Saturday, February 18
Dallas
University of North Texas
vs
The American Championship
Photo by: ANDREW HANCOCK
Swim & Dive Wraps Up First Conference Meet in The American
2/19/2023 9:49:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
DALLAS - The UNT swimming and diving team became the first program at the school to compete in a conference championship in the Mean Green's new conference home this past week when they competed in the American Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at SMU.
Swimming and diving began competition as a member of The American this year, while the rest of UNT's programs will make the move on July 1.
The Mean Green took several positives from the meet, which was a large step up in competition from their old conference championships in C-USA, seeing several student-athletes swim lifetime bests, get cut times for next month's National Invitational Championships and win consolation finals en route to putting up 506 points as a team to finish in eighth.
In the diving events, Saylor Hawkins took fourth in the 3-meter springboard consolation final, while Brigid Krbec and Olivia Dollar both scored points for the team in the 1-meter springboard consolation final, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively. All three will compete at the NCAA Zone D Championships in Minneapolis, March 7-9, with hopes of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
The top point-scorer for the Mean Green in the meet was sophomore Shaena McCloud, who totaled 51 individual points, not counting her work on three relays (200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 400 medley). McCloud finished sixth in the championship final of the 50 freestyle, third in the consolation final of the 100 butterfly and eighth in the consolation final of the 100 freestyle.
Diana Kolb tied Hawkins for the second-most points scored by a UNT individual with a strong showing of her own. Kolb won the consolation final of the 100 backstroke and was narrowly edged out in the consolation final of the 200 backstroke, settling for second place. She also swam in the C-final of the 400 individual medley and swam on the 400 medley relay that finished seventh.
Senior London Farris tallied 33 points to finish one behind Dollar for fourth-most points for the Mean Green with a C-final appearance in the 50 freestyle, a fifth-place finish in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle and a fourth-place finish in the consolation of the 100 freestyle. She also swam on all three freestyle relays and swam the freestyle leg of the 400 medley relay.
One of the better stories of the meet for UNT was the performance of sophomore Noelle Marsh, who has overcome a devastating injury that led to months of grueling rehab. Though still not 100 percent, Marsh blew expectations out of the water while tallying 25 points for her team with an appearance in the C-final of the 50 freestyle and an inspiring victory in the consolation final of the 100 freestyle. She also swam on all three freestyle relays, including the 400 freestyle relay that had a fifth-place finish.
The swimmers had one more B-finalist in sophomore Kailey Turner, who finished fourth in the consolation final of the 200 butterfly. She also swam the second leg on the 800 freestyle relay.
The team also got points from several C-finalists, including Kennedy Eichler (400 IM, 1,650 freestyle), Tram Nguyen (200 butterfly), Laura Mazzotta (100 and 200 breaststroke), Paige Walsh (100 breaststroke), Hallie Connell (100 breaststroke), Kaylyn King (1,650 freestyle) and Emily Ally, who won the C-final of the 100 backstroke.
Ally, Eichler, Marsh and Turner, who all transferred to UNT after last year, all swam lifetime bests at the meet and all qualified for the NIC next month.
"I am so pleased with our team's effort and tenacity this week," head coach Brittany Roth said. "The strength of our team is their unity, and their willingness to go after big challenges. I'm blown away at the attitude, effort, and fight in our team. It's amazing to watch our student-athletes compete at such a high level and put together a really solid meet. The amount of lifetime-best performances and breakthrough performances that our team achieved over the week is due to the work they have put in the pool and the work they have put in as teammates. I'm really proud of this group."
Fans can follow the program throughout the season @MeanGreenSD on Twitter and Instagram.
Swimming and diving began competition as a member of The American this year, while the rest of UNT's programs will make the move on July 1.
The Mean Green took several positives from the meet, which was a large step up in competition from their old conference championships in C-USA, seeing several student-athletes swim lifetime bests, get cut times for next month's National Invitational Championships and win consolation finals en route to putting up 506 points as a team to finish in eighth.
In the diving events, Saylor Hawkins took fourth in the 3-meter springboard consolation final, while Brigid Krbec and Olivia Dollar both scored points for the team in the 1-meter springboard consolation final, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively. All three will compete at the NCAA Zone D Championships in Minneapolis, March 7-9, with hopes of advancing to the NCAA Championships.
The top point-scorer for the Mean Green in the meet was sophomore Shaena McCloud, who totaled 51 individual points, not counting her work on three relays (200 freestyle, 400 freestyle and 400 medley). McCloud finished sixth in the championship final of the 50 freestyle, third in the consolation final of the 100 butterfly and eighth in the consolation final of the 100 freestyle.
Diana Kolb tied Hawkins for the second-most points scored by a UNT individual with a strong showing of her own. Kolb won the consolation final of the 100 backstroke and was narrowly edged out in the consolation final of the 200 backstroke, settling for second place. She also swam in the C-final of the 400 individual medley and swam on the 400 medley relay that finished seventh.
Senior London Farris tallied 33 points to finish one behind Dollar for fourth-most points for the Mean Green with a C-final appearance in the 50 freestyle, a fifth-place finish in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle and a fourth-place finish in the consolation of the 100 freestyle. She also swam on all three freestyle relays and swam the freestyle leg of the 400 medley relay.
One of the better stories of the meet for UNT was the performance of sophomore Noelle Marsh, who has overcome a devastating injury that led to months of grueling rehab. Though still not 100 percent, Marsh blew expectations out of the water while tallying 25 points for her team with an appearance in the C-final of the 50 freestyle and an inspiring victory in the consolation final of the 100 freestyle. She also swam on all three freestyle relays, including the 400 freestyle relay that had a fifth-place finish.
The swimmers had one more B-finalist in sophomore Kailey Turner, who finished fourth in the consolation final of the 200 butterfly. She also swam the second leg on the 800 freestyle relay.
The team also got points from several C-finalists, including Kennedy Eichler (400 IM, 1,650 freestyle), Tram Nguyen (200 butterfly), Laura Mazzotta (100 and 200 breaststroke), Paige Walsh (100 breaststroke), Hallie Connell (100 breaststroke), Kaylyn King (1,650 freestyle) and Emily Ally, who won the C-final of the 100 backstroke.
Ally, Eichler, Marsh and Turner, who all transferred to UNT after last year, all swam lifetime bests at the meet and all qualified for the NIC next month.
"I am so pleased with our team's effort and tenacity this week," head coach Brittany Roth said. "The strength of our team is their unity, and their willingness to go after big challenges. I'm blown away at the attitude, effort, and fight in our team. It's amazing to watch our student-athletes compete at such a high level and put together a really solid meet. The amount of lifetime-best performances and breakthrough performances that our team achieved over the week is due to the work they have put in the pool and the work they have put in as teammates. I'm really proud of this group."
Fans can follow the program throughout the season @MeanGreenSD on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Backstroke/Freestyle
/ Swimming and Diving
Diving
/ Swimming and Diving
Freestyle/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming and Diving
Diving
/ Swimming and Diving
Backstroke/Butterfly
/ Swimming and Diving
Backstroke/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Diving
/ Swimming and Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming and Diving
Breaststroke/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Freestyle/Butterfly
/ Swimming and Diving
Butterfly/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
Freestyle/Butterfly
/ Swimming and Diving
Breaststroke/Freestyle
/ Swimming and DivingOlympic Village Facility Reveal | Mean Green VB + S&D
Tuesday, May 06
AAC Diving Championship | Mean Green S&D
Thursday, February 20