* The Cougars are coming off of 14 podium finishes against No. 25 LSU and Rice earlier this month in Baton Rouge. * Laura Laderoute continues to be a mainstay on the podium for Houston with three top-three finishes, including one first-place finish at LSU. * Laderoute won the 100 Backstroke with a time of 54.77, finished third in the 200 Backstroke at 2:01.02 and closed out her day with a second-place finish in the 200 Individual Medley at 2:03.51. * Mykenzie Leehy and Zarena Brown continue to pace the Cougars in the Freestyle events. * Newcomer Ioanna Sacha continues to excel in the backstroke alongside Laderoute, taking second in the 100 back (56.70) and third in the 200 back (2:02.77), in Baton Rouge. Posting multiple podium finishes in her first three meets in a Houston uniform. * Peyton Kondis leads Houston on the breaststroke, most recently winning the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:17.42, and finishing third in the 100 Breaststroke at 1:03.67
_ SCOUTING THE OWLS_
* Houston faced Rice earlier this month in Baton Rouge, where the Owls posted seven season-best marks and took first, second, and third in the 1000 Free. * The Owls are in their 15th season under Head Coach Seth Huston.
" We had a great last day of championship meet prep today," said Head Coach Ryan Wochomurka. " That was our focus, to be putting together race strategies and emulations of what we will see next week. It was very exciting to see two USA Olympic Trial qualifying times for Peyton and Kenzie, and a school record for Laura. Those types of performances now are exciting as we turn our attention to next week."
_ _ HOW IT HAPPENED
* The meet consisted of a LCM session and a SCY session. In the LCM session, Peyton Kondis got things going for the Cougars with an Olympic Trial qualifying time of 1:09.55 in the 100 Breaststroke. Kondis’ time bested the standard by over a second. * Mykenzie Leehy posted the second Olympic Trial qualifying time of the day for Houston in the 100 Freestyle. Leehy clocked a time of 56.02 to lead Houston in the event. * In the SCY session, Laura Laderoute bested her own lifetime best and program record in the 100 Backstroke. The junior clocked a time of 52.84 in the event. * Several Cougars posted lifetime best during the meet, including Kaley Hoffman who posted the 10th best time in program history in the 200 Individual Medley. Hoffman finished the race at 2:03.84 * Kondis came within milliseconds of besting her lifetime best and the program record in the 100 Breaststroke, finishing the race with a time of 59.92.