NEW ORLEANS - The University of New Orleans swimming and diving team
opened the first of two days of duals at Lakefront Aquatic Center
on Friday by dropping all three duals.
The UNO women came the closest to claiming a win, falling 80-77 to crosstown rival Tulane. Sun Belt rival Western Kentucky completed the sweep of the Privateers, besting the women 106-50 and the men 101-65.
The closest UNO got to pulling off a win came in the dual against Tulane. The Privateers overcame a disqualification in the 400 medley relay and the Green Wave's nine free points from having a diver that put the Green Wave ahead.
Despite those shortcomings, UNO entered the 200 free relay with a chance to claim the dual. The Privateers needed a 1-2 finish in the event and ended up just .18 seconds short of doing so.
Melissa Oishi had two top three finishes to lead the women's squad. Oishi had a personal-best 2:22.79 in the 200 breast, the second-fastest in school history, on way to a second-place finish. Oishi also placed third in the 400 IM with a personal-best 4:33.98.
Haydn Maclean also notched one of the best times in school history in the 400 IM, touching the wall second in a time of 4:32.34. Like Oishi's time in the 200 breast, the mark ranks second in the school record books.
Catalina Mendieta also had a season-best 52.81 in the 100 free on way to a second-place finish with other season-bests coming in the 400 medley relay (4:02.94) and 200 free relay (1:36.72). The 200 free time by Mendieta, Claire Barron, Wendy Oleskiw and Tess Sweatman was good enough for the lone UNO women's event win on the day.
On the men's side, Jonathan Field and the 200 free relay team of Ash Dougan, Mark Schindler, Ryan Moss and Kevin Tinney won events.
Field won the 3-meter diving event with a score of 285.45 with Johnny DeMaine right behind him with a 278.65.
In the 200 free relay, Tinney's anchor leg caught WKU from behind to edge out the Hilltoppers by six tenths of a second.
Season-best performances were registered by second-place finishers Phillip Graeter in the 400 IM (4:01.40) and Dougan in the 100 free (47.24). Jonas Grundstrom, Bo Wullings and Patrick Merrell led a 2-3-4 UNO placement in the 500 free with Grundstrom also adding a third-place finish with a season-best 1:55.34 in the 200 fly.
Ben Solari and Schindler rounded out the top performances with a 2-3 finish in the 200 breast with Solari wrapping up his time in 2:06.92 with Schindler behind him at 2:09.25.
After an assault on the pool records in the dual against LSU, just one mark fell on Friday as the WKU men won the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:23.27, besting Stanford's 3:24.00 from Labor Day.
The schools will get back in the Lakefront Aquatic Center pool at 11 a.m. on Saturday with scores reset to zero.
Team Scores
Women
WKU 106-50 UNO
WKU 99-62 Tulane
Tulane 80-77 UNO
Men
WKU 101-65 UNO
