Mona Groteguth had 11 NCAA B cuts this season, and she leaves North Texas with both backstroke records.


DENTON - Seniors Mona Groteguth and Krista Rossum led the way for a North Texas swimming and diving team that showed solid improvement in its second year of Conference USA action.

The swimmers each broke school records in their final season for the Mean Green, combining for 16 NCAA B-qualifying times and 22 first-place finishes.

North Texas finished fifth at the conference meet for the second consecutive year while compiling a 4-4 dual meet record. In head coach Brendon Bray's second year, it was only the fourth time in program history that a North Texas team finished with at least a .500 record in dual meets.

Rossum's individual medley records came in back-to-back days at the C-USA Championships, including a third-place all-conference finish in the 400 IM. She took C-USA weekly honors twice in the 2014-15 campaign and leaves North Texas with a combined eight all-time records in individual and relay events.

Groteguth solidified herself as the program's top backstroker in her senior year. She broke her own record in the 200 back at the Incarnate Word Invite. That win was just one of ten for Groteguth, and she had five of the conference's top ten times in the 200 back this season. Groteguth owns each of the program's backstroke records while also swimming the first leg in each of the school's record-setting medley relays.

Junior Bianca Bocsa proved to be a pivotal piece for the Mean Green in her third season, claiming the squad's best times in the 50 and 100 freestyle races. Bocsa joined Rossum, Groteguth and freshman Sydney Buckley in taking a third-place finish in the conference meet's 400 medley relay, earning all-conference honors for the first time in her career.

Buckley was just one of several freshmen who were steady contributors throughout the season. In total, three rookies led the Mean Green in four events: Buckley in the 100 butterfly, Caroline Culpepper in the 200 butterfly, and Barbara Wasilewska in the 1000 and 1650 freestyle.

The season was one of rebuilding for the diving team. For the first time in five seasons North Texas failed to send a diver to the zone diving meet, but each of the Mean Green's active divers posted career-bests throughout the year. Junior Jasmine Abercrombie led the way in the three-meter and platform dives while earning a C-USA Diver of the Week honor in February. Meanwhile, sophomore Samantha Scheck had the team's top score in the one-meter.

North Texas loses five seniors to graduation, including Rossum and Groteguth. While there are undoubtedly holes to be filled, a young and talented roster will look to build on a year of improvement in 2015.

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