Conference USA Championships Day 3 Results 

ATLANTA -- The North Texas swimming and diving team took home its first two medals of the Conference USA Championships and remained in fourth place after day three in Atlanta.

Freshman Rebekah Bradley set the school record in the 100-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 53.13 in the morning preliminaries, before taking home second place and the silver medal in the evening finals with a time of 53.42.

It was the second medal of the day for the Mean Green, as sophomore Claudia Kitching took home third place and the bronze medal in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.88. Kitching also became the third-fastest performer in the event in school history and her time is the fifth-fastest in school history.

Fellow sophomore Sarah Vaisse clocked a time of 1:01.75 in the morning preliminaries, the fourth-fastest time in school history, and became the second-fastest performer in the event in school history.

Bradley, Kitching and Vaisse were joined in the "A" finals by freshman Sara Whelan in the 200-yard freestyle and junior Samantha Scheck in the one-meter diving competition. North Texas also had 12 other swimmers and divers advance to the "B" finals, and they all scored points for the Mean Green.

Whelan posted the seventh-fastest time of the preliminaries (1:50.44) and then finished fifth in the final with a time of 1:49.81, becoming the sixth-fastest performer in the event in school history. Competing in her second straight "A" final, Scheck finished eighth, posting a score of 223.10 in the morning preliminaries and a score of 205.95 in the evening finals.

And in the final event of the day, the 400-yard medley relay team of Bradley, Vaisse, freshman Kelsey Opiela and senior Bianca Bocsa finished fourth with a season-best time of 3:46.02, the eighth-fastest time in school history.

Opiela and sophomore Isabelle Morris both just missed advancing to the "A" final of the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle, respectively. Opiela posted the ninth-fastest time of 55.92 in the morning preliminaries, before finishing 13th overall with a time of 56.63. Morris posted the ninth-fastest time of 1:50.54 in the morning preliminaries. In the evening's "B" final, she placed second, finishing 10th overall with at time of 1:50.59.

North Texas sent three swimmers to the "B" final of the 100-yard backstroke. Bocsa placed second, finishing ninth overall, with a time of 56.61, followed by junior Ash Stone in 13th place (56.98) and senior Sarah Manning in 15th (57.86).

Other "B" finalists in the swimming events included sophomore Caroline Culpepper in the 400-yard individual medley, sophomore Sydney Buckley in the 100-yard butterfly, freshman Katie Moore in the 200-yard freestyle and freshman Meaghan Rousset in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Mean Green also had a trio of divers compete in the "B" final of the one-meter diving competition in sophomore Cecilia Hernandez, senior Jasmine Abercrombie and freshman Averie Ruiz.

With one day left in the Conference USA Championships, North Texas remains in fourth place with 326 points. Florida International has extended its lead and now has 663 points. Rice surged to second place with 430 points, followed by Marshall with 397 points. Florida Atlantic sits in fifth place with 269 points, and Old Dominion remains in sixth place with 236 points.

Tomorrow's fourth and final day of competition will begin with preliminaries that begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by the finals that begin at 5 p.m. The schedule of events includes the 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, platform diving and the 400-yard freestyle relay to conclude the championships.

Live stats and live streaming are available for all four days of the Conference USA Championships. Stay tuned to the league's championship central page for updates and links to live stats and live streaming throughout the week.

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