Courtesy: SMU Athletics
The Mustangs travel to Texas on Friday for their final dual meet of the season. Diving is slated to begin at 12 p.m. with swimming to follow at 3 p.m. Results can be found on SMUMustangs.com and Dive Meets. The event is closed to the public.
Last Time Out
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.
Stevens continued her freestyle dominance for the Mustangs, leading an SMU sweep of the 50- and 100-yard events. Watson won the 200 free and 400 IM.
SMU also swept butterfly events with wins from Valentina Becerra and Olivia Grossklaus and won both relays.
Mustang divers faced North Texas in exhibition action at the event, sweeping both boards. Senior divers led the way for SMU, with Taylor Ohlhauser and Katie 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.
Scouting The Longhorns
Texas is ranked No. 1 in the CSCAA Division I Top 25 Poll. The Longhorns are 1-0 in dual meets this season, with a win over Texas A&M.
Making The Cut
All four divers have achieved two NCAA C Zone scores during the 2020-21 season. Johanna Holloway (1m, 3m), Taylor Ohlhauser (1m, 3m) and Nicole Stambo (1m, 3m) have qualified for the 2021 NCAA Zone D Diving Championships in March based on the NCAA’s updated Zone qualification standards. Both Ohlhauser and Stambo have surpassed the newly designated NCAA A score (295.00) on 1 meter.
On the swimming side, Olivia Grossklaus has achieved the NCAA B standard in the 200 fly for the third consecutive season.
Conference Standouts
Taylor Ohlhauser and Alex Stevens swept AAC weekly honors on Jan. 26, joining Nicole Stambo (Dec. 15) as honorees this season.
Ohlhauser posted career performances on both boards against UNT, leading the field with a six-round 305.48 on 1 meter, which exceeds the NCAA’s newly created A Zone qualifying score. On 3 meter, she posted a 325.43 to take the top spot.
Stevens swept 50- and 100-yard freestyle events against Texas A&M and conference opponent Tulane. She also helped SMU to wins in the 200 free relay in both meets, and in the 400 medley relay against Tulane. In all, Stevens has won six individual events since returning to the Mustang line-up in January. Both her 50 and 100 times rank top six in The American.
Top 10 Performers
Three active Mustangs currently account for six spots on SMU’s all-time top-10 performer lists.
| Gabi Grobler 100 back 10 | 54.21 200 back 10 | 1:57.12 200 IM 6 | 1:59.41 |
Olivia Grossklaus 200 fly 2 | 1:56.44 |
Frederica Kizek 1000 free 7 | 9:56.66 1650 free 8 | 16:28.89 |
Around The League
The Mustangs currently hold the top time in two swimming events around the league and have 12 times in the top three.
Indra Vandenbussche | 50 free
Olivia Grossklaus | 200 fly
Four of the five Mustang relays lead the conference, with the 400 medley relay ranking second.
In The Rankings
Olivia Grossklaus‘ 200 fly (1:58.01) ranks 34th nationally, while three of the five Mustang relays rank in the top 30.
200 free relay | 1:32.22 | 31st
400 free relay | 3:21.41 | 29th
800 free relay | 7:22.14 | 14th
200 medley relay | 1:41.44 | 42nd
400 medley relay | 3:42.40 | 30th
Academic Excellence
The Mustangs continue to excel in the classroom, earning College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America honors. Teams were selected on the basis of their fall grade-point-average, and must have achieved a 3.0 GPA. SMU posted a 3.59 GPA in the fall.
All-American Returners
The current roster returns CSCAA All-American Johanna Holloway, who earned honors on platform in 2020, as well as seven CSCAA Scholar All-Americans.
Holloway led the Mustangs as a first-team Scholar All-America selection, while Katie Crown, Gabi Grobler, Olivia Grossklaus, Frederica Kizek, Taylor Ohlhauser and Nicole Stambo earned Honorable Mention accolades.
Looking Ahead
The Mustangs have their final tune-up on Saturday, a pre-conference time trial event, before hosting the American Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 18-20 at The Nat. Both events are closed to the public.
