Hi 53 / Lo 38
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Hi 53 / Lo 38 |
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Volume 69, Issue 98,
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Sports
New faces key to UH title hopes Cougar Sports Staff Given that the UH swimming and diving team
lost its greatest athlete to graduation following the 2002-03 season, one
couldn't fault opponents for taking the Cougars lightly this season. Diver
Yulia Pakhalina put the program back on the map with five national championships
in three years. It seemed the entire weight of the program's success was
now on the slight shoulders of sophomore Azul Almazan.
Sophomore Azul Almazan will be one of the favorites in the diving categories of the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held this Thursday through Saturday at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. Nathan Lindstrom/The Daily Cougar But then a freshman surprised everyone by challenging Almazan for the top diver position. And then the swimmers became a force with which to be reckoned, also on the back of a freshman. Freshman swimmer Szintia Szanto has often looked more at home in the water, outpacing the competition en route to multiple Conference USA Swimmer of the Week awards while freshman diver Anna Kiess, coupled with Alamazan, has given hope to a program trying to make up for Pakhalina's loss. Kiess was the only UH diver to win an event in the team's last meet (Feb. 7 against Texas A&M). When the super-frosh head back to the pool to face the rest of C-USA, they'll at least be swimming in friendly waters. The brand new Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium will be home to three days of intra-league competition. The championships will not only test how prepared Szanto and Kiess are to compete in a high-profile setting, but will also mark the first time a C-USA program has hosted the event. Almazan will attempt to win her second consecutive platform diving championship while Kiess will attempt to extend UH's reign in the one- and three-meter springboard events. Kiess may get some stiff competition from fellow Cougar freshman Rachel Gitelson. The biggest threat to the Cougars' chances are defending C-USA Women's Champion East Carolina and Texas Christian. The Lady Pirates head into the meet at 8-2 record while TCU boasts a 12-1 record. TCU is led by freshman swimmer Kaleigh Wentworth and sophomore diver Kelly Seely. Also fielding women's teams are Cincinnati, Louisville, Saint Louis and Tulane. Saint Louis (14-4) is led by its veterans, senior diver Tessa Truesdell and junior swimmer Megan Capellupo. Freshman swimmer Leslie Christian leads the 13-3 Tulane Green Wave. The TCU men's team enters the Men's Invitational with visions of snathcing a third consecutive overall title. Competition runs through Saturday, with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. each day. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students with a valid Cougar 1Card. Send comments to dcsports@mail.uh.edu |
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