UIW Christmas Invitational Results 

SAN ANTONIO -- The North Texas swimming team capped of 2016 at the Christmas Invitational hosted by the University of the Incarnate Word at the Palo Alto Natatorium on the campus of Palo Alto College.

The Mean Green finished day one with 281 points. Conference USA foe Rice secured first with 372 points, while UIW (229) finished third and TCU rounded out the field with 182 points.

"Coming off of finals week, it's a good time to get some racing in before we part for the holidays," head coach Brittany Roth added. "Our team continued to better themselves in the outing with many of them posting both season and personal-best times. We've been training hard, and with the stress of finals, I'm really in awe of how our team continues to fight."

North Texas, who had been off for nearly a month, had a strong showing in the preliminary rounds, with Sarah Vaisse (200 IM) and Brittany Thurstin (50 free) posting the top times in their respective event.

Thurstin swam a career-best time of 23.47 to secure the top seed in the 50 free, and finished third in the A final (23.73).

Isabelle Morris (24.01), Kelsey Opiela (24.22) and Courtney Connelly (24.40) each posted top-10 times to advance to the 50 free finals. Opiela (24.08) finished fifth, while Morris (24.13) and Connelly (24.49) finished sixth and eighth, respectively.

Vaisse (2:03.61), Jowita Sienczyk (2:07.21), Claudia Kitching (2:09.95) and Emmabeth Jensen (2:10.95) posted North Texas' top times in the 200 IM prelims.

Vaisse secured a podium finish in the finals, clocking a time of 2:03.68. Sienczyk (2:05.85) and Kitching (2:09.46) finished fifth and seventh, respectively.

The Mean Green sent six swimmers to the 500 free finals, with Barbara Wasilewska leading the way, swimming the second-fast time of the prelims (4:59.97). Wasilewska finished seventh in the event with a time of 5:01.76 in the final, and Deneen Carter, who qualified with a time of 5:05.94, rounded out the A final (5:12.40).

Deneen Carter (5:05.94), Katie Moore (5:06.94), Sara Whelan (5:07.11), Natalia Kwiatkowska (5:08.06) and Ash Stone (5:14.98) all advanced to the finals as well.

The 200 freestyle relay team comprised of Jensen, Morris, Vaisse and Thurstin finished second, clocking a time of 1:34.70. Sydney Buckley, Opiela, Connelly and Sienczyk finished third with a time of 1:36.19.

North Texas had two relay teams finish in the top-five of the 400 medley relay event. The relay team comprised of Sienczyk, Vaisse, Opiela and Jensen finished third (3:47.81), while the second team of Ash Stone, Kitching, Sydney Buckley and Thurstin finished fourth with a time of (3:53.05).

"We're looking forward to the next month of solid training, and this meet was a great way to head into that segment of our season," Roth added.

Quick Hits

• North Texas sent nine swimmers to the finals of the 200 IM
• Emmabeth Jensen (2:10.95), Caroline Culpepper (2:14.25), Sydney Buckley (2:12.09), and Kathleen Rousset (2:17.25) clocked season-best times in the 200 IM
• Deneen Carter's time of 5:05.94 in the 500 free was a season best
• Sara Whelan qualified for the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:07.11, besting that in the B final (5:02.57)
• Katie Moore clocked a time of 5:06.94 in the 500 freestyle prelims. She finished 13^th with a time of 5:10.81
• Natalia Kwiatkowska (5:08.06) and Ash Stone (5:14.98) both qualified for the 500 freestyle finals. Kwiatkowska bested her time in the finals (5:04.98)
• Jensen (2:09.98), Rousset (2:11.16) and Sydney Buckley (2:11.45) finished 11^th, 12^th and 13^th in the 200 IM finals

Up Next For North Texas

The Mean Green will head to San Diego, Calif. for winter training and the San Diego Shoot Out against San Diego on Saturday, Jan. 7.