TCU
UNLV (M&W)
Frogs Fall To Rebels Despite Record Times
1/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
Jan. 7, 2009
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The TCU men's and women's swimming and diving teams both fell to UNLV on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nev., in a Mountain West Conference dual meet. The men fell by a score of 184-113, while the women dropped a 166-134 decision.
On the women's side, sophomore Maria Paula Alvarez continues to impress, re-breaking the TCU 1000-free record time for the third time in her career. The Cali, Colombia native hit the wall with a time of 10:11.64, smashing her previous mark of 10:14.37 by nearly three seconds. Her new time moves her into sixth all-time in MWC history. She followed her record performance with her fourth 500-free victory of the year with a time of 5:02.19.
The Frogs (4-3, 2-3) swept the breaststroke events as fellow sophomore Ellie Bradley turned in a personal-best time to take the 100-breast in a time of 1:05.78, followed by senior Katie Rosen third 200-breast victory of the year with a time of 2:23.24. Bradley also improved her 200-breast time for the season with a 2:24.40 time to finish third in the event.
Freshman Ashley Bolin saw her streak of double-event win meets fall, as she won the 200-free with a time of 1:52.43, but missed her fourth 100-free win by .11 finishing at 52.50. Before Tuesday, Bolin had claimed a pair of events in three straight meets for the Frogs. She is currently tied with Alvarez for the team-lead for wins with nine.
Newcomer Jennifer Oster earned her fourth win of the season, pacing the field in the 100-fly event at 57.74. The Englewood, Colo., native has now earned butterfly wins in three-straight meets.
From above, junior Jennifer Ferguson soared to a pair of victories, sweeping the diving events. Her winning score of 287.10 from the three-meter springboard was a season-high, while she also took honors from the one-meter dive with a finish of 244.20.
Sophomore Jeff Gettel highlighted action for the men's squad (1-5, 0-4) on Tuesday. Gettel, TCU's wins leader with nine victories, remained undefeated in MWC meets this season in the 200-back, taking the top spot with a time of 1:51.21. Gettel also won his third 100-back of the season with a time of 51.88.
The men's divers continued their stellar season on Tuesday by sweeping both diving events. R.J. Hesselberg won his second one-meter event of the season by claiming the top spot with a score of 282.70, followed by sophomore Kyle Callens in second (272.20). Callens, a native of Deer Park, Texas, took the three-meter with a season-high score of 345.00, followed by Hesselberg's runner-up score of 334.95.
TCU also received solid performances from juniors Josh Bagby and Ben Biefnes Tuesday. Bagby grabbed his fourth 100-free medal with a time of 46.62, while Biefnes picked up the Frogs' first 400-IM win of the season with a clocking of 4:08.28. Sophomore Mike Majek improved his season marks in both the 500- and 1000-free events, leading the Frogs in each event Tuesday.
In relay action, the 200-medley relay team of freshman Jack Doran, sophomore Edgar Peyro, newcomer Friedrich Grott and Bagby placed second with a time of 1:33.90, while the 400-free relay team of senior Jason Hauck, Doran, freshman Laszlo Gyurko and Bagby finished third in a time of 3:08.30.
Tuesday was the first taste of TCU swimming for Grott and Gyurko after joining the team in the spring semester. Grott, a native of Potsdam, Germany, swam well in his first meet as a Frog, turning in TCU's top 200-fly time of the season at 1:55.23 to finish fourth and also finished the 100-fly with the Frogs' third-best clocking at 52.61. Gyurko also gave his teammates a performance to get excited about in his first collegiate action, registering the squad's third-best times in the 50- (21.74), 100- (48.45) and 200-free (1:43.63) for the season.
The men's and women's swimming and diving teams will return to the University Rec Center Friday, hosting MWC foe Utah at 6 p.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
