Texas Women Fall to No. 5 Arizona, 134-120

 No. 16 Texas collected three victories from sophomore standout Susana Escobar, but No. 5 Arizona dealt the Longhorns a 134-120 victory Saturday afternoon at Arizona’s Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. 

“First of all, I've got to give kudos to the team for facing three opponents in the past week who could all win the NCAA Championship,” said UT head swimming coach Kim Brackin.  “It is a difficult time of the year to swim fast because we are far from fresh.  But, do I expect better racing?  Yes.  I know the team is on the right page, but we need to continue to get tougher in our racing skills.”

Escobar (Queretaro, Mexico) scored her first win in the meet’s second event, the 1,000 freestyle, where she was victorious in 9:57.21, topping her nearest competitor by over six seconds.  Escobar added a NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in the 500 freestyle, where she won in 4:53.94.  Escobar later added a win in the 400 IM, clocking 4:25.90.

“Susana did a great job of controlling the 1000 and then racing an extremely experienced Lacey Nymeyer in the 500,” Brackin said. 

Yarrison (Springfield, Va.) edged teammate Kathryn Kelly (Longwood, Fla.) to win the one-meter event with a score of 306.60 and also took the three-meter event with a score of 316.87.  Kelly took second in the one-meter at 302.10 and fifth in the three-meter at 250.65.  Freshman Kayla Torske (Lincoln, Neb.) placed fourth in the one-meter at 256.72 and sixth in the three-meter at 223.35. 

“Kayla (Torske) had her best day as a Longhorn, and Kathryn (Kelly) was very solid on the one-meter,” said UT diving coach Matt Scoggin.  “Mary continues to deal with a slight foot issue, but she is handling it and has done some very positive things.  She was very solid.”

Texas also notched a win in the 200 freestyle relay, as sophomore Alex Basso (Houston, Texas) and freshmen Brie Powers (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Marisa Rodriguez (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Adrienne Woods (Dexter, Mich.) touched in 1:37.57.

Individually, Powers continued to progress, as she landed Texas’ top performances in the 100- and 200-freestyle events.  Powers clocked 1:52.33 in the 200 freestyle for third place before taking second in the 100 freestyle in 51.71. 

Junior Alison Soelter (Ulysses, Kan.) landed three second-place finishes, clocking 1:05.26 in the 100 breaststroke, 2:17.91 in the 200 breaststroke and 4:29.32 in the 400 IM. 

“Alison continues to improve in her 200 breast, and she put forward a great race today,” Brackin said.  “The divers did a great job of adjusting to the elements and posting some great finishes to contribute to the team.  It is hard not to be disappointed with the finish, but I am impressed with this team’s resilience, and I am confident we'll be right where we need to be in February and March.”