Tulane vs SMU (Women’s Dual)
- Saturday, January 23rd, 2021
- ROBSON & LINDLEY AQUATICS CENTER AND BARR-MCMILLION NATATORIUM, Dallas, TX
- SCY (Short Course Yards)
- Results
Team Scores
- SMU – 147
- Tulane – 111
SMU hosted Tulane for a women’s dual meet on Saturday, January 23rd, emerging victorious in a 147-111 decision. SMU won 9 events to Tulane’s 7.
Jenna Watson was huge for the Mustangs, posting 2 event wins, a 2nd-place finish, and helping an SMU relay to victory. In the 200 free, Watson got her hand on the wall first in what was a tight race amongst nearly the entire heat. Watson and Tulane’s Iza Pelka took the race out the fastest in the field, with Pelka flipping at the 100 mark in 54.66 to Watson’s 54.79. Watson was able to hold on in the back half, splitting 58.21 for a final time of 1:53.00, while Pelka faded with a 59.25, falling back 4th at the finish (1:53.91). SMU’s Olivia Grossklaus swam a consistent race, splitting 56.09/57.60 for a 1:53.69, which was 2nd. Teammate Janelle Gursoy was right behind, swimming a 1:53.73 for 3rd. Tulane’s Kate Amar took 5th in 1:54.03, making 1st-5th separated by only 1.03 seconds.
Watson went on to win the 400 IM, clocking a 4:25.47 to win the race by 3 seconds. Watson was in a tight race with Tulane’s Mya Drost-Parra (4:28.34), turning at the 200 mark in 2:07.83 to Drost-Parra’s 2:08.87. She then opened up a huge lead on Drost-Parra on the breaststroke leg, splitting 1:15.05 to Drost-Parra’s 1:18.47. Watson also came in 2nd in the 200 breast, swimming a 2:20.04.
SMU won the 400 medley relay after Tulane had both it’s relays disqualified for early take-offs. Watson led the SMU A off in 58.81, with Maddy Lewis splitting 1:03.38 on breast, Valentina Becerra 55.70 on fly, and Alex Stevens anchoring in 50.36. The Mustangs finished in 3:48.25. Tulane’s A relay, which was DQ’d, finished in 3:47.76 due to the anchor swimmer leaving early.
Alex Stevens was also instrumental in SMU’s victory, taking the 50 free and 100 free. In the 50 free, Stevens swam a 23.72, edging out teammate Johanna Gudmundsdottir (23.94). Stevens went on to win the 100 free in 51.16, where Gudmundsdottir came in 2nd again, swimming a 52.15. Stevens split the race tightly, going out in 24.92, and coming home in 26.24. Stevens also provided a field-leading 22.80 split on the 2nd leg of the SMU 200 free relay.
Tulane breaststroker Kate McDonald continued to tear through the breast events this season, winning both. McDonald won the 100 breast by over a second, swimming a 1:03.34. She posted the fastest splits in the field on both 50s, going out in 30.18 and coming home in 33.16. McDonald then went on to win the 200 breast in 2:17.45, touching first by nearly 3 seconds. McDonald swam a consistent race, going 1:06.89 on the first 100, and coming home in 1:10.56, marking a 3.67 second difference between 100s.
Tulane’s Danielle Titus swept the backstroke events. Titus swam a 56.33 in the 100 back, posting the fastest splits in the field on both 50s. She went on to clock a 2:01.92 in the 200 back, touching first by over 2 seconds.
PRESS RELEASE – TULANE:
DALLAS, Texas — Tulane swimming (1-4) totaled seven first-place finishes on Saturday in the team’s dual meet against American Athletic Conference opponent SMU (2-4) before ultimately falling to the Mustangs, 147-111.
“We had a small group competing today that packed a big punch,” head coach Leah Stancil said. “I was very proud of how the team competed. We were disappointed with our first relays being disqualified but we learn from our mistakes. We pivot and keep on striving to be better. We have a little more than three weeks until the AAC Championships so we will continue to fine tune and prepare to be successful.”
Junior Noa Heron started the meet off strong for the Green Wave, winning the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:10.74. Heron also recorded a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:00.19).
Continuing to shine in her first year in Olive and Blue was freshman Danielle Titus. The Green Wave newcomer won both the 100-yard backstroke (56.33) and 200-yard backstroke (2:01.92) events against the Mustangs.
Senior Kate McDonald continued with her winning behavior in her final season Uptown, winning the 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.45) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.34) events.
Sophomore Lilly Byrne also earned a first-place finish on Saturday, winning the 500-yard freestyle (4:48.83) while finishing second in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:13.41).
Scoring points for Tulane in three events was sophomore Mya Drost-Parra, who finished second in the 400-yard IM (4:28.34), third in the 100-yard backstroke (57.96) and third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.80). Drost-Parra’s time in the 100 back is a new personal best.
Freshman Winter Craig earned silver status in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing with a career-best time of 2:03.75. Craig also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly, earning another personal-best time of 58.34.
Finishing in third in the 100-yard butterfly was sophomore Hailey Roberti, who recorded a personal-best time of 57.50. Also scoring three points for the Green Wave was sophomore Kate Amar, who finished third in the 400-yard IM (4:34.47).
Tulane’s 200-yard freestyle relay team, made up of Titus, junior Iza Pelka, sophomore Olivia Davison and senior Courtney Barker, earned the win over SMU in the final event of the day, recording a time of 1:37.89.
The Green Wave are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 30 as they welcome West Florida to New Orleans for their first home meet of the season.
Follow the program on Facebook and Twitter (@GreenWaveSwim) and on Instagram (@TulaneSwimDive). Fans can also follow Tulane Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, all-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.
PRESS RELEASE – SMU:
DALLAS (SMU) – The Mustangs won eight events, including doubles from Alex Stevens and Jenna Watson, and defeated American Athletic Conference foe Tulane, 147-111, on Senior Day at The Nat.
Prior to the event, SMU honored Katie Crown, Madison Kinsey, Taylor Ohlhauser, Sam Smith, Lauren Thompson and Kiley Vandevier for their contributions to the program.
Stevens continued her freestyle dominance for the Mustangs, leading an SMU sweep of the 50- and 100- yard freestyles. Stevens won the 50 in 23.72, and finished the 100 in 51.16. Johanna Gudmundsdottir finished second in both events clocking in at 23.94 and 52.15, while Indra Vandenbussche was third at 24.25 and 52.84.
Watson’s first win came in the 200-yard freestyle, where she also led a sweep for the Mustangs, pacing the field in 1:53.00. Olivia Grossklaus (1:53.69) was second and Janelle Gursoy third (1:53.73). Grossklaus was also runner-up in the 500.
The freshman also won the 400-yard individual medley by nearly three seconds, covering the distance in 4:25.47, and was second in the 200-yard breaststroke.
SMU swept butterfly events with a win in the 100 distance from Valentina Becerra (56.73) and the 200 from Grossklaus (2:00.08). Becerra was third in the 200, while Maxine Parkinson was the runner-up in the 100.
The opening 400-yard medley relay picked up first-place points for the Mustangs as Watson, Maddy Lewis, Becerra and Stevens clocked in at 3:48.25 for the win, and Gudmundsdottir, Stevens, Smith and Vandenbussche won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:34.19 to close the event.
Mustang divers faced North Texas in exhibition action at the event, sweeping both boards. Senior divers led the way for SMU, with Ohlhauser and Crown posting career days. Ohlhauser registered a personal-best 325.43 to lead all divers on 3 meter, with Crown coming in with her career mark of 312.23 for second.
On 1 meter, Ohlhauser’s new personal best of 305.48 led the field, with the Mustangs rounding out the top three.
Other notable finishes included Gabi Grobler as the Mustangs’ top swimmer in backstroke events (2nd), Lewis (2nd) and Julia Yakushi (3rd) in the 100 breast and Annabelle Corcoran in the 1,000 free (3rd).
SMU is back in action Friday, Feb. 5, when they travel to Austin to take on No. 1 Texas.
