LEWISVILLE, Texas (SMU) – The SMU women's swimming and diving team saw three of its student-athletes post NCAA B standard times on night one of the SMU Classic at the Westside Aquatic Center in Lewisville, Texas. Junior
Matea Samardzic led the way with a pair of times under the provisional standard, while seniors and 2016 NCAA Championships participants
Marne Erasmus and
Tara-Lynn Nicholas did so in their respective events as well.
Michigan (157), USC (156) and Louisville (155) are gridlocked atop the standings after nine events, while UCLA is fourth with 137. The Mustangs sit fifth with 117 team points and Miami is sixth with 82.
Samardzic and Erasmus were event winners for the Ponies, picking up victories in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, respectively. Both times were NCAA provisional cuts, while Erasmus' 53.20 in the fly currently stands as the third fastest in the country. Samardzic also posted her first standard of the night in the 400-yard individual medley, placing third in 4:12.52.
Overall, four meet records were broken or tied on a very fast night of the SMU Classic, including Samardzic's 52.92 in the 100 back. However, USC's Louisse Hansson posted a faster time in the event's Consolation Final, setting the new meet mark.
Nicholas was a standout in her specialty as well, placing third in the 100-yard breaststroke in an NCAA cut time of 1:01.65.
Senior
Vicky Cunningham and freshman
Erin Trahan also represented the Mustangs in Championship Finals, with Cunningham taking fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and Trahan finishing fifth in the 50-yard freestyle.
Sophomore diver
Brooke Pospichal competed in her first event as a Mustang, posting a six-round total of 254.45 on one meter for fifth place.
In relay action, SMU earned a fourth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay as the team of Samardzic, Nicholas, Erasmus and Cunningham touched in 3:37.87.
Night two action begins at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. Live results can be found
here, or catch them on the Meet Mobile App by searching "2016 SMU Women's Classic". Diving results can be found at divemeets.com.
Event Format:
The SMU Classic features 8 swimmers and 1 diver from each competing school. Swimmers may swim 3 events per day, one of which must be a relay. Each team will enter 1 swimmer per heat (Consolation & Championship), while relays will only have a Championship heat. Diving events will consist of 6 optional dives on 1m and 3m boards.
2016 Finishers:
The SMU Classic includes three top 10 NCAA finishers from 2016.
USC / 6th
Louisville / 8th
Michigan / 10th
UCLA / 17th
SMU / 40th
Miami / 40th
Mustang NCAA B Standards:
Matea Samardzic / 100 back / 52.92
Matea Samardzic / 400 IM / 4:12.52
Marne Erasmus / 100 fly / 53.20
Tara-Lynn Nicholas / 100 breast / 1:01.65
Meet Records Broken:
200 free / Louise Hansson / USC / 1:43.04
100 back / Louise Hansson / USC / 52.35
100 breast / Andee Cottrell / Louisville / 59.58 (tied)
800 free relay / Michigan / 7:03.07
