NCAA Div 1: Tulane Sweeps Florida A&M, Florida Southern and North Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 1. IT may have been the first dual meet action for the Green Wave program since the 1989-90 season, but you would never know it by looking at the results as the Tulane University swim team swept Florida A&M, Florida Southern and North Florida Saturday in a triple-dual meet hosted by Florida A&M.
The Green Wave won nine of the 11 events to defeat Florida A&M 80-15, Florida Southern 86-9 and North Florida 67-28. Freshmen Linda McEachrane and Nicole Taheri each won a pair of individual titles with McEachrane emerging victorious in the 50 free (24.41) and 100 free (53.81) while Taheri claimed individual crowns in the 200 free (1:56.29) and the 500 free (5:09.67).
“We absolutely, positively swam out of our minds today,” head coach Daniella Irle said. “The girls were impressive. We are very proud of what we’ve done today, but there still are a lot of things we can fix and get better at. We are going to get better as a team, and to come out here today and win against three very formidable opponents is a sign of good things to come.”
Other individual event winners for the Green Wave were Jessica Hughes in the 1,000 free (10:34.22), Amanda Williams in the 200 individual medley (2:10.75) and Taylor Emerson in the 100 fly (59.09). In the relay events, the Green Wave posted victories in the 200 medley relay (1:51.02) and in the 400 free relay (3:40.24).
Katherine McCoy finished second in the 100 backstroke (1:00.93) to lead the Green Wave in that event, coming in just behind winner Arie Muhammad of Florida A&M (58.23). In the 100 backstroke, Monica Jones (1:09.17) was Tulane’s top scorer, finishing third behind Tiffany Christ (1:07.30) and Julieann Watson (1:08.74) of North Florida.
The Green Wave returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 15 when they travel to Denton, Texas to take on host North Texas and Arkansas-Little Rock. Tulane’s first home meet of the season is slated for Sunday, Nov. 23, when the Green Wave host Louisiana-Monroe and Nevada at 1 p.m. at The Reily Student Recreation Center Natatorium.