Texas Invite - Day 2
The University of Texas men’s swimming and diving squad sits in first place with 1272 points after the second day of competition.The Longhorns hold a lead over Southern California (977.5) and Wisconsin (401) going into Saturday.
The night concluded with an exciting first place finish for the Longhorns in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Texas A squad’s final swimmer, Kyle McNeilis, out-touched Southern California’s Mike Godbe after a hard-fought, neck-in-neck length of the pool. Neil Caskey, DaxHill and Clay Youngquist made up the rest of Texas A and they finished with a time of 6:22.94. Southern Cal was close behind with a second place time of 6:23.26.
"My teammates did a great job of putting me in a good place to win it," said McNeilis. "We have a great training group and Texas is known for its 200 freestylers. One of the things we work on in practice is being Texas tough and our mentality is to never lose the last 25 and that is what I was focusing on the whole way. I saw my teammates cheering like crazy and there was no way I was going to let them down."
"That was what we call a fun relay," said head coach Eddie Reese. "It was a fast relay and everybody had swum once or twice previously in the night. To line up and go that fast is really impressive. Clay Youngquist split 1:34.5 and Kyle McNeilis split 1:35.4. For this time of year we have never had anybody do anything like that."
Texas B, comprised of James Feigen, Bobby Button, Matthew Belecanech and Keith Murphy, finished fifth in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6:37.53.
The Longhorns’ diving contingent set the bar high for the evening session with three competitors finishing in the top four of the 3-meter springboard event. Senior Matt Cooper secured the top spot with a score of 466.80. In the preliminary round on Friday morning, Cooper scored a personal high-score of 476.20.
"Drew (Livingston) and I, just like the prelims, were back-and-forth with the lead," said Cooper. "In the finals you get all this adrenaline going and it was really fun to compete. I am surprising myself at how consistent I have been. I feel like I am executing some of the bigger dives that I normally don’t do as well."
Rounding out Texas’ top diving finishes was senior Drew Livingston, who finished in second with a score of 452.60 and sophomore Will McCraney, who posted a score of 344.00, which landed him in fourth place.
In the first swimming event of the evening, the 200-yard medley relay, the Longhorns’ top finishers placed fifth with a time of 1.27.28. This team consisted of Cole Cragin, Eric Friedland, James Feigen and Dax Hill. Close behind with a time of 1.28.28 and finishing sixth, was a Texas squad made up of Patrick Murphy, Matt Hoyland, Tripp Cooper and Charlie Moore.
In the 400-yard individual medley, Texas’ top finish came from junior Austin Surhoff. He placed third with a time of 3:49.25. Finishing in fourth place, with a time of 3:49.57, was junior Nick D’Innocenzo. Timothy Johnson also appeared in the finals for the Longhorns, finishing sixth with a time of 3:50.17.
Junior Dax Hill secured a second place finish for the Longhorns in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:34.30. Just behind him, in third place, was freshman Clay Youngquist, who swam a 1:35.30.
Only one Texas swimmer, senior Eric Friedland, appeared in the finals heat of the 100-yard breaststroke. Friedland finished eighth with a time of 54.93.
In the B Final of the 100-yard backstroke, Texas swimmers posted the top two times. Freshman Kip Darmody swam a 47.83 and sophomore Patrick Murphy finished with a 47.91.
The Texas Invitational will wrap up on Saturday. The morning prelims will begin at 10 a.m. with the finals to start at 6 p.m. Platform diving will start at 12:30 p.m.
The University of Texas women’s swimming and diving team leads the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational after the second day with 1204 points.
Texas is followed by Southern California (911.5) and Wisconsin (353) in the team standings.
"I was really happy with our morning swims," said head coach Kim Brackin. "We were up and down tonight and our goal is to get better each session. We need to be better as a team but luckily it is an opportunity to learn and improve from."
The evening session began with 1-meter diving. Texas’ top diver in the event, Diana Wilcox, finished in sixth place with a total score of 278.15. Close behind was fellow Longhorn Samantha Holland who finished in seventh place with a score of 273.00.
The first swimming event of the evening was the 200-yard medley relay. The Longhorns’ top squad finished second overall with a time of 1:37.53. The team consisted of Lily Moldenhauer, Laura Sogar, Ellen Lobb and Karlee Bispo. Another Texas team, made up of Alex Hooper, Gretchen Jaques, Kelsey Amundsen and Bethany Adams, finished in fourth place with a time of 1:39.12.
Freshman Kaitlin Pawlowicz was the only Longhorn to appear in the finals heat of the 400-yard individual medley. She finished seventh with a time of 4:11.45. In the same event, Southern California’s Katinka Hosszu broke her own pool record with a time of 3:58.86.
Texas’ only individual first place finish of the night came from senior Karlee Bispo in the 200-yard freestyle. Bispo’s time of 1:43.82 met the NCAA qualifying A Standard (1:44.02). Longhorn swimmers also secured fifth and sixth place finishes in the event. Sophomore Samantha Tucker posted a time of 1:45.77 and senior Katie Riefenstahl finished swam a 1:47.92.
"It was a great 200 free," said Brackin. "Karlee swam it really smart and was aggressive. She was exactly where I wanted her to be."
In the finals heat of the 100-yard breaststroke for the Longhorns was junior Laura Sogar, who placed fourth with a time of 1:00.75 and freshman Gretchen Jaques, whose swim of 1:00.99 placed sixth.
Sophomore Lily Moldenhauer recorded a third place finish with a time of 52.79 in the 100-yard backstroke. Also in the finals of this event for the Longhorns was sophomore Alex Hooper, who placed eighth with a time of 54.65.
"Today I was really pleased with my 100 back time," said Moldenhauer. "It was right around my best time and that is awesome for this time of the season."
"Lily had a really nice 100 back," said Brackin. "The time was great tonight. I see a lot of places for her to mature in that event and it is exciting."
The final event of the evening was the 800-yard freestyle relay. Texas A team of Karlee Bispo, Leah Gingrich, Katie Riefenstahl and Samantha Tucker placed third with a time of 7:17.50. Texas B squad , made up of Kelsey Leneave, Lily Moldenhauer, Bethany Adams and Kaitlin Pawlowicz, notched a fifth place finish with a time of 7:14.59.
Stanford closed out the second day of the Texas Invite with a win in the 800 free relay, as Maya DiRado also added a second place showing in the 400 IM earlier in the evening.
Entering the meet with the nation's top time, Stanford did not disappoint, beating Pac-12 foe USC with a time of 7:02.76 ahead of the Women of Troy's mark of 7:03.85. After USC's Katinka Hosszu took the lead after the first 200 yards, DiRado made up two seconds and took over the lead over her final 50 yards by .04 seconds. Andie Taylor extended the lead to nearly a second before Andi Murez kept the one second advantage and touched the wall ahead of USC.
Individually, DiRado was second to Hosszu for the second-straight day, this time as the Troy swimmer won the longer 400 IM with a time of 3:58.86, ahead of DiRado's time of 4:02.06. Much like yesterday it became a two-woman race early as Stanford's Andie Taylor also made the A Final, finishing sxith behind three of additional USC swimmers who were third through fifth. Freshman Annemarie Thayer won the consolation final.
Lee was the first of six swimmers inthe top-20 of the 100 back, finishing fourth ahead of Betsy Webb (fifth). Lee led with a time of 52.94 with Webb at 53.02. Thayer was in the top-20 again, finishing 12th with a time of 54.09.
Murez finished fourth in the 200 free with a time of 1:45.77 as sophomore Sara Giberson was seventh at1:47.40 behind Texas' Karlee Bispo and her winning time of 1:43.82. Stanford was also fifth in the 200 medley relay (1:39.17), two seconds behind winner, Arizona.
Senior Katinka Hosszu broke two school records – and neared the NCAA record in the 400y IM – while sophomore Kasey Carlson approached rarefied air in the 100y breast, sophomore Dimitri Colupaev dropped the hammer in the 200y free and junior Alex Lendrum almost cracked the long-held 200y back mark to lead a fantastic day of Trojan swimming at the 2011 Texas Invitational on Friday (Dec. 2) in Austin, Texas.
Hosszu, who became just the second woman ever to go under 4 minutes in the 400y IM when she won the race at the same pool at last year’s NCAA Championships, bettered her title effort from a year ago on Friday with a 3:58.86. She won the 2011 NCAA title last year with a 3:59.75. She is within striking distance of Julia Smit’s world mark of 3:58.23 set in 2010.
"I am very happy with the time," Hosszu said. "Coming into the meet, I just wanted to swim my best time. The whole team is doing really well this weekend. I am so proud to be a Trojan."
Sophomore Stina Gardell, who was Troy’s second-fastest in the event last year, took third in 4:05.82, just off an NCAA ‘A’ cut as well. Meghan Hawthorne, second in prelims (4:10.14), finished fourth with a 4:08.99 (NCAA ‘B’ and a PR) while junior Haley Anderson, a surprise scorer in this event at last year’s NCAAs, finished fifth in 4:09.90 (‘B’).
Senior Tanya Krisman posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut of 4:11.10 to win the B Final while juniors Jessica Schmitt (4:14.23) and Jordan Danny (4:19.14) also recorded ‘B’ times.
Junior Spencer Di Dio made the final of the men’s 400y IM and finished seventh (3:53.72, ‘B’). Other Trojans to notch ‘B’ times in the race were sophomore Sean Mulroy (3:54.11, PR) and freshman Cary Wright (3:54.41, PR).
Hosszu, in a prelim swim, erased her 200y free USC record with a 1:44.01 (‘A’ cut), though she bowed out of the final. Sophomore Lynette Lim (1:46.41), junior Haley Anderson (1:47.25) and senior Amanda Smith (1:47.46) all record ‘B’ times in the B Final
Colupaev, USC’s second-fastest ever in the 200y free, earned the top seed in the final with a prelim 1:34.35. He backed that up with a 1:33.49 (‘A’) to win the race, 0.37 off of USC’s school record. Freshman Chad Bobrosky also reached the final and finished fourth in 1:35.67 after going 1:36.34 in the morning. Also in the event, sophomore Mike Godbe (1:36.61, PR) claimed a ‘B’ cut.
Carlson set a person best in the 100y breast in prelims in 58.69 and then lowered it to 58.46 (‘A’), within a breath of the 58.10 school record set by former Trojan great and the current top breaststroker in the world Rebecca Soni. The 58.46 would have been second at last year’s NCAAs.
Other Trojans to clock ‘B’ cuts in the race were Schmitt (1:01.66), senior Ania Kowalczyk (1:02.09, PR), Danny (1:02.28) and Krisman (1:02.41).
Sophomore Vladimir Morozov used a morning 100y breast swim to break into USC’s all-time top 10 in the event with a 54.86 (NCAA ‘B’ cut). Freshman Sergio Lujan Rivera matched the time in finals while freshman Andrew Malone got a ‘B’ cut with his 55.28. Junior Christel Simms snagged her first ‘B’ cut of the year in the 100y back with a 53.91 while junior Yumi So improved her ‘B’ cut to 53.22 (PR).
In the men’s 100y back, Lendrum just missed Lennry Krayzelburg’s 14-year-old record (46.55) with a third-place 46.71 (PR) after going 46.87 in prelims. He I now the second-fastest Trojan ever in the race. Morozov came back to finish fourth (47.18, ‘B’) while junior Nick Karpov was fifth (47.67, ‘B’).
Lendrum, Morozov and Karpov are three of USC’s five fastest ever in the event. Sophomore Chase Bloch joined the top 10 Trojans in the race when he posted a PR in prelims (48.15, ‘B’) and finished eighth in the final (48.42). Freshman Luca Spinazzola (48.46) also got a ‘B’ cut.
USC’s women’s 200y medley relay of Simms, Carlson, So and junior Kate Shumway took third in 1:37.69 (‘B’), 0.68 out of first.
The men’s 200y medley relay lowered its 2011 school record as Karpov, Colupaev, sophomore Matt Voell and Morozov clocked a 1:25.83 for second place. They erased the 2011 time of 1:26.01.
Troy’s women’s 800y free relay of Hosszu, Smith, Lim and Anderson took second in 7:03.85 (‘B’) wile the men’s 800y free relay of Colupaev, Bobrosky, Wagner and Godbe was also second in 6:23.26 (‘B’).
Freshman Kevin Cordes (Naperville, Ill.) and senior Austen Thompson (Chandler, Ariz.) highlighted the second day of another impressive performance by the Arizona Swimming team at the Texas Invite on Friday.
In his first major college swimming meet, Cordes not only qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100 back, but also set a pool record with a time of 51.76, shattering Olympian Brendan Hansen’s record of 51.96 set in 2003.
Junior Carl Mickelson (Chandler,Ariz.) and senior Kelley Wyman (Ft. Pierce, Fla.) also qualified for NCAAs in the 100 breast.
Thompson posted a time of 3:39.37 in the 400 IM, also qualifying for NCAAs and earning the best time in the country.
In addition, Arizona’s relay teams controlled the pool once again, qualifying in the men’s and women’s 200 medley relays.
Sophomores Sarah Denninghoff (Tucson, Ariz.), Aubrey Peacock (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Margo Geer (Milford Center, Ohio) and junior Ellyn Baumgardner (Fairfax, Va.) swam on the women’s relay and sophomores Mitchell Friedemann (Allenton, Wis.) and Giles Smith (Baltimore, Md.), junior Nick Popov (Karlsruhe, Germany) and Wyman swam on the men’s relay.
Denninghoff, Friedemann and senior Cory Chitwood (Union, Ky.) all earned automatic NCAA bids in the 100 back as well.
"I was really happy with the day," Arizona head coach Eric Hansen said. "The team came together and continued where we left off on day one. We got both of our relays qualified and I think our depth is continuing to shine."
The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team moved into ninth place with 150 points after the second day of the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
The Aggies trail Texas (1,272), Arizona (1,022), USC (977.5), Stanford (451), Wisconsin (401), UNLV (249), UC-Santa Barbara (230) and TCU (174) with one day of action remaining.
The Aggie relays took a pair of seventh place finishes, with the 200 medley relay finishing in a time of 1:28.80 and the 800 freestyle relay finishing in 6:42.73.
The 200 medley squad was comprised of senior John Ariens, senior Amini Fonua, senior Boris Loncaric and sophomore Kyle Troskot. The 800 freestyle relay was made of sophomore Paul-Marc Schweitzer, Loncaric, junior John Wagner and junior John Dalton.
TCU’s swimming and diving teams continued their run of success at the Texas Invitational on Friday inside the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Horned Frogs picked up two NCAA "B" qualifying standards on the evening, highlighted by Edgar Crespo’s sixth-place overall finish in the 100-breast. Senior Laszlo Gyurko grabbed the other "B" qualifying standard.
Crespo clocked the fastest regular season time of his TCU career when he touched the wall in 53.93 for the 100-breast. The Panama City, Panama, native finished ahead of many of the event’s top swimmers.
Crespo’s time should move him upon the NCAA performance list, where he already sits at No. 15. Freshman Matt Korman also shined in the 100-breast, notching a personal-best 56.75 in the finals.
Gyurko finished in 12th place overall after he notched a season-best 48.04 in the 100-back. That time is the fastest for the Szekszard, Hungary, native since setting the TCU all-time mark of 47.44 at last year’s Mountain West Championships.
The TCU women’s 800-free relay team of Sabine Rasch, Katie Scarsella, Mackenzie Schuler and Kristi Dena turned in a fine performance with their time of 7:26.33. That time is the fourth-best in TCU history. Rasch, swimming a distance longer than her usual sprint events, led off with a personal-best 1:49.48.
Jenny Oster, Zrinka Korac, Amanda Vincent and Rasch clocked a 1:45.50 in the 200-medley relay for 16th place overall. They finished just ahead of Elizabeth Oster, Van-anh Hoang, Dena and Parris Schoppa, who touched in 1:45.96.
In the men’s relays, Gyurko, Sebastian Arispe, Ryker Saunders and August Can Allen turned in a 6:44.80 time.The TCU 200-medley relay clocked what would have been a season-best time, but was disqualified for an exchange violation.
Freshman Cooper Robinson set a personal best in the 100-back prelims when he touched the wall in 49.60. Luiz Azarias also turned in a personal best time in the 400-individual medley with a 4:00.51 in the finals. His finals time was 2.5 seconds better than his prelims time.
Other personal-best marks came from Arispe in the 200-free (1:39.92), Hoang in the 100-breast (1:05.27) and Ricky Bradley on the 3-meter springboard (291.10).
The No. 25 UNLV men's swimming and diving team moved up one spot to fifth on Friday, while the women's team dropped to eighth after the second day of action at the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational, held on the University of Texas campus.
The day's top finish came from the men's 200 medley relay, as Charlie Tapp, David Szele, Cody Roberts and Steven Nelms posted a third-place time of 1:26.16. The Rebels placed two in the top 16 scoring spots in both the 400 IM and the 100 breast. Giacomo Gremizzi was fifth in the 400 IM in 3:49.89 while Brandon Meier placed 14th in 3:58.36. UNLV had two score in the top eight in the 100 breast, with Andrew Morrell taking fourth in 53.71 and Szele fifth in 53.82. The other Rebel to record points on Friday was Coleman Allen, who finished 16th in the 100 back in 48.81.
No. 2 Texas leads the men's standings with 666 points, while No. 3 Arizona stands in second at 609. No. 8 USC is third (493), and UCSB fourth (173), seven points ahead of the Rebels' 166 points. Eleven teams total had scored points through the first two days.
The top women's finisher was Marley Prothero,who finished eighth in the 100 breast in a swim of 1:01.89. The Rebels also added a 14th place finish in the 200 medley relay, with Dannica Brennan,Nakayla Chan, Emma Gustaffson and Hillary Ego touching the all in a time of 1:44.63.
The Rebels stand with 83 points on the women'sside for eighth place. No. 3 Texas is in first with 603, while No. 5 USCis second (484.5) and No. 7 Stanford third (451).