Ten-time national champion Texas opened its dual-meet season with victories in all 15 individual and relay events, as the Longhorns closed out a 153-113 victory over Texas A&M Friday evening at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
All-America sophomore Will Licon, a scorer in multiple events as a freshman last season at the NCAA Championships, opened the meet with the first of two wins on the night, as he claimed the 100-yard backstroke in 48.44, good for a NCAA provisional-qualifying cut. Sophomore Will Glass and junior All-American Aaron Gustafson sealed a one-two-three Texas finish with marks of 49.41 and 49.81, respectively.
Redshirt sophomore Imri Ganiel, a London Olympian for his native Israel, led a quartet of Longhorns atop the 100 breaststroke with his winning mark of 56.81. Junior Liam Lockwood of San Antonio took second in 57.26 while freshman Austin Temple placed third in 57.32. Senior Matt Korman placed fourth in 57.38.
Texas placed a pair of returning All-Americans in the 100 butterfly at the top of that event Friday night with Jack Conger picking up the win in 47.71, a NCAA “B” cut. All-America senior Tripp Cooper took second in 48.83. Versatile freshman Jonathan Roberts showed off his range in the 1,000 freestyle and claimed an easy win in 9:12.47. Senior Nic Munoz added a second-place mark of 9:25.67, while junior John Martens took third in 9:26.16.
Freshman Joseph Schooling of Singapore, one of the world’s top-10 swimmers this year in the 100m butterfly, led a quintet of Longhorns atop the 200 freestyle and captured the event in 1:38.43. Sophomore P.J. Dunne took second in 1:40.89 while senior Jake Ritter placed third in 1:41.65.
Freshman Brett Ringgold produced solid sprint times last month at the annual Orange-White intrasquad meet, and the Keller, Texas, native did not disappoint in the season opener. Ringgold took the 50 freestyle in 20.03 before rolling to victory in the 100 freestyle at 44.62.
An All-American in the 200 individual medley, Licon cruised to victory in the event Friday evening in 1:48.18, good for a NCAA “B” cut. Freshman Jared Butler followed in second at 1:51.98.
Diving coach Matt Scoggin, now in his 21st season at Texas, once again returns an elite crop of divers. His two-time All-America junior, Cory Bowersox, continued his dominance in the one-meter event and took a close win over teammate Mark Anderson at 432.75. Anderson settled for second at 425.78 while redshirt senior Will Chandler took third at 404.03.
Sophomore Clark Smith, the son of a pair of former Longhorns swimmers, claimed his signature event, the 200 butterfly, in 1:47.18. His fellow Colorado native, the aforementioned Martens, took second at 1:50.40.
With the team victory in hand, Texas elected to decline its allotted points in the final five events. Conger, an All-American as a freshman in the 200 backstroke, won the event at 1:45.84, while Licon, better known for his proficiency as a breaststroke swimmer, took second in 1:46.66. Ritter claimed a tight win in the 500 freestyle and edged A&M’s Miha Bernat by a fraction of a second in 4:35.76.
Anderson edged his teammate Chandler by 15 one-hundredths of a point in the three-meter diving event and won with 447.08 points. Ganiel notched his second win of the night with his mark of 2:04.58 in the 200 breaststroke. The Horns completed a spotless night with their 15th win in as many events, as Texas won the 400 freestyle relay going away in 2:58.96.
Texas resumes fall competition next Friday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when it meets host Michigan, Indiana and Louisville in a two-day quad meet.
POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas diving coach Matt Scoggin
On sweeping the one-meter and three-meter diving events
The guys have just really committed themselves to the weight room with their strength coach, Anna Craig. They’re so much stronger physically this year than they were last year. And, they’ve been diligent with their basics and dry-land workouts. The guys have really bought into helping the swim team at the end of the year. They’re focused on working harder than ever. This was a good step in the right direction.
On Cory Bowersox continuing his momentum on one-meter
Cory had some great hurdles tonight, and he has improved immensely on his reverse two-and-a-half tuck, which has held him out of some big meets in the past.
On the one-two finish on three-meter
It was great to see Will Chandler put himself in a position to win that contest. He was overtaken by his teammate (Mark Anderson) on the last dive, but to see Will come back after taking most of the summer off due to injuries…you can see he’s going in the right direction. With Mark, his last dive, a reverse three-and-a-half twist is a new dive, and it’s a good one. He had good scores, but he knows he can do much better. We know that his best event can be on the three-meter board down the road.
The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team dropped a 153-115 decision to the Texas Longhorns in the Aggies’ 2014-15 season-opener on Friday at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center.
The Longhorns, last year’s NCAA team runners-up, were dominant with wins in every race on the day, but they were some bright spots for the Aggies, Texas A&M head coach Jay Holmes said.
“Swimming against the defending national runners-up is always a challenge, and the bottom line is we have a long way to go as a team. This is a hard-working group and they are working extremely hard to get where we need to be for the conference and national meets in the spring. This was a good meet in that we got to race, see where we are and see the things we have to improve.”
Holmes praised the effort of veterans Hayden Duplechain and Cory Bolleter, and pointed out the strong performances of freshmen Gonzalo Carazo and Mauro Castillo. Duplechain took fourth in the 200 IM with a solid time of 1:54.26, while Bolleter placed second in the 50 free in 20.53. Carazo placed second in the 500 free by .07 in a time of 4:35.83, and Castillo was third in the 200 breast in 2:05.53.
The Aggies will hit the water again on October 24 when they will take on Incarnate Word in San Antonio.
