Complete Results
HOUSTON (SMU) – Junior
Matea Samardzic earned co-Most Outstanding Swimmer honors to help lead the SMU women's swimming and diving team to a second-place finish at the 2017 American Athletic Conference Championships in Houston. Samardzic was one of three Mustang individuals to win championships on the final night of the event, as senior
Marne Erasmus and sophomore
Brooke Pospichal also took home gold, as did the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Samardzic posted a meet-record 1:52.69 in the 200-yard backstroke to complete the sweep of the stroke. Freshman
Agata Magner was also present in the A Final and finished seventh in 1:59.80.
SMU continued its dominance of butterfly, with Erasmus adding to her 100-distance title for the second straight year. The senior covered the distance in 1:57.36 just ahead of classmate
Anna Cheesbrough, who finished in 1:58.79. Freshman
Erin Trahan joined the pair in the A Final and finished in seventh place with a time of 2:00.82.
As the No. 1 seed headed into the platform Championship Final, Pospichal finished atop the eight-diver field with a five-round 235.75 for the win. The sophomore's total was nearly 23 points ahead of the field. Pospichal has qualified in all three events for the NCAA Zone Championship, which takes place March 6-8 in Columbia, Missouri.
In the 100-yard freestyle, senior
Vicky Cunningham lowered her top time to 48.79 to finish second in the event, while junior
Adrienn Santa finished fifth with her own personal-best performance of 50.33.
The 200-yard breaststroke saw senior
Tara-Lynn Nicholas lower her preliminary time by nearly four seconds and climb three spots to earn bronze, touching in 2:12.56.
Sophomore
El Yellin led the Mustangs in the mile, finishing eighth in a career-best time of 16:54.27.
The final event of the Championships turned gold for SMU with Santa,
Hannah Rogers, Samardzic and Cunningham teaming up for a dramatic victory. SMU registered a time of 3:18.85 to out-touch Cincinnati by .17.
Houston earned its first championship as part of The American with 772 points, while the Mustangs finished with a team score of 676. Cincinnati (625) was third, East Carolina (473) fourth, Connecticut (460) fifth and Tulane (395) sixth.
The NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships take place March 15-18 in Indianapolis, and select Mustangs will compete pending qualification.
