The SMU women's swimming and diving team hosts a pair of dual meets this weekend at the Carroll ISD Natatorium in Southlake, Texas. The Mustangs welcome Houston on Friday at 7 p.m. CT, while Rice is in town Saturday at 1 p.m. Live results for both meets can be found at SMUMustangs.com/smu/swim, or on the Meet Mobile App. Fans can also follow in-event updates on Twitter.

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SCOUTING THE COMPETITION

Houston

American Athletic Conference opponent Houston is on the Mustangs' schedule for the second time this season after first facing off at the UNT Relays Sept. 30. The Cougars won the four-team altered format event, while the Mustangs finished second. Houston is also coming off a pair of successful events as they picked up four race wins at the Houston Pentathlon and tied for first at the Missouri State Invite, Last season, SMU defeated UH, 158-142, in dual action.   

Rice

In its first scored event of the season, Rice placed third of seven teams at the Missouri State Shootout. The Owls went on to post a 1-2 dual record at the four-team Dual-A-Pool-Looza, picking up a win over Tulane and losses to Denver and FIU. The Mustangs defeated Rice last season, 152-136, in Houston.

AMERICAN HONORS

Matea Samardzic was honored as the American Athletic Conference's first women's Swimmer of the Week for the 2016-17 season after a fast weekend of racing at the SMU Classic. She was also named The American Swimmer of the Week by CollegeSwimming News and the High-Point Swimmer at the Classic, an event which produced the top times in the nation in every swimming event but two.

Her times at the Classic included the nation's fastest time in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:53.69, the third fastest times in Division I in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.43) and 400-yard individual medley (4:12.52) and the fourth fastest in the 100-yard backstroke (52.92),. All four of her individual times were NCAA B standards. In relay action, Samardzic led off both the 200- and 400-yard medley relays. The Mustang times were fourth in the nation in the 400 (3:37.87) and fifth in the 200 (1:40.37).

VOTE GETTERS

The Mustangs are receiving 16 votes in the first edition of the CSCAA NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Poll, placing them just outside of the top 25 by only 4 votes. SMU was ranked as high as No. 11 a season ago, and is the only American Athletic Conference team recognized on the list.

LAST TIME OUT

The Mustangs posted a fifth place finish at the 23rd annual SMU Classic and were led by four NCAA B cuts and a meet record from Matea Samardzic. Samardzic swept the backstroke events, while Marne Erasmus won the Championship final of the 100 fly and Tara-Lynn Nicholas was in the top three of the 100 breast.

MAKING THE CUT

After fast first weekend of racing, the Mustangs have posted seven NCAA B cuts. Matea Samardzic leads the way with four (100 back, 200 back, 200 IM, 400 IM), while Vicky Cunningham (100 free), Tara-Lynn Nicholas (100 breast) and Marne Erasmus (100 fly) each have one. This is the fourth consecutive year that Erasmus and Nicholas have earned NCAA Division I provisional cuts in their specialties. Cunningham registered her first cuts in 2015-16 and Samardzic joins the group for the first time having transferred from Division II St. Peter's.

ALL-AMERICAN ACADEMICS

Three Mustang student-athletes earned College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) individual Scholar All-America honorable mention honors. As an honorable mention selection, members have achieved a GPA of 3.50 and a "B" time standard or competed at their respective qualifying meets. As a team, SMU posted a 3.49 GPA to place them in the top third of the 172 Division I women's squads to earn the team award.

Anna Cheesbrough - Masters in sport management
Vicky Cunningham - General business - MBA
Maddie Hoch - Management science (mathematics)

The American Athletic Conference also honored 22 Mustangs on its all-academic list.

THE NEW HOME OF SMU SWIMMING & DIVING

Building on a legacy of proud Olympians, world records and 155 national titles, SMU broke ground on the new Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.  The 42,000 square foot center will be home to SMU's internationally-recognized men's and women's swimming and diving teams. Located at 5550 SMU Blvd. on the University's growing east campus, the center will provide facilities for practice, competition and community use. The Aquatics Center will feature an Olympic-sized, eight-lane indoor pool with a platform diving area, including four springboards and a 10-meter tower for training and competition. Coaches' offices, men's, women's and visitor locker rooms and a classroom and meeting area will be located adjacent to the pool. Spectator seating for 800 will be on the mezzanine level. The facility is set to open for the 2017-18 season and will serve as host to the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championships.

RIO SUCCESS

Rachel Nicol // Canada

Nicol, who entered the Games as the No. 18 seed in the 100-meter breaststroke, earned herself a fifth-place finish in the event. Nicol secured her finish clocking a personal-best 1:06.68 in the event final. She advanced as part of the top eight after posting a 1:06.73 in the second of two semifinals. For her performance in the individual event, Nicol earned a spot on Canada's fifth place 4x100-meter medley relay squad finishing in a National Record time of 3:55.49. Canada was the No. 2 seed headed into the final after winning its semifinal heat in 3:56.80.

Matea Samardzic // Croatia

Samardzic's best finish came in the 100-meter backstroke, where the Croatian finished 13th overall in semifinals touching in 1:00.60. She also reached the semifinals in the 200 distance, finishing 15th in 2:09.83. In her first of her three events at the Games, the 400-meter individual medley, Samardzic posted a National Record time of 4:39.41. The National standard earned Samardzic the win in heat two of the event by nearly four seconds. It was also over five seconds ahead of her 4:44.63 entry time.

Nina Rangelova // Bulgaria

Participating in her third Games, Rangelova competed in heats of both the 100- and 200-meter freestyle. The Bulgarian finished fourth in her heat and 22nd overall in the 200 at 1:58.57, and was 31st overall in the 100 clocking a 55.71. Head coach Steve Collins also represented Bulgaria as Rangelova's coach.

Isabella Arcila // Colombia

Arcila posted a National Record time in her heat of the 50-meter freestyle, touching the wall in 25.35. Overall, the Colombian was fourth in her heat and 30th out of 91 entered participants in her first Olympics.

2016 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

The SMU women's swimming and diving team concluded the 2015-16 NCAA season at the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championship in Atlanta, March 16-19. Junior Marne Erasmus and Tara-Lynn Nicholas represented the Mustangs, competing in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke, respectively. Both swimmers also posted B standards in the 200 distances of their respective events, as well as the 50-yard freestyle. Erasmus finished the event 11th overall and third in the Consolation Final, earning All-America honors, while Nicholas was 21st overall.

In all, eight Mustangs posted NCAA B standards throughout the season.

AAC CHAMPIONS

SMU won 10 of 18 swimming events to defend its AAC Championship. The win is the Mustangs' second in the three-year history of The American, and 17th in the last 20 seasons. In all, the Mustangs earned five individual championships, and swept the event's five relays. Marne Erasmus (butterfly) and Kirsty McLauchlan (individual medley) swept their individual specialties, while Tara-Lynn Nicholas won the 100-yard breaststroke.

ALL-CONFERENCE

The AAC Champion Mustangs placed seven individuals, as well as all five relays on the 2016 All-Conference list.

200 free relay*: Rogers, Nicholas, Erasmus, Cunningham
400 free relay*: Santa, Rogers, Hoch, Cunningham
800 free relay*: Hoch, Santa, Bezan, Cunningham
200 medley relay*: Sudarma, Nicholas, Erasmus, Rogers
400 medley relay*: Volchkov, Nicholas, Erasmus, Cunningham
Cheesbrough: 200 fly
Cunningham: 100 free, 200 free
Erasmus: 100 fly*, 200 fly*
Hoch: 500 free
McLauchlan: 200 IM*, 400 IM*
Nicholas: 100 breast*, 200 breast
Rogers: 50 free

*Denotes Conference Champion

PONIES ON TOP

SMU finished the season with all five of the fastest relay times in the American Athletic Conference. Individually, the Mustangs had six of the top times in their respective events, and also 19 in the top five.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS

SMU has won 17 of the last 20 conference championships, including a first-place finish at the American Athletic Conference Championship in 2016. The Mustangs have never finished outside of the top three under Steve Collins, with only two 3rd-place finishes. This is the 32nd consecutive year the Mustangs have appeared at the NCAA Championship, dating back to 1985. Of those 32 appearances, SMU has finished in the top 10 17 times, and inside the top 5 10 times. The highest placement came at the 1996 Championship, where the Mustangs earned runner-up honors.

MAKING HISTORY

Following the 2015-16 season the current Mustang roster accounted for 13 of the all-time top 10 performers in SMU history, with two holding school records. Four top performers were also in the top three. Team members are also part of two relays that rank in the top three of their respective events.

LEADER OF THE PACK

Head coach Steve Collins and assistant coach Ashley Dell were named the American Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season. Collins enters his 31st year as the head coach of the SMU women's swimming and diving team. A two-time NCAA Coach of the Year and 11-time conference Coach of the Year, Collins has led the Mustangs to 17 conference championships in the past 20 years and continually finishes among the top teams in the NCAA. During his tenure, SMU has 15 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, nine of those in the top five.