Tulane University
SMU
Tulane Drops Close Conference Contest to SMU
Nov 8, 2015 | Women's Swimming and Diving
NEW ORLEANS -- The Tulane swimming & diving team took to the lanes on Sunday morning in the Reily Center Natatorium for a heated face off against fellow American Athletic Conference foe SMU. The Green Wave swam competitively, forcing a decision in the final event of the day, but dropped the dual meet by a close margin of 153-146.
"Today was a great meet," head coach Katie Robinson said. "It was fun to really be neck and neck with the defending champions from our conference. We knew coming in they were going to be tough, and we rose to the occasion today. I was really happy and proud of our girls and how they raced tough, and to come within seven points is great progress for our team."
Tulane started off the day close on the heels of the visiting Mustangs, taking second and third in the 200 yard medley relay. SMU continued to dominate in the 200 free, but Tulane was able to even the score and sweep the top three spots in the 100 backstroke with sharp performances from freshman Shelly Zelnick (57.03), sophomore Tirol Palmer (58.58) and senior Elizabeth Cook (58.62).
Freshman Natalie Clausen continued her dominance in just her second collegiate appearance, taking first place in both the 1000 and 500 yard freestyle. Clausen finished well ahead of her competition in both races, clocking 10:19.80 in the 1000, finishing eleven seconds ahead of her teammate, senior Roni Meyer. In the 500, she set a personal best and beat out SMU's Vicky Cunningham by five seconds with a time of 4:59.85.
Zelnick also continued to shine for Tulane as she added a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 back (57.03) and the 200 IM (2:06.55). Later in the meet she helped her team to a second-place finish in the 400 free relay (3:32.00).
Junior Ellie Sills came in second in the 100 fly (57.19) and posted a third-place effort in the 200 fly (2:06.01), while senior Holly Grender notched two second-place finishes in the 200 back (2:04.95) and the 200 IM (2:08.78).
The Green Wave were dominant from the diving board, with freshman Caroline McCleary finishing first in both the 3-meter and 1-meter dives with scores of 268.13 and 263.92, respectively. Senior Lauren Arnold notched two second-place finishes (250.50, 246.91), while senior Maren Kjell finished in the No. 3 spot in the 1-meter (244.35).
The Green Wave will take next weekend off, but will be back in action on Nov. 19 for two, three-day events as swimming travels to Texas for the Houston Invitational. Diving will attend the Diving Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia.
Players Mentioned
