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Sports

Sizzling Cougars look to end strong

by JONG LEE
The Daily Cougar

The Cougars have been preparing for this moment all season. The swimming and diving team will have a chance to capture a Conference USA championship.

The action began Wednesday with two third-place relay finishes for UH. The results are still unofficial, however, as Marshall arrived late because inclement weather. 

The Thundering Herd will have to swim the 200-yard medley relay sometime in the next few days and have its results added to the final standings. 

The Cougars will resume competition at 10 a.m. today.

Houston (18-6) has doubled its dual meet win total from last year, and swimming head coach Mark Taylor said his team is focused on winning a championship.

"I think that (the 18-6 record) gives us a little bit of confidence," he said. "We're facing a bunch of very good teams. (Southern Methodist) is one of the top teams in the country, and Rice and East Carolina are always strong and usually have NCAA qualifiers from their program.

"I think the girls have prepared themselves very well all season long. We have worked very hard for this -- probably harder than any time I've been here."

As Taylor said, one of the biggest obstacles will be SMU. The Mustangs are No. 12 in the nation and are considered the team to beat in C-USA.

"SMU is going to be very tough. They're extremely deep, and they have a number of national level and international level superstars that make up their program. But we keep getting better every year, as well as the other C-USA members," Taylor said.

This will be the fourth consecutive year UH will host the C-USA championship. Houston finished third last season behind SMU and East Carolina, finishing behind the Pirates by two points.

"It's nice to be at home," Taylor said. "Home cooking, home beds and everybody is used to the environment they're in. Nothing can disturb us at our own place because we know what those things are and we eliminate them. So we're very excited on what's going to happen."

Sophomore Andrea Pa'lmai has been a big part of the Cougars' success. She leads UH in four categories this season -- 1,000-yard freestyle, 1,650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard individual medley.

"We're thrilled with (Pa'lmai) and the improvements she's made over the years. This is her second conference championship, so she knows what's going on. Her backstroke and her 400-individual medley are going to be stellar," Taylor said.

This meet marks the last home meet for the seniors: Rachel Gitelson, Anna Kiess, Alejandra Salazar and Szintia Szanto. 

"Szanto is finishing up her Houston career and this will be her last C-USA meet. Of course, she's won C-USA championships before," Taylor said. "It's going to be hard for her to repeat with the talent that is in her events this year, but I definitely think she can do it. She's probably the best decision I've made, coaching-wise, about giving her a scholarship."

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