Dec. 19, 2011

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - TCU's swimming and diving teams won the team titles at the UIW Christmas Invitational on Monday inside the natatorium of Palo Alto College.

The Horned Frogs closed the 2011 portion of their schedule in fine fashion, winning six individual events in the final session and notching four top-five marks in TCU history. The TCU women finished with 1,788 team points, while the men paced the field with 2,006.5 points.

"We had a great team effort at the event," TCU coach Richard Sybesma said. "We really swam well beating a team from the Pac-12 in Utah and others. We won team races and I was really played with our depth. We are getting better every day and competing with the best."

Freshman Cooper Robinson highlighted TCU's performance on day three, taking first place-honors in the 200-back with a 1:45.80. His time is the third-best in TCU history and a personal best for the newcomer from Houston.

Ali Bleasdell won the 200-fly in a speedy 2:00.88, which qualifies as the third-best time in school history. She finished ahead of Amanda Vincent, who clocked a 2:01.02. Vincent is the current TCU record holder in the event.

Sabine Rasch, Katie Scarsella, Van-Anh Hoang and Parris Schoppa put themselves in the No. 2 spot all-time at TCU after a second-place performance in the 400-free relay. They clocked a 3:24.98 in the event.

Luiz Azarias also turned in a solid performance for the Frogs, winning the 200-fly with a 1:48.02. His time is the third-best in TCU history.

Rasch shined in the sprints once again for the Frogs, winning the 100-free in 50.14. She led a TCU charge of three in the top five of the event, as Schoppa finished fourth in 52.09 and Scarsella was fifth in 52.20.

Edgar Crespo won his second event of the weekend, taking the 100-breast after touching the wall in 2:00.95. He finished ahead of teammate Mitch Adshead, who clocked a 2:03.04 for second-place honors.

TCU returns to action Jan. 6 when it travels to San Diego for dual meets.

UIW Christmas Inviational - Final Team Standings
MEN
1 TCU 2006.5
2 Missouri State 1856
3 Incarnate Word 1181.5
4 Utah 1123

WOMEN
1 TCU 1788
2 Rice 1500
3 Missouri State 1377
4 Utah 928.5
5 Incarnate Word 693.5
6 North Texas 184