UH Swimming and Diving Takes Second at C-USA Championships

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 28, 2009) The University of Houston swimming and diving team finished second at the 2009 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships which concluded Saturday evening at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center (CRWC) Natatorium.

The Cougars earned the silver medal with 623 points followed by Rice's 595 points. SMU grabbed first place with 857.5 points. Houston's second place finish was their highest finish ever at the C-USA Championships. Their previous best was a third place finish at the 2006 Championships.

Houston swept the meet's specialty awards. Head coach Mark Taylor earned his first C-USA Championship Swimming Coach of the Meet award, snapping SMU's Steve Collins' two-year stint, while head diving coach Jane Figueiredo earned her eighth consecutive Diving Coach of the Year award.

In the only women's diving event of the evening, Anastasia Pozdniakova earned the top spot in platform diving with a final score of 277.55. With her win on Saturday, Pozdniakova became the first diver to win all three events since former Cougar Tania Cagnotto in 2006.Pozdniakova was named the 2009 Championship Diver of the Meet, her second C-USA Diver of the Meet award.

Courtney Forcucci finished in third place with 234.75 points and Jessalyn Almond placed fourth with 170.60 points.

Sasha Schwendenwein set a C-USA Championship meet record on Saturday morning in the women's 200-yard butterfly event in a preliminary heat with a time of 1:58.87. She later surpassed her own record with a 1:56.48 to capture the gold Saturday evening with an NCAA `B' time. Schwendenwein completed the Cougar award sweep with Championship Swimmer of the Meet honors.

Andrea Kells (2:02.43) placed seventh and Lubbers (2:11.13) finished 16th to join Schwendenwein in the 200-yard butterfly final.

Andrea Pa'lmai and Kim Eason put up top performances in the first event of the night, earning the gold and silver medals in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Pa'lmai's time of 16:38.87 gave her a spot in the UH record books. Pa'lmai shattered the previous school record of 16:51.88 which was set in 1978 by Cyndi McCullam.

Natalie Newcomb finished in the 15th place with a time of 17:35.15, while Danica Lubbers (18:33.21) followed in 17th place and Rachel Holcomb (18:42.20) finished 23rd.

Jess Shamburger (2:01.82) earned fourth place in the women's 200-yard backstroke and Pa'lmai's time of 2:05.06 was good enough for seventh in the event. Paige Bissett finished first in the consolation final with a time of 2:02.63.

Beccy Hillis (2:14.78) brought in a fourth place finish for the Cougars in the 200-yard breaststroke. Natalie Newcomb placed 15th in the event, receiving a time of 2:25.01.

Hillis also finished in fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.44.

To wrap up the meet, the Cougars (Sasha Schwendenwein, Andrea Pa'lmai, Paige Bissett, Kimberley Eeson) finished the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:26.12 to finish in fifth place.

Home Energy Solutions to Introduce Turfcats at Kite Day

AUSTIN, TEXAS (February 28, 2009) Friends and families are invited to Zilker Park to attend Kite Day Sunday where Home Energy Solutions and BMC West will introduce the public to Austin’s newest professional sports team: the Austin Turfcats of the Southern Indoor Football League.

More than 5,000 special inaugural postcards will be handed out by the Travis County Sherriff’s Department.

“We are very excited to be a part of bringing the Turfcats to Austin,” said Steve Rosenbaum of BMC West. “Kite Day is always a lot of fun, and we look forward to telling everybody about the Turfcats. Make sure to come by the Sherriff’s booth. We’ll have Turfcats postcards and other neat giveaways!”

Opening day for the Turfcats is April 18 versus the Acadiana Mudbugs. Affordable sponsorship opportunities are still available to local businesses and are a great way to associate your company with a professional sports team.

Great locations are still available for the 2009 season! Act now to reserve the best seats. Call a Season Sales Representative today at 866-969-8228 (TCAT) to reserve your seats today. The Austin Turfcats are committed to being a premier team in the Southern Indoor Football League and being involved in the community for which we serve.

For more information or get photos for media outlets or to get your 2009 Austin Turfcats season tickets, contact the Turfcats office at (866) 969-8228 (TCAT) or by electronic mail at roswalt@turfcats.com

UH's Turner, McPherson Grab Gold on Day 1 of C-USA Championships

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 27, 2009) Sophomore Ed Turner claimed his second straight Conference USA long jump championship on Friday, as the Cougars swept the top three places in the event on the first day of competition at the 2009 C-USA Indoor Championships.

At the end of day one, the Cougar men look to be in good shape to contend for their third-consecutive team title, leading the pack with 42.50 points. Rice stands in second with 40 points, while Tulsa rounds out the top three with 32 points.

The women's team also stands atop the championship leaderboard with 31 points and will look to clinch its first title since 2006 on Saturday. Rounding out the top three are Rice with 30 points and UCF with 27 points.

The 2008 C-USA Indoor Freshman of the Year and indoor long jump gold medalist, Turner set a NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a season-best leap of 7.56m (24-09.75) to defend his conference title.

Joining Turner on the awards podium were junior Lamar Delaney and freshman Isaiah Sweeney. Delaney cleared a season-best 7.26m (23-10.00) to take silver, while Sweeney posted a mark of 7.17m (23-06.25) to take bronze.

Junior Quin'shundolyn McPherson claimed her first individual conference title, winning gold in the long jump with a personal best clearance of 5.99m (19-08.00). Senior Dayo Ogunniyi finished fourth with a leap of 5.88m (19-03.50), while freshman Tai'shea Reese took sixth with a mark of 5.75m (18-10.50).

Sophomore Bryan Brown grabbed the Cougars' first medal of the day, taking silver in the men's pole vault competition. Brown's clearance of 4.76m (15-07.25) set a new personal best and currently ranks third in conference this season.

Currently ranked fourth in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles, senior Seun Adigun turned in the second fastest time in qualifying to advance to Saturday's finals with a time of 8.26. Adigun briefly held the conference meet record with the mark before UCF's Jackie Coward snatched it back from her with an 8.19 finish.

Junior Steven Jones posted the fastest mark in the 60m hurdle prelims with a personal best time of 8.03. Also qualifying for the men was freshman D'Korian Ford (8.27) and junior Darryl Cloud (8.41).

After the first day of competition in the heptathlon, senior Morgan Floyd sits in second place behind Leonard McLeggon of Southern Miss.

Floyd racked up a total of 2,961 points during the first four events, finishing in the top three in each. He trails by just over 110 points with three events still remaining on Saturday.

In the 60-meter dash, Sweeney turned in the top time in the prelims with a season best finish of 6.81. Also qualifying for the finals with season-best marks were sophomore Tyron Carrier (6.91) and Turner (6.91).

Freshman Kevin Hobson (6.97), Jones (6.97) and Ernest Imade (7.00) also ran in the 60m prelims and each, too, set season best times.

Entering the championships atop the conference standings in the 60m, sophomore Christie Jones turned in a provisional qualifying time of 7.43 in the prelims to advance to the finals. Also advancing were senior Seun Adigun, sophomore Kalyn Floyd and freshman Grecia Bolton.

Freshmen Doug Kelley and Joe Irabor both qualified for the 400m finals, turning in times of 48.53 and 49.39, respectively. Irabor's mark set a season best.

For the women, freshman Whitney Harris also qualified for the finals with a mark of 56.05.

Qualifying for the Cougars for the 200m finals was Carrier and Hobson for the men's team with times of 22.30 and 22.31, respectively. For the women, Floyd (24.15), McPherson (24.51) and Jones (24.57) swept the top three spots to advance. Floyd and McPherson marks also set season bests.

Junior Brandon Hubbard set a new season best in the weight throw to finish in sixth with a mark of 16.14m (52-11.50). Fellow junior Amanda Villanueva competed for the women and finish with a heave of 14.99m (49-02.25).

In the 800-meter run prelims, freshmen Jesse Rodriguez and Nate Pineda qualified for the finals, turning in times of 1:57.16 and 1:57.92, respectively. Pineda's mark set a season best. Also running was freshman Anthony Jordan who also finished with a season best time of 1:58.26.

Freshman Stephanie Aldea turned in a solid anchor leg to help lead the women's distance medley relay team to a second place finish with a time of 11:53.32. Joining Aldea were junior Erica Hannemann, sophomore Lindsey Marshall and freshman Ciera Johnson.

The men's distance medley team of Pineda, Cloud, Jordan and Rodriguez finished in fifth place with a time of 10:24.06.

Sophomore Laura Allred tied her season best in the high jump clearing 1.65m (5-05.00) to finish in fourth.

For the women, Hanneman set a new personal best with a time of 2:18.05 in the 800m.

In the women's pentathlon competition, senior Kim Brown placed 11th for the Cougars. Brown finished with a total of 3,078 points.

Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID.

Fans who can't attend can follow all the action live on the web by logging on to www.FlashResults.com/FlashTexas.

Competition resumes on Saturday begining with the conclusion of the heptathlon competition with the final three events slated to start at 11 a.m. The men's shot put starting at 1 p.m. will lead off the field events, while running events get under way with the men's mile at 3 p.m.

Baseball Drops Opening Game of College Classic to Baylor, 3-2

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 27, 2009) The University of Houston baseball team lost its opening game of the Houston College Classic 3-2 to Baylor Friday afternoon at Minute Maid Park.

Both teams were held scoreless until the fourth inning, when junior Zak Presley hit a home run to left field to open the inning, his first home run of the season.

Baylor would answer the score with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Dustin Dickerson singled to left center and he would score on a single up the middle from Aaron Miller.

The Bears added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning before Houston would tie the ball game in the seventh inning. Junior Chris Wallace started the inning off with a double to right center and he would score on sophomore Caleb Ramsey's double to left field.

But once again Baylor answered the Cougars score with one of their own. In the bottom of the seventh inning Baylor scored its final run off a double from Adam Hornung.

With the loss, Houston falls to 2-4 on the season. The Cougars are now 60-85 all-time against the Bears.

Houston will be back in action tomorrow afternoon for a noon game against UC Irvine at Minute Maid Park. The Tournament will conclude on Sunday at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M.

UH Swimming and Diving Team Continues to Break Records

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 23, 2009) The University of Houston swimming and diving team stands in second place with 419 points at the end of competition on day three of the Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

Kicking off the night Kim Eeson, Sasha Schwendenwein, Jessica Shamburger and Paige Bissett finished in fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay breaking a school record with a time of 1:33:14.

In the 1-meter diving competition Anastasia Pozdniakova won with a final score of 346.10, beating her own personal best of 338.40. Following behind her in second place was Courtney Forcucci with a final score of 283.10, while Jessalyn Almond finished in sixth place with a final score of 239.45.

Andrea Pa'lmai won the 400-yard IM, beating her personal best and breaking a school record with a time of 4:19:52. Beccy Hillis followed in third place with a time of 4:22:56.

Beating a personal best in the 100-yard butterfly, Andrea Kells finished sixth place with a time of 55.28. Following in 14th place, Doreen Polotzek also set personal best with a time of 56.99.

Schwendenwein yet again etched her name in the school record book on Friday, this time in the 200-yard freestyle with a program best time of 1:45.79, setting a NCAA `B' qualifying time. Eeson came in fourth with a time of 1:48:54.

Hillis took fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03:44 and Polotzek bested her personal best with a time of 1:06:47 and to take 14th.

Shamburger finished in third place in the 100-yard backstroke breaking a school record and a personal best with a time of 55.14. Bissett also broke a personal best, finishing in tenth place with a time of 57.23.

Competition will continue Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. with women and men's 200-yard backstroke, women and men's 100-yard freestyle, women and men's 200-yard breaststroke, women and men's 200-yard butterfly, and women and men's 1,650-yard freestyle event prelims, while the finals are scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.