DENTON — After the unofficial start to the 2015-16 season with its annual alumnae meet this past Saturday, North Texas hosts two exhibition meets this weekend leading up to its first regular-season meet at the North Texas Relays, to be held Friday, Oct. 2 in Southlake, Texas.

The Mean Green open the weekend with a pentathlon meet against Texas-Permian Basin and TCU on Friday at 4 p.m. from the Pohl Recreation Center. Five teams will be in attendance, with the North Texas women, as well as women’s and men’s teams for Texas-Permian Basin and TCU.

North Texas won last year’s pentathlon against Texas Permian-Basin and TCU, winning four of the five women’s events and recording a total of 15 top-five finishes. Graduated senior Krista Rossum claimed the individual title, winning the 100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle and 100 individual medley while placing second in the remaining two events.

“We really appreciate UT-Permian Basin and TCU coming out here,” head coach Brendon Bray said. “It’s a really fun way to kick off our season of competition. We usually end the season with TCU, and it’s our senior meet this year, so it gives us a preview of where they are and who’s on their team and it provides some additional motivational for the team.”

The pentathlon will consist of five 100 meter races in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle strokes, as well as an individual medley, for both the women's and men's teams.

For Bray and the Mean Green, coming off a 4-4 dual meet record and a second consecutive fifth-place finish at the Conference USA Championship, Friday’s pentathlon meet represents additional race-type situations to help prepare the team for dual meets and tournaments later this season.

“It gives us a well-rounded idea of who on the team can swim what event because they all have to swim in every race, so we get an idea of where people can potentially help us in an event that maybe we didn’t think they could going into the meet,” Bray said. “It also gives us a pretty good idea of everyone’s fitness. We expect to do pretty well. We’re in much better shape than I thought starting the season. We’re performing really well in practice, so we want to see if that transfers over to the meet.”

The Mean Green closes the weekend with its annual Green & White intrasquad scrimmage, where they will split into teams and compete in a mock dual meet. It will also be the first time to see first-year diving coach Mark Murdock and his team of five divers in action at the PEB Building.

“The Green and White is really fun because they break the team into two teams,” Bray said. “They dress up generally, and it allows us to watch our divers. I’m really excited for them. Our team, itself, can race against each other. With any competitive format, our team will generally rise and raise their level.

“It also gives us a building block to go into our relay meet next weekend, and by the time we get to our first dual meet on Oct. 10, we will have exposed the team to racing against each other, racing in a meet with men, racing in non-traditional formats, and we’ll be ready to go.”

Friday’s meet begins at 4 p.m. in the Pohl Recreation Center, and Saturday’s meet begins at 9 a.m., with swimming action in the Pohl Recreation Center and diving action in the PEB Building. Admission is free to both events.

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