 21st in the 100 breast with times of 1:09.15 and 1:11.11, respectively, and Pfohl led the Tulane effort in the 100 back. Tarka was next in the 100 back with a 59.92 to finish 21st, while Rebekah Harris and Kastes were 26th and 29th at 1:00.80 and 1:02.31, respectively.
Tulane closed out day two of the Cougar Classic with the 800 free relay where Evans, Kastes, Gu and Whitaker finished 10th with a time of 7:43.65 while Bolton Harris, Tilton, Ates and Calderon finished 13th at 8:00.33.
The nine participating teams close out the Cougar Classic Fall Invitational on Sunday with the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay. Preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and finals are slated to start at 4:30 p.m.
Following the weekend in Houston, the Green Wave return to action Friday, Dec. 4, when they play a double-dual meet against the University of New Orleans and Western Kentucky. Half of the events will take place on Dec. 4 at UNO before wrapping up the double dual on Saturday at the Reily Student Recreation Center Natatorium on Dec. 5.
Team Scores After Day 2 Of The Cougar Classic Fall Invitational
Team Points1. Texas A&M 10542. SMU 4963. LSU 4364. Houston 3255. Tulane 1276. Incarnate Word 997. Air Force 848. Kansas 599. UNLV 30
Players Mentioned
