By Eric FehrWomen’s 200 Free Relay
The Texas women opened day 2 of the Big 12 Championships with a strong statement by posting the fastest time in the nation in the 200 free relay. Texas’ time of 1:28.15 clipped Auburn’s standard of 1:28.25 set last week at the SEC Championships. In doing so, the Longhorns broke Texas A&M’s five year run in the event.
Sophomore Kelsey Amundsen got the Horns off to a fast start with a 22.20, 3 tenths faster than her swim in the preliminaries, and .09 faster than the evening’s top seed, Texas A&M’s Maria Sommer. Bethany Adams extended the lead with a strong split of 21.99, and Texas cruised to a decisive victory with legs from Brie Powers and last year’s 50 free conference champion, Karlee Bispo. A&M finished in a solid 1:29.48, putting them tentatively in the top 10 in the country. Missouri took third in 1:30.80, well off the NCAA invited time from last season of 1:30.04. Kansas out-touched Nebraska for fourth, while Iowa State finished in sixth.
Men’s 200 Free Relay
The Texas men continued their Big 12 relay dominance by running away with the 200 freestyle relay in a time of 1:17.95. The time puts ranks fifth in the country entering this weekend, but is well shy of the 1:17.2 the team posted in a time trial on Wednesday morning. The Horns put their heat up front by leading off Jimmy Feigen who posted a quick 19.26, currently the third fastest time in the country. Sophomore Dax Hill continues to emerge as a force following up Feigen’s effort with a 19.04. Freshman Woody Joye and Neil Caskey swam to nearly identical 19.8s to seal the victory.
Texas A&M’s team of John Dalton, Amini Fonua, Henrik Lindau, and Kyle Troskot were disqualified for a false start on the first exchange after recording an impressive 1:18.58. The time would have placed them in the top 5 in the country, and the team will likely have to attempt a time trial in order to qualify for the NCAA meet. Missouri was the beneficiary by moving up to second with their time of 1:19.52.
Women’s 3M Diving
Texas sophomore Maren Taylor secured her first ever Big 12 title, as she prevailed on the 3-meter board in a tight dual with Missouri’s Loren Figueroa, 344.80 – 340.40. Taylor posted 6.5s and 7.0s on the final dive of the competition to clip the Missouri freshman. Texas A&M’s Janie Potvin, a first-team NCAA All-American on the 3-meter board last season, was close behind in third place with a score of 335.10.
Women’s 500 Free
Texas A&M freshmen Camille Adams and Sarah Henry led an Aggie charge in the 500 free running away with the race from the outset. Adams split a blazing 1:48.88 on her way to topping the meet record she set this morning with a 4:39.14. Henry followed suit with a 4:41.05. With a 100 remaining, A&M looked to have a chance to take the top 3 spots in the event, but Texas’ Natalie Sacco was able to overtake Hannah Kinder to break up the potential Aggie sweep. In all, the Aggies took five of the top six places to dominate the event. After posting the third fastest preliminary time, 2009 champion Leah Gingrich finished a disappointing seventh. After the 500, the Aggies held a 224-204 lead over the Longhorns.
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Men’s 500 Free
Texas’ senior distance star, Jackson Wilcox, won his third straight Big 12 Championship in comfortable fashion with a time of 4:16.61. Wilcox took the lead from teammate Scott Jostes at the 150 and never looked back, besting the rest of the field by over three seconds. The time is the slowest of his three victories, and only one second better than the 4:17.79 he posted in a February dual meet against Texas A&M. Michael McBroom (4:19.62) and Jim Robertson (4:20.06) capped a Longhorn sweep, with McBroom’s time just off last year’s NCAA invitation time of 4:19.44.
Women’s 200 IM
Karlee Bispo used a strong breaststroke leg to propel her to the win over Lindsey King of Texas A&M in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:55.15. Bispo, a junior from Texas, broke the meet record in the process, and gives her the third fastest time in the country entering the weekend. King made up ground in the backstroke to turn even with Bispo at the halfway mark, but couldn’t keep pace on the final two legs and finished in 1:57.24. Texas’ Laura Sogar (1:58.23) fought off a hard charging Texas A&M freshman, Erica Dittmer (1:58.34), to take third.
Texas A&M padded their lead by taking 2-4-5-7-8 in the championship heat, giving them a 55 point lead over Texas. Missouri strengthened their third place team standing with a sixth place finish from Dominique Bouchard, and five placings in the consolation heat.
Men’s 200 IM
Texas Sophomores Austin Surhoff and Nick D’Innocenzo staged a classic battle in the 200 IM with Surhoff getting the better of his teammate by .05 (1:43.85 – 1:43.90). Surhoff, the defending Big 12 and NCAA champion in the event, took the lead in the backstroke leg. But D’Innocenzo answered right back and passed Surhoff on the second length of the breaststroke leg. The two swam neck and neck on the freestyle leg with Surhoff earning the edge by a hair. Both men earned NCAA automatic time standards and are ranked in the top five in the country. After spotting him a large lead at the 100, Texas’ 2010 All-American Bryan Collins couldn’t catch Woody Joye for third as Joye touched in 1:46.97 to Collins’ 1:47.05.
After the IM, Texas held a commanding lead with 325 points. Missouri (194) and Texas A&M (180) were locked in a tight battle for the second spot.
Women’s 50 Free
After squaring off in a tight battle in the 200 free relay earlier in the night, Texas’ Kelsey Amundsen and Texas A&M’s Maria Sommer fought a sequel in a race that was too close to call until the times were posted. In a race in which the top five finishers were separated by only .12, Amundsen got her hand on the wall first with a time of 22.50. Sommer and Aggie freshman Liliana Ibanez tied for second in 22.52, and Texas’ Bethany Adams finished just behind for fourth with a 22.54.
The Aggie duo of Sommer and Ibanez broke up four Longhorn swimmers in the championship final. In what is turning out to be a back and forth affair, Texas A&M will enter day 3 with a 336-301.5 lead over Texas. Missouri is a strong second with 212.5, while Nebraska (128), Kansas (122) and Iowa State (89) round out the field.
Men’s 50 Free
Longhorn Jimmy Feigen jumped to the lead off the start and pulled away from the field to win his second consecutive Big 12 championship. Feigen’s time of 19.27 was just off his effort from earlier in the evening, but was a full tenth faster than his winning time from last year. Texas A&M’s Balazs Makany (19.85) took second from lane one, while Texas’ Dax Hill (19.88) placed third.
After the second day of competition, Texas (366) looks well on its way to its 15th consecutive Big 12 championship. After disqualifying the 200 free relay, Texas A&M (246) managed to fight back into second place but only holds a 13 point lead over a game Missouri (233) squad.