Senior Justin Smith and the Mustangs will hope to defend their title in Houston. (Nick McCarthy)
The SMU swimming and diving teams begin competition in Houston today at the Conference USA Championship and Invitational. The women hope to defend their 2006 championship title while the men look to take another first-place finish at their invitational.
Last year, the Mustangs broke numerous meet, pool and personal records and posted more than a few NCAA-qualifying times.
Currently ranked No. 12 nationally, the women’s squad defeated conference opponents Rice and Houston in the fall. The Mustangs will compete against those teams as well as East Carolina and Marshall.
The No. 25 men swim against Hawaii and East Carolina. In their last competition of the season, the Mustangs trampled No. 24 Texas A&M 143-98.
The Championship and Invitational, hosted by the University of Houston in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium, is the first competition in two weeks for either Mustang team. The four-day competition begins with preliminary diving starting today at 3 p.m. Preliminary races begin Thursday morning and include the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle event.
Junior Anja Carman and sophomore Petra Klosova lead the Mustang women as they claim the top times in nine events between them. Junior Tamara Sambrailo swims the breaststroke while teammates Justine Clark and Katie Roberts specialize in butterfly and middle distance freestyle, respectively.
The Mustang women have earned eight individual C-USA swimmer and diver of the week awards this season with Jennifer Blackman, Kristen Schild, Carman, Roberts and Klosova all taking honors.
Senior captain Ian Clark, who has the fastest Mustang times in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke and the 400-yard individual medley, leads the men. Teammate Alex Hetland won the 100-yard breaststroke in the meet against No. 1 Texas and No. 5 Arizona and is a key member of SMU’s 200-yard medley relay.
Freshman Maverick Smalley is also expected to make a splash in Houston in the middle-distance freestyle events. Smalley posted a career-best time and took first-place in the 200-yard freestyle with his 1:39.48 finish at Texas A&M. Sophomore Luka Vrtovec posted two first-place finishes in the victory over Texas A&M in the 50-yard and the 100-yard freestyle events. The 2006 All-American will be a key contributor to the SMU squad in Houston.
The Mustangs compete in Houston until Feb. 17.
