Tulane University
Conference USA Championship
Swimming & Diving Finishes Fifth In 2010 C-USA Championship
Feb 28, 2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 27, 2010
HOUSTON - As the Tulane University swimming and diving team went through the first three days of the 2010 Conference USA Championship, the Green Wave seemed to gain confidence with each passing day.
On the meet's final day of completion, Tulane saved its best performance for last as three swimmers advanced to championship heats and the squad scored a team-best 90 points as the Green Wave finished fifth in the overall completion.
The Green Wave increased their point production each day - scoring 56 on Wednesday, 60 on Thursday, and 71 on Friday - to finish with 277. Tulane was 89 points ahead of sixth-placed Marshall (188) and 256.5 behind fourth-place finisher, Houston (533.5). SMU won its fifth consecutive C-USA title with 707 points, followed by East Carolina with 611 and Rice with 596.
"We finished the meet with our best day of events," Tulane head swimming and diving coach Lena Guarriello said. "It was a great first conference championship for the team and this is something that we will no doubt grow from, learn from and reflect upon throughout the offseason.
"It was a great first year back in competition. We've got some very talented student-athletes joining the team for next season and I am very excited about the future of the Tulane swimming and diving program."
Among those advancing to their respective championship heats for the Green Wave on Saturday, Lauren Pfohl posted a lifetime best 2:02.26 in the 100 back to finish sixth while Emily Needham and Gisele Calderon finished 4-5 in the 200 fly, respectively. Needham's 2:03.94 was a season best and Calderon's 2:05.95 was a lifetime best mark. In addition, Allie Evans finished fifth overall in the 1650 free with a lifetime best 17:05.67.
Also scoring for Tulane were Kayla Alf-Huynh in the 200 back, Kylie Kastes in the 200 fly, Bolton Harris in the mile as well as the quartet of Alf-Huynh, Elizabeth Whitaker, Kristine Gu and Kastes in the 400 free relay. Alf-Huynh finished 14th in the 200 back with a 2:05.14 and tallied a season-best 2:03.92 in the preliminaries. She also had a season-best 100 free with a 51.53 in the leadoff leg of the 400 free relay, which finished fifth overall with a season-best 3:29.07.
Kastes finished 15th in the 200 fly after touching the wall at 2:10.31 and Harris was 16th in the mile with a lifetime best 17:39.45.
Not to be left out, Rebekah Harris posted a lifetime-best mark in the 200 back preliminaries while Whitaker and Hayley Tilton followed suit in the 100 free prelims. Rebekah Harris clocked a 2:08.21 while Whitaker and Tilton finished with respective times of 52.98 and 54.81. Kristin Ates, meanwhile posted a season-best 17:47.36 to finish 17th in the mile.
Players Mentioned
