NEW ORLEANS - The Fleur de Lis Cup will reside on the Lakefront for the next year after the University of New Orleans women's swimming and diving program defeated Tulane 176-135 at the Reily Center on Saturday afternoon.
UNO (1-0) swimmers won 11 of the 14 events the team contested with Tulane (0-1) en route to the squad's first victory in seven attempts against their crosstown rivals in a series that dates back to 1985.
"We beat a good Tulane team," said Privateer head coach
Randy Horner. "Our girls showed up and did what we thought they could do, showing that we have a solid frontline group of swimmers that can compete with anyone."
A school-record performance by
Laura Cempel in the 1000 free highlighted the 11 victories for the Privateers.
Cempel, who also won the 500 free and 200 fly, set the 1000 free record in a time of 10:23.99, besting
Sarah Gros' previous school mark of 10:33.45 by eight seconds. The freshman lapped the field, defeating second-place finish Bolton Harris of Tulane by 26 seconds.
Later in the dual, Cempel returned to the pool and won the 500 free in a time of 5:07.69. The mark was the second fasted in school history, shy of another Gros mark, a 5:03.16.
Cempel's third-event win came in the 200 fly with a mark of 2:06.19 after she came from behind to pass Tulane's lone junior on an all-freshman squad, Kylie Kastes.
Other multi-event winners for UNO were sophomore
Catalina Mendieta and freshman
Joanna Wozniak.
Mendieta won both sprint free events, winning the 50 free in 24.37 and followed it with a 53.17 in the 100 free. Wozniak chased down Tulane's Allie Evans to win the 200 free before leading a 1-2-3 Privateer finish along with
Claire Barron and
Melissa Oishi in the 200 breast with a time of 2:27.39.
Both UNO 'A' relay teams claimed victory with the squad of
Taylor Reynolds, Barron, Mendieta and
Tess Sweatman winning the 200 medley relay when hitting the wall in 1:48.51. The 400 free team of Wozniak,
Eva Hannesdottir, Sweatman and
Haydn Maclean rounded out the dual with a time of 3:34.99.
For Maclean, who anchored the 400 free relay, it was the second event in a row after the freshman had taken the 400 IM with a mark of 4:33.55 prior to joining her relay teammates. Maclean's time in the event was the second-fastest in school history behind the school-record of 4:30.81.
Barron rounded out the event winners with a victory in the 100 breast, teaming with Oishi for a 1-2 Privateer finish. Barron touched the wall at 1:07.22 with Oishi at 1:08.09.
"We had several events in which we chased Tulane swimmers from behind and that says a lot about our conditioning," said Horner. "Our efforts in training long-course for a month showed today."
The UNO women will be off for two weeks before resuming their fall season at North Texas on Oct. 17 while joined by their male counterparts, who will contest SMU.
