Tulane University
Vanderbilt
Swimming & Diving Downs Vanderbilt In Regular-Season Finale
Feb 6, 2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 6, 2010
NEW ORLEANS - If Tulane University women's swimming and diving coach simply wanted to use Saturday's dual meet against Vanderbilt University as a tune-up for the upcoming 2010 Conference USA Championship, the rest of the league had better be wary.
The Green Wave won 13-of-16 events, posted nine season-best times and saw a pair of lifetime marks fall as the en route to a 183-89 victory over Vanderbilt University in the regular-season finale Saturday morning at the Reily Student Recreation Center Natatorium.
"Today was fun," Tulane swimming and diving coach Lena Guarriello said. "From the coaches, the swimmers and everyone in the stands, we all really had a good time. The girls were really relaxed and they were more mentally prepared for this meet than they have all season. Being prepared and relaxed coming into the meet helped them pull off a really big win."
Freshmen Gisele Calderon and Rebekah Harris posted lifetime bests in the 200 free and 100 back with times of 1:55.71 and 1:00.32, respectively. Calderon also had a season-best time of 2:06.39 in the 200 fly.
Junior Kylie Kastes set season-best times in the 200 and 500 freestyles with marks of 1:55.11 and 5:15.91, respectively, while freshman Kayla Alf-Huynh did the same in the 50 free with a time of 24.25 and the 200 back at 2:08.06. Freshman Grace Tarka posted a season-best time of 58.82 in the 100 back and the 200 medley relay team of Lauren Pfohl, Erin Cunningham, Tarka and Alf-Huynh shaved 1.5 second of their season-best time with a 1:48.70.
The 200 medley relay time, Kastes' 200 free, Calderon's 200 fly and Alf-Huynh's 50 free were all winners on Saturday. Also winning individual events against the Commodores were Pfohl in the 100 back (58.16) and 200 back (2:04.03), Tarka in the 100 fly (57.71), Erin Cunningham in the 400 IM (4:34.57), diver Sarah McGoldrick in the one-meter (210.20) and three-meter (192.66) springboards, and the quartet of Alf-Huynh, Allie Evans, Kastes and Pfohl in the 400 free relay (3:33.49).
"Today was the ultimate team effort," Guarriello said. "Everybody got together and contributed and there were girls who were actually upset if they didn't score a point in their event. It was a great team effort by everyone from our sprinters to our distances swimmers to our divers. Our fly was really solid and our backstroke dominated."
Evans led Tulane in the 1000 free with a time of 10:30.53 to finish second in the event while Cunningham was second and third in the 200 breast (2:27.72) and 100 breast (1:08.53), respectively.
The dual-meet victory was the second of the year for the Green Wave and the most lopsided since posting a double-dual victory over Delta State (105-34) and Rhodes College (118-15) on Jan. 15, 2005, in Cleveland, Miss.
"A meet like this builds confidence," Guarriello said. "I think that's something we might have been lacking earlier in the season. We're still tired, and swimming well while we're tired is going to help them going into a big conference meet when they'll be well rested. They know how to swim their races now and that was the goal of the meet."
The Green Wave return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 24, when they open play in the 2009 Conference USA Swimming & Diving Championships in Houston. Hosted by the University of Houston at the UH Campus Wellness and Recreation Center, the four-day event culminates on Saturday, Feb. 27.
Back in 2004-05, Tulane won the C-USA title in just its second year of the originally implemented program. The swimming and diving program suspended operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina before starting back up this fall.
Players Mentioned
