No. 1 Texas won eight of 10 events and assumed commanding leads in its double-dual meet against No. 14 Arizona and SMU Friday evening at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Longhorns opened a 148-37 lead over SMU and a 131-53 cushion over Arizona, who leads SMU, 109-74. The meet’s second and final session gets underway Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. Longhorn Network will air live coverage of the swimming events with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Brendan Hansen (color analyst) on the call.
Texas junior Sam Lewis kicked off the meet by winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9 minutes, 2.18 seconds, good for the fifth fastest time in the country this season. Senior Clay Youngquist tied for second at 9:13.89.
Sophomore Mark Anderson gave Texas its second straight win and won the one-meter diving event with 386.95 points. Junior Cory Bowersox rounded out a one-two Texas showing with 378.05 points. Redshirt senior Will Chandler completed the diving sweep for the Longhorns with a winning mark of 413.90 points on the three-meter board. Anderson took second at 406.20.
UT opened the evening session with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay, where junior John Murray, freshman Brett Ringgold, sophomore Jack Conger and senior Tripp Cooper took the win in 1:19.32.
Texas tallied its fourth win in as many events as Conger claimed the 100 freestyle in 44.09. Cooper, an outstanding butterflyer along with Conger, took third at 44.72.
Sophomore Will Licon took on the American record holder in the 200 breaststroke for the second straight month and collected his second straight win. The El Paso native was victorious Friday evening in 1:57.26 while Arizona’s Kevin Cordes, the American record holder and defending NCAA champion, took second at 1:58.52. UT senior Matt Korman added a third-place mark of 1:59.63.
Ringgold returned to lead a one-two-three Texas finish in the 100 butterfly at 47.36. Murray settled for second at 47.70 while sophomore Will Glass claimed third at 47.74.
Junior John Martens led the Horns in the 400 IM with his second-place mark of 3:55.47. Texas capped a productive day one when Licon, freshman Austin Temple, Conger and senior Keith Murphy captured the 400 medley relay in 3:16.88.
No. 6 Texas won four events and assumed the lead in its double-dual meet against No. 11 Arizona and SMU Friday evening at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Longhorns opened up a 115-70 lead over SMU and a 96-90 lead over Arizona. The Wildcats lead SMU by a 97-88 margin heading into the meet’s final session, which gets underway Saturday at 10 a.m. CT. Longhorn Network will air live coverage of Saturday’s swimming events with Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Brendan Hansen (color analyst) on the call.
UT senior Emma Ivory-Ganja kicked off the meet by winning the three-meter diving event with 330.25 points. Senior Kaitlin Pawlowicz led the Texas contingent in the 1,000-yard freestyle and posted a second-place time of 9:41.32. Junior Meghan Houston led the Horns in the three-meter event by taking second with 293.65 points.
Texas added a second-place showing in the first relay of the day, the 200 freestyle relay, in 1:31.55. Senior Gretchen Jaques notched the Longhorns’ first swimming win of the evening and claimed the 200 breaststroke in 2:11.63. The Californian ranks fifth nationally in that event with a mark of 2:08.60 from last month’s Texas Invitational.
All-America sophomore Madisyn Cox produced arguably the swim of the evening with her performance in the 400 IM. The Lubbock native won the event in 4:06.37, good for a personal best, the fourth-fastest mark at UT and the No. 5 time in the country this season. Pawlowicz notched a second-place time of 4:16.35.
Texas wrapped meet’s opening day by claiming the 400 medley relay. Sophomore Tasija Karosas, Jaques, senior Kelsey LeNeave and freshman Rebecca Millard were victorious in 3:38.06.
Day one has wrapped up in Austin as the Arizona swimming and diving team is going head-to-head against Texas and SMU. The men’s team is leading SMU 109.00-74.00, but down to Texas 53.00-131.00. The women’s team is winning against SMU 97.00-88.00, while following close behind Texas 90.00-96.00. The Wildcats had five potential NCAA championship qualifications, with Michael Meyer contributing two of those.
On the women’s side, Bonnie Brandon kicked off the day with a first place finish in the 1000 free in 9:39.03. Teammates Tjasa Oder came in third with 9:49.22 and Claire Lockridge finished fourth with 10:14.32. Brandon also took first in the 200 back with a time of 1:55.58, earning a NCAA “B” cut.
The team of Taylor Schick, Brandon, Laura Kurki and Paige Kremer took third in the 200 free relay in 1:32.28. Later, Schick took second in the 100 free with a time of 50.29. Emma Schoettmer took fourth in the 200 breast in 2:14.50, also adding a potential NCAA qualification.
In the 100 fly, Katja Hajdinjak finished in second with 54.72. In the 400 medley relay, Brandon, Schoettmer, Hajdinjak and Schick finished third in 3:40.78. Shannyn Hultin took fourth in the individual 400 medley with a time of 4:19.87 followed by teammate Tjasa Oder (4:25.96).
In diving, Samantha Pickens took first in the 3-meter with a score of 302.95. Sally Hackett took fourth in the event (274.35) followed by teammate Michal Bower (265.60). In the 1-meter, Pickens, Bower and Hackett went 2-3-4. Pickens took second with 320.45, while Bower had 298.35 and Hackett finished with 297.85.
Starting off the day for the men, Ty Fowler was the runner-up in the 1000 free with a time of 9:13.89. Michael Meyer had two first place finishes, earning “B” cuts on both. Meyer won the 200 back with 1:45.81 and the 400 IM with 3:48.84. In the 100 free, Bradley Tandy tied for fourth with Kevin Murphy from Texas (45.01).
Kevin Cordes added a potential NCAA qualification in the 200 breast finishing second in 1:58.42. Andrew Sovero finished fourth in the event with 2:02.26. The team of Thane Maudslien, Cordes, Brian Stevens and Tandy also took third in the 400 medley relay in 3:17.22.
For diving, Rafael Quintero finished third in both the 1-meter (374.00) and 3-meter (389.10). Dominic Ricotta finished fifth in the 3-meter with a score of 351.75.
Day two of the double dual meet will continue tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. MST with live coverage on the Longhorn Network.
