Texas Men
Texas All-America sophomore Will Licon posted his third school record and eclipsed the UT mark in the 200-yard individual medley Thursday evening on day two of the Big 12 Championships at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Licon (El Paso, Texas) claimed the school and Big 12 records in the 200 IM at 1 minute, 41.67 to surpass the school and league standard of 1:41.92 set by Olympic gold medalist Ricky Berens at the 2009 NCAA Championships.
“This record is really special,” Licon said. “It’s kind of hard for me to soak it in right now. It feels awesome and I’m just thrilled to be up there with the company of names on that (school records) board.”
Licon opened the medley with a 22.11 lead-off on the butterfly leg before splitting 25.12 seconds on the backstroke leg. Licon picked up the breaststroke in 29.42 before coming home in 25.02 seconds on freestyle to finish in 1:41.67.
“I had to work the underwater (kicks) and try to hold as strong of a pace I could for each 50 without exerting too much while not backing off too much to find the right speed.”
Remarkably, Licon collects the third school record of his young Longhorns career. He claimed the 400 IM school mark (3:40.84) from former All-American Austin Surhoff at the 2014 NCAA Championships and the 200 breaststroke school record (1:52.18) in December at the Texas Invitational.
“For me, the first school record was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Licon added. “I’m more than honored to have my name on the board with guys I idolized growing up. One of my biggest dreams was to be on there just once. I’m thrilled with three and I couldn’t ask for more.”
UT freshman Joseph Schooling took second in the same 200 IM race Thursday evening in 1:42.99 while junior John Martens took fourth in 1:44.74.
Sophomore Clark Smith opened the evening by securing his first Big 12 title, as he claimed the 500 freestyle in 4:13.71. Smith, the son of former Longhorns swimmers John Smith and Tori (Trees) Smith, cleared the 4:14 mark for the third time this season. Freshman Jonathan Roberts produced another strong swim and took second in 4:15.40 while senior Clay Youngquist took third in 4:16.92. Junior Sam Lewis placed fourth in 4:17.01, and senior Jake Ritter added a fifth-place time of 4:18.73.
Junior Matt Ellis notched his first Big 12 individual title and took down the event’s defending champion, Tim Squires of West Virginia. The Austin native was victorious in 19.57 seconds. Freshman Brett Ringgold took third at 19.70, and senior Tripp Cooper placed fourth at 19.84.
Texas finished off the evening by winning the 400 medley relay in 3:07.00, well under the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard of 3:09.40. Senior Kip Darmody led off in 46.45 while sophomore Imri Ganiel split 53.09 on breaststroke. Schooling split 53.09 on the butterfly leg before Conger anchored in 42.26.
Texas leads the four-day championship event with 355 points. TCU holds second place with 233 points while West Virginia sits in third with 221 points.
Friday’s preliminary round gets underway at 10 a.m. CT at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Texas Women
Texas won all five events and opened a sizable lead in the team standings Thursday evening on day two of the Big 12 Championships at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Victorious in all seven events contested through two days, Texas leads the four-day, five-team event with 402 points. Iowa State holds second with 205.5 points while TCU sits in third with 158.5 points. Kansas sits in fourth place at 150 points while West Virginia is in fifth place
Senior Kelsey LeNeave opened the evening by securing her third career Big 12 title and second consecutive league crown in the 500 freestyle, where she was victorious in 4:43.01. Classmate Kaitlin Pawlowicz followed closely behind in second at 4:43.44 while freshman Sammie Hashbarger rounded out a one-two-three Texas finish in 4:48.91. Sophomore Smacker Miles added a fifth-place time of 4:50.22.
Sophomore Madisyn Cox followed by successfully defending her league title in the 200 individual medley. The Lubbock native scored her second straight Big 12 crown in the event at 1:56.94. Former Big 12 champion Skylar Smith took second at 1:58.82 while sophomore Tasija Karosas placed third at 2:00.42. Sophomore Jordan Surhoff took sixth in 2:01.72 after dropping a huge chunk of time in the preliminary round at 1:59.51.
Senior Gretchen Jaques led a one-two-three Longhorns finish atop the 50 freestyle and took her third league crown in 22.21. Sophomore Brynne Wong took second in 22.71 while freshman Rebecca Millard filled out the third spot in 22.82. Freshman Mimi Schneider added a sixth-place mark of 22.88 while sophomore MaKayla Markey took eighth in 23.28.
All-America senior Emma Ivory-Ganja led a Longhorns trio atop the one-meter diving standings and captured her first career Big 12 title with 331.10 points. Junior Meghan Houston took a close second with 318.95 points while All-America sophomore Murphy Bromberg claimed third at 292.25. Junior Kristina Hoffmann placed fifth at 269.90.
The Longhorns finished off their fifth win in as many events Thursday evening and blew away the 400 medley relay field in 3:33.87, just under the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard of 3:34.25. Karosas led off in 53.60 before Jaques split 58.56 on breaststroke. LeNeave picked up the butterfly leg in 53.18 before Millard anchored in 48.53.
TCU
Three school records fell and the Horned Frogs tallied five NCAA “B” cut times on day two of the Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships in Austin.
The men held their second-place standing, while the women moved up to third after two days of competition.
“It was a great session today,” TCU head coach Richard Sybesma said. “It’s neat to have three new records and I’m looking forward to how our races shake out tomorrow and Saturday.”
The same quartet that set the standard the night before in the women’s 200 medley relay did it again on Thursday in the 400 medley relay. The team of senior Ashley Alspaugh, freshmen Devin Newton and Emily Gibson and sophomore Julia Grace Sanders recorded a fourth-place time of 3:44.93 to take down the school’s top time.
Earlier in the day, Newton also set the school record in the 200 IM, clocking in at 2:00.64. It was also the second time this season she’s noticed a “B” cut status.
Senior Thor Stenfjord also claimed the top spot in the TCU history books, coming in the men’s 500 free prelims at 4:24.83. His time is also an NCAA “B” cut time.
With the three tonight, a total of five school records have been set over two days of competition at the Big 12 Championships.
In the finals, freshman Connor Dobbs and Stenfjord finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh with times of 4:28.04 and 4:28.47, respectively.
In the men’s 200 IM, senior Cooper Robinson (1:48.26) and freshman Carlos Hunnicutt (1:50.04) placed sixth and eighth, respectively. Robinson’s mark was also a seasonal-best and was a “B” cut time.
Sophomore Julia Grace Sanders finished third in the women’s 50 free prelims at 22.85. Her time is an NCAA “B” Cut time, is her top time this season and moves her into No. 2 all-time at TCU in the event. She placed fifth in the finals at 22.87.
Senior Josh Mangus recorded the fastest time in the men’s 50 free this season by a Horned Frog at 20.51. The time earned him eighth in the finals of the event.
In the women’s 500 free prelims, junior Mikayla Winkler finished fourth with a time of 4:51.56. It’s the fastest time recorded in the event by a Horned Frog this season by almost six seconds. She finished eighth in the finals at 4:58.41.
Junior Kristen Connolly posted the top score for the Horned Frogs in the women’s 1-meter dive at 250.00.
West Virginia
Led by Nate Carr’s school record in the men’s 200-yard IM, the West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished the second day of competition at the 2015 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships earlier tonight at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
After two nights of competition, the men sit in third place while the women sit in fifth place.
“It was a really strong day for us. I’m really proud of how both teams swam today, but especially the men,” said coach Vic Riggs. “Tonight, we had a lot of great swims. Emma (Skelley) had a really good 500 free and seniors Nathan (Cobbe) and Daeton (Davenport) had strong swims as well.
“Overall, both teams did a great job today, and we’ve put ourselves in a position to make up more ground tomorrow.”
Carr raced to a third-place finish in the A Final of the men’s 200 yard IM in a school record 1:44.70. Carr, a sophomore from Charleston, West Virginia, broke the previous WVU record of 1:46.04 set by Michael Walker in 2009. For his efforts, Carr claimed First Team All-Big 12 accolades.
The men’s 200 IM also saw Chris Brill place fifth in 1:48.24 to earn Second Team All-Big 12 recognition and Chase Williams finish seventh in 1:49.60.
In the B Final of the women’s 200-yard IM, Sammie Guay hit the pad in a season-best 2:03.95 to place fourth. Taylor Gill also swam a season-best in the B final to finish sixth in 2:05.84.
“Our 200 IMs today was probably our best event,” Riggs said. “Sammie and Taylor both had solid swims. Having Chase, Chris and Nate in the finals really helped make up some points. Nate’s swim broke the school record by over a second and was an NCAA invite time from last year.”
In the women’s 50-yard freestyle A Final, Jaimee Gillmore snagged All-Big 12 Honors with a fourth-place result. Gillmore’s time of 22.86 in the event was a season-best mark. In the B Final, Courtney Parenti finished fourth (12th overall) in 23.54.
Tim Squires just missed out on winning the league’s men’s 50-yard freestyle for a second straight season. Squires placed second overall, claiming All-Big 12 First Team honors, in 19.59. His time was just two hundredths of a second behind the first-place finisher.
Also in the men’s 50 free A final, Ross Glegg earned All-Big 12 recognition in fifth place (20.03) and Frank Csonka placed seventh in 20.49.
“The 50s were right behind our 200 IMs as far as best events of the day. Jaimee had just a great prelims swim and followed it up tonight by dropping another .10,” Riggs said. “Tim, Ross and Frank in the finals also helped eat away at some points.”
In the men’s 400-yard medley relay, the Mountaineer team of Andrew Marsh, Max Spencer, Chase Williams and Squires placed second overall in 3:11.12. The women’s 200-yard medley relay suffered a disqualification.
“Both relays were really good tonight. Unfortunately, the DQ bug hit us in the women, which cost us being third in the team standings,” Riggs said. “The men’s relay missed the team record by .01 and Andrew’s lead also was an NCAA invite time from last year.”
Emma Skelley garnered All-Big 12 honors with a fourth-place finish in the A final of the women’s 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall in a season-best 4:50.04. In the B Final of the event, Mackenzie Braden finished in sixth place and 14th overall in 5:00.10.
The men’s 500-yard freestyle A Final saw Daeton Davenport race to an eighth-place finish in a season-best time of 4:28.92. Nathan Cobbe won the B Final (ninth overall) in 4:27.83, Nathan Howells finished fourth (12th overall) in 4:34.40, James Koval finished fifth (13th overall) in 4:32.67 and Pierce Bradshaw placed sixth (14th overall) in 4:34.68.
The lone diving event held on Thursday night was the women’s 1-meter. Haily VandePoel placed seventh in the event with a score of 264.80. Jennifer Rey followed close behind in seventh place with a 263.95 score.
“Today’s diving event for the women was a great event with small errors that cost us some points we needed to finish in the top,” said diving coach Michael Grapner. “I’m happy for Jennifer Rey and Haily VandePoel. They have had a great season and it was nice to see them on the podium tonight.”
