SMU Swimmers Head To Texas A&M Invite, Divers To Missouri

The SMU men’s and women’s swimming teams head to Mansfield, Texas, for the Texas A&M Invite hosted at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium Nov. 17-19, while divers head to Columbia, Missouri for the Missouri Diving Invite the same dates.

FOLLOW THE PONIES
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Facebook: /SMUSwimDiveW  •  Twitter: @SMUSwimmingW  •  Instagram: /SMUSwimmingW
Snapchat: SMU.Mustangs

TEXAS A&M INVITE
Participating Teams
Arizona State – M/W
Boise State – W
Incarnate Word – M/W
LSU – M/W
SMU – M/W
TCU – M/W
Texas A&M – M/W

Live Results
12thman.com / Meet Mobile

Schedule of Events

A-B-C-D finals will be offered for all individual events 200 yards and shorter.
A-B-C finals will be offered for the 500 free and 400 IM.

Session Start Times
Prelims: 9:30 a.m. CT / Finals 6:00 p.m.

MISSOURI DIVING INVITE
Participating Teams
Missouri / SMU / Texas A&M / Wisconsin / North Dakota / Nebraska / LSU / Iowa State / Wyoming / Illinois

Live Results
DiveMeets.com

Schedule of Events

Session Start Times
Prelims: 11:00 a.m. CT

WEEKLY WINNER
Bryce Klein earned American Athletic Conference Diver of the Week honors for the second consecutive week after helping the Mustangs to a dual-meet victory over Connecticut on Nov. 4. Klein swept 1 and 3 meter springboards for the second time this season, posting NCAA Zone standards on both in the win over the Huskies. The junior posted a season-best 380.33 on the 1 meter, and closed the event registering a total score of 359.92 on 3 meter. Klein won the league’s first weekly honor, giving him seven for his career.

MARCH MADNESS
Bryce Klein will make his third appearance at NCAA Zones in March of 2017, after posting qualifying scores on both the 1- and 3-meter springboards at the Mustangs’ first event this season.

AMERICAN TOP TIMES

LAST TIME OUT
The Mustang men improved to 2-0 in dual meets this season with a 179-117 victory over American Athletic Conference opponent Connecticut on Nov. 4, picking up 12 event wins on the night. Bryce Klein (1m, 3m), Ralph Koo (50 free, 100 free) and Ziga Cerkovnik (100 breast, 100 fly) were multi event winners, while Carson Klein (200 free), Bartosz Krzyzaniak (100 back), Ronen Faur (200 breast) and Jonathan Gomez (200 fly) each won once.

In relay action, Krzyzaniak, Cerkovnik, Koo and Nick Badsky opened the event with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay, and the event closed with Krzyzaniak, Koo, Christian Scherubl and Cerkovnik winning the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The Mustang women defeated American Athletic Conference opponent Tulane, 173-114, to sweep home dual meets going 3-0 for the 2016-17 season on Nov. 4. SMU earned victories in four of the five freestyle events in the dual meet, with Vicky Cunningham leading the group with a pair of wins in the 50 and 100 distances. Maddie Hoch topped the field in the 200 and junior Matea Samardzic won her first appearance in the 500.

Agata Magner got her first win in the 200 back, while Samardzic cruised to victory in the 100. Marne Erasmus earned the victory in the 100 fly, and the 200 went to Anna Cheesbrough. The win in the 400 IM went to Samardzic, and Lauren Lamb picked up the win in 3-meter diving action.

The Mustangs swept event relays placing first in the 200-yard medley relay (Samardzic, Nicholas, Erasmus, Cunningham), and the 200-yard freestyle relay (Trahan, Rogers, Santa, Cunningham).

BREAKING GROUND
SMU broke ground on the Robson Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium in February.  The 42,000-square-foot center will be home to SMU’s internationally recognized men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. Located at 5550 SMU Blvd. on the University’s growing east campus, the center will provide facilities for practice, competition and community use. The Aquatics Center will feature an Olympic-sized, eight-lane indoor pool with a platform diving area, including four springboards and a 10-meter tower for training and competition. Coaches’ offices, men’s, women’s and visitor locker rooms and a classroom and meeting area will be located adjacent to the pool. Spectator seating for 800 will be on the mezzanine level.

AMERICAN EXCELLENCE
AAC Men’s Diver of the Year Bryce Klein was honored with the 2015-16 AAC Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award for men’s swimming and diving. Nominees for the award are chosen based on athletic performance (40 percent), academic performance (40 percent) and community service (20 percent), and must have achieved at least junior standing.

The Mustangs placed 27 student-athletes on The American’s All-Academic Team (3.0 GPA), and as a team, the Ponies picked up team honors from the conference as the men’s swimming and diving program with the highest GPA. The team also posted a 3.40 GPA to put them top 10 of 95 eligible Division I men’s teams for the CSCAA Team Award.

Three Mustang women earned CSCAA individual Scholar All-America honorable mention honors last season. As an honorable mention selection, members have achieved a GPA of 3.50 and a “B” time standard or competed at their respective qualifying meets. As a team, SMU posted a 3.49 GPA to place them in the top third of the 172 Division I women’s squads to earn the team award. The American Athletic Conference also honored 22 Mustangs on its all-academic list.

Anna Cheesbrough – Masters in sport management
Vicky Cunningham – General business – MBA
Maddie Hoch – Management science (mathematics)

2016 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Bryce Klein competed on 3 meter at the 2016 Championships, finishing 17th overall after competing in the Consolation Final. Marne Erasmus was 11th in the 100-yard butterfly and Tara-Lynn Nicholas competed in the 100-yard breaststroke.

2016 AAC CHAMPIONSHIP
The SMU women won 10 of 18 swimming events to defend their AAC Championship. The win is the Mustangs’ second in the three-year history of The American, and 17th in the last 20 seasons. In all, the Mustangs earned five individual championships, and swept the event’s five relays. Marne Erasmus (butterfly) and Kirsty McLauchlan (individual medley) swept their individual specialties, while Tara-Lynn Nicholas won the 100-yard breaststroke.

The men finished 2nd at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championship winning 13 of 21 events at the event in Houston. The Mustangs won 4 of 5 relays at the event and swept individual honors as Sam Straughan was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet and Bryce Klein took home Most Outstanding Diver accolades.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS
SMU has won 17 of the last 20 conference championships on the women’s. The Mustangs have never finished outside of the top three under Steve Collins, with only two 3rd-place finishes. 2016 was the 32nd consecutive year the Mustangs appeared at the NCAA Championship, dating back to 1985. Of those 32 appearances, SMU has finished in the top 10 17 times, and inside the top 5 10 times. The highest placement came at the 1996 Championship, where the Mustangs earned runner-up honors.

The men have won 41 conference championships since the 1946-47 season, with 16 coming under current head coach Eddie Sinnott. In all, the program has produced 633 individual champions at the conference level, and 30 at the NCAA level. The Mustangs have earned runner-up honors at each of the three American Athletic Conference Championships.

News courtesy of SMU Athletics.