The SMU women’s swimming and diving team won its second consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship over the weekend, winning 10 of the 18 events. This was the Mustangs’ 17th championship in the last 20 seasons and second in three years as a part of the AAC.
SMU finished ahead of second place Tulane by 43.5 points, registering 681 total. It sealed the victory with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Adrienn Santa, Hannah Rogers, Maddie Hoch and Vicky Cunningham teamed up to win the event with a time of 3:19:75.
In the 200-yard butterfly sweep, Marne Erasmus took home the only individual Championship for the Mustangs, finishing ahead of her teammate Anna Cheesbrough by 12 tenths of a second.
In the B final of the event, Kathleen Charron and Tiffany Sudarma finished 13th and 15th. Cunningham, Adri Santa, and Hannah Rogers finished first, fourth and sixth respectively in the A 100-yard freestyle.
Tara-Lynn Nicholas and Kristy McLauchlan finished second and eighth respectively in the 200-yard breaststroke. In the 1,650 freestyle, El Yellin, Alexandra Manasso, Hoch and Ashley Mercadel finished fifth, sixth, ninth and fifteenth.
In diving, Lauren Lamb finished fourth with a 186.20 score. Head Coach Steve Collins and his staff were named the 2016 AAC Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season.
The team will lose eight seniors to graduation this spring as they prepare for next season’s chance to win three conference championships in a row.
