Swimming and Diving off to best start in program history

Skipper · February 5, 2016

Torie Mosley | Staff Writer

North Texas swimming and diving is making the 2015-2016 season a year to remember.

At 7-3 in dual meets so far this season, the Mean Green is off to its best start in school history. The seven victories also mark the second-most in team history, the seventh coming in a dominating 180-120 win on senior day against Texas Christian University last Friday at the last North Texas home dual meet this season.

“It’s overwhelming,” senior Bianca Bocsa said. “I’m really proud of this team. [People] have no idea how much work we put into this. We woke up [Friday] morning with the thought of ‘We’re going to beat TCU.’”

The Mean Green blew past TCU early in the meet before going on to win each of the first 10 swimming events, winning 12 of the 16 total events overall. Junior Samantha Scheck and senior Jasmine Abercrombie shined on the boards for North Texas, with Scheck placing second and third in the one and three meter competitions and Abercrombie finishing fourth in both events.

Scheck’s scores of 263.92 on the 1-meter and 254.10 on the 3-meter are the best by a Mean Green diver this season. Abercrombie’s 1-meter score of 249.22 and 3-meter 249.97 score was the second-best by a North Texas diver all season.

The win was just the fourth North Texas victory against the Horned Frogs in 23 all-time meetings.

“TCU is a good rivalry for us,” head coach Brendon Bray said. “We need meets like this to make us swim our fastest.”

Bocsa has swam fast for the Mean Green all season. The senior was a part of three of the wins against TCU and took first place in meets against University of the Incarnate Word, Liberty University, Rice University and the University of Houston.

“Bianca’s really hard-working and a really good leader for our team,” Bray said. “She works hard in practice and always leads by example.”

The Mean Green honored Bocsa along with Abercrombie, Nichelle Balcaen, Gaby Colunga, Haley Goertz, Zoe James, Sarah Manning and Ashley Payne on senior night. But it was freshman Rebekah Bradley who stole the show, earning Conference USA Swimmer of the Week honors for her performance against TCU, where she finished first place in both the 100-yard and 200-yard strokes.

She said helping send the team’s seniors off with a win in the last home meet made this season even more special.

“I’ve never experienced something like that before,” Bradley said. “It was cool that all the parents came out and supported. The seniors really deserved to go out like that.”

Bradley joined the team in January and has had first place finishes in every meet with the Mean Green so far. Bradley and Sophomore Sarah Vaisse combined for two of the last three C-USA swimmers of the week.

Vaisse also said she felt proud to be a part of the senior’s last home win.

“All the seniors did really well all season,” Vaisse said. “That was the best gift that we could give them. I’m really glad the seniors get to end their career at UNT with a win. It’s the only way to end it right.”

Although the Mean Green started the season with a 1-3 start, North Texas has gone on a 6-0 win streak, with its last lost at Rice in November.

Preparing the squad for the conference tournament later this month is the main thing on Bray’s mind from this point forward once the team plays Southern Methodist University at 5 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 6.

“We just want to be at our best at the tournament,” Bray said. “That’s all that matters.”

Featured Image: North Texas swimming and diving is off to its best start in history with 7-3 in dual meets so far this season. File Photo | North Texas Daily

View the full article