LITTLE ROCK - The UALR Swimming and Diving Team began the season with a bang Friday afternoon against visiting North Texas with four event wins, including a victory and second place for freshman Natalie Swindle in her respective freestyle events. The Mean Green defeated the Trojans 154-77.
"The first meet went well," head coach Amy Burgess said. "It always shows us what we need to work on and where we need to push the team. It was a good first meet to show the new girls what college swimming is all about.
"We had some ups and downs today, but I was definitely happy with how our girls performed in the pool today," Burgess added.
Swindle took the top spot in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:14.13, beating North Texas' Haley Goertz by more than a second. Swindle finished second in the 200 free with a time of 1:59.01.
Junior Kara Raney picked up where she left off last season with a pair of first places. She won the 50 free with a time of 24.77 before also picking up an event win as a member of the 200 free relay. Raney, seniors Amber Kelly and Rebecca McEachern and freshman Valeriya Teplova clocked in at 1:38.86. The team of Kelly, Raney, Teplova and sophomore Meghan Petersen finished second in the 200 medley relay.
Junior Holly Myers rounds out the event wins for the Trojans. She out-touched Sarah Manning of North Texas in the 200 backstroke to finish with a time of 2:11.68.
In diving, freshman Megan Scott turned in a pair of third-place finishes. She tallied a combined score of 219.44 on the one-meter board while registering 205.72 on the three-meter.
Other top finishes include a second from Teplova in the 100 free (54.09). Taking third was Kelly in the 200 butterfly (2:12.83) and Petersen in the 200 breastroke (2:34.59).
"You have to love the freshmen. They got into the pool and fought to the end of the meet. Natalie Swindle was great in her events and Kara Raney's win in the 50 free was a catalyst for better times and finishes in other races. In the backstroke, Holly Myers was awesome. Across the board, everyone had great swims," Burgess said.
UALR returns to the pool tomorrow (Oct. 6) as it faces the Green Wave of Tulane. Meet time is set for 10 a.m.
