By Eric Fehr
The Texas women rode their dominance in the sprint freestyle events to earn their tenth Big 12 Conference championship in the past 15 years. After trading the lead overall three times on Friday night, Texas took the lead after the opening platform diving event and never looked back, cementing their advantage in the 100 freestyle two events later. Texas A&M closed to within 11 points entering the final relay event, but the Texas sprinters were just too strong.
Meanwhile, the Longhorn men swept the individual swimming events on their way to claiming their 15th consecutive Big 12 Conference championship in dominating fashion.
Karlee Bispo capped an impressive weekend by winning the outstanding female swimmer of the meet. The Texas junior went undefeated on the weekend winning all seven events in which she was entered. Bispo won the 100 and 200 freestyles and 200 IM, and was a member of the victorious 200, 400 and 800 freestyle and 400 medley relays.
On the men’s side, Texas junior Jimmy Feigen and sophomore Nick D’Innocenzo shared the award for outstanding male swimmer of the meet. Feigen went undefeated on the weekend winning the 50 and 100 freestyles, 100 butterfly, and was a member of the 200 freestyle and 200 and 400 medley relays. D’Innocenzo won the 400 IM and 200 breaststroke events, posting the fastest time in the nation in the latter.
Texas’ Maren Taylor and Drew Livingston each won the 3-meter and platform diving events, earning them the awards for outstanding divers of the meet.
Cammile Adams of Texas A&M and Patrick Murphy of Texas won the awards for outstanding newcomers of the meet. Adams convincingly won the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly events, while Murphy posted second place finishes in both backstroke events.
Kim Brackin and Eddie Reese of Texas were voted women’s and men’s swim coaches of the meet. It is Brackin’s second such honor and Reese’s tenth. Missouri’s Jamie Sweeney and Texas’ Matt Scoggin won the respective coaching awards for diving. It marks the first award for Sweeney and the tenth for Scoggin.
Women’s Platform Diving
It took only one event into the final session for Texas to retake the lead in the team race over Texas A&M. Trailing by seven points entering the platform diving event, Texas took three of the top five spots to propel the Longhorns to a 20-point lead.
After taking the 3-meter diving event on Thursday, Texas sophomore Maren Taylor won her second event of the weekend on the platform with a final score of 331.25. Texas A&M junior Janie Potvin (320.80), last year’s champion on the platform, settled for second, barely outscoring Texas redshirt sophomore Shelby Cullinan (319.05).
Women’s 200 Backstroke
With all the attention on Texas and Texas A&M, Missouri’s Canadian contingent played the role of spoiler in the 200 back. Sophomore Dominique Bouchard, an Ontario native, pulled away from the field on the final 50 to take the event in a new meet record time of 1:52.02, the fourth fastest time in the country thus far. Senior Lauren Lavigna (1:54.18) from Vancouver passed a fading Lindsey King (1:54.19) of Texas A&M inside the flags to take second place by .01.
The race lead changed hands three times overall with Texas’s Jessica Guro (1:55.12) pacing the field at the 50. King took over the lead at the 100, while Bouchard earned a slight edge heading into the final 50. As Bouchard pulled away from the field, King looked to be the sure bet for second. But Lavigna held strong as King tightened up in the last ten yards.
In the team race, Texas edged further ahead after the backstroke and led by 25, 731 – 706.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Sophomore Austin Surhoff continued Texas’ domination of the 200 backstroke at the Big 12 Conference Championships. The Longhorns have never lost the event at the meet, and Surhoff followed up his victory last season with a convincing performance. His time of 1:42.24 is currently the fifth fastest time in the country.
Surhoff, freshman Patrick Murphy, and junior Hayes Johnson turned together at the 100 mark, and it looked to be another tight battle between Longhorn teammates. But Surhoff changed gears on the third 50 splitting a 25.80, while Murphy (1:43.61) and Johnson (1:44.41) were left to battle for second.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
There was no beating Karlee Bispo individually this weekend. The Texas junior led from the start, winning her third event of the weekend. Bispo touched the wall in 47.98, the fifth fastest time in the country, ahead of Texas A&M senior Maria Sommer, who cracked the 49-second barrier for the first time by recording a 48.83. Texas then followed with the next four finishers as sophomores Kelsey Amundsen (48.96) and Bethany Adams (49.00), senior Brie Powers (49.13), and freshman Samantha Tucker (49.14) continued UT’s dominance in the sprint freestyle events.
With six swimmers placing in the championship final, as well as freshman Alex Hooper winning the consolation final, Texas made their move in the team standings. After the free, the Longhorns (829) held a 94-point lead over the Aggies (735) heading into the distance freestyle event.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Few would bet against Texas junior Jimmy Feigen in the sprint freestyle events, but sophomore Dax Hill made the race closer than the experts would have predicted. Feigen held off a hard charging Hill to win his third event of the weekend posting a final time of 42.46, the fourth fastest time in the country. After a quick start by Feigen, Hill fought back and nearly caught his teammate on the final 25, finishing with the sixth fastest time in the country (42.59). Texas A&M sophomore John Dalton took third with a 43.64.
Women’s 1650 Freestyle
Texas A&M’s distance swimmers answered back in the 1650 free taking the three of the top four spots. Aggie sophomore Maureen McLaine (16:13.41) and freshman Sarah Henry (16:17.06) outlasted Texas senior Natalie Sacco (16:18.66). Meanwhile, sophomore Liz Nelson of Texas A&M (16:33.57) held off Rebecca Swank of Kansas (16:34.76) for fourth.
Sacco, swimming out of lane one, took the race out aggressively and led the field through the 500. McLaine and Henry, swimming together in the middle of the pool, stayed patient and steadily wore down Sacco’s lead before taking the lead near the halfway mark. Sacco never let the Aggies get away and was still within striking distance through the 1200. But McLaine and Henry worked together to gradually extend the lead, and McLaine used a strong last 200 to pull away from her teammate.
With the 1-2 finish, Texas A&M halved Texas’ lead in the team race and trailed by only 46 (845 – 799) entering the final two individual events.
Men’s 1650 Freestyle
Among the most difficult efforts in distance swimming is to come back after getting passed late in the race. Jackson Wilcox managed to do just that as the Texas junior responded to a move by his teammate, sophomore transfer Michael McBroom, and held on to win his third consecutive conference championship in the 1650 free. Wilcox (14:49.24) and McBroom (14:50.06) earned NCAA automatic qualifying times and posted the second and third fastest times in the country, respectively. They also repeated their finishing order from last year’s NCAA championships where the duo took third and fourth. The only difference being McBroom represented Minnesota at the time.
Wilcox held a two second advantage at the 500, but McBroom gradually ate into the lead eventually passing his teammate with a 400 remaining. But Wilcox wouldn’t let McBroom get away, and made a decisive move of his own just 100 yards later. McBroom couldn’t muster a second comeback effort, keeping Wilcox unbeaten in this event at the Big 12 championships. Texas A&M sophomore Omar Enriquez (15:22.66) took third.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Texas A&M freshman Breeja Larson gave Texas’ Laura Sogar all she could handle for the second consecutive night. But just as she did in the 100 breast last night, the Longhorn sophomore pulled away on the final 25 to take her second title of the weekend. In the process, Sogar (2:07.66) broke the meet record set last year by A&M’s Alia Atkinson. The time is just off her time of 2:07.43 set in December, while Larson’s time of 2:08.33 earns her an NCAA automatic time standard and ranks her fifth in the country.
Sogar looked to be in control at the 100, leading Larson by .75 at the 100. That’s when Larson picked up her pace and closed the gap to only .13 heading into the final 50. The two touched nearly even with a 25 remaining, but once again, Sogar used a strong last wall to propel her to victory. Missouri sophomore Amanda Masters (2:11.90) out-touched A&M freshman Erica Dittmer (2:12.01) for third.
Despite Sogar’s efforts, Texas A&M cut deeper into their rival’s lead, but still trailed by 35 (879 – 844) with only one individual event remaining.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Nick D’Innocenzo sent a message to the rest of the country that he’s going to be a player at this year’s NCAA championships. The Texas sophomore led the entire race and split a blazing 28.94 on the last 50 to record the fastest time in the country (1:53.68), breaking the meet record set last year by his teammate Eric Friedland. Friedland, a junior, took second with a 1:55.28, currently the fourth fastest time in the nation. Senior Scott Spann, last year’s NCAA runner-up, took third in 1:56.32.
Women’s 200 Butterfly
The Aggies made their final push to win the Big 12 team title as the trio of freshman Cammile Adams, junior Rita Medrano, and sophomore Kendra Chernoff swept the 200 butterfly. Adams won her second event of the weekend with a meet record time of 1:53.66, the third fastest time in the country. Medrano (1:56.60) and Chernoff (1:57.08) held off the Texas duo of junior Leah Gingrich (1:57.63) and freshman Ellen Lobb (1:58.05) to complete the 1-2-3 finish.
The efforts of Gingrich and Lobb did give the Longhorns a cushion heading into the final event of the evening, the 400 freestyle relay. Texas held an 11-point advantage, 908 – 897, and would secure the team championship with at least a fourth place finish in the relay.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
Texas junior Neil Caskey cruised to an easy victory in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:45.37. The victory gave the Longhorns a sweep of the individual swimming events at the championship for the fourth consecutive year. The last time a Texas swimmer was supplanted atop the podium was in this event in 2007 when Texas A&M’s Israel Duran took the title. Sophomore Max Lewis (1:47.69) and freshman Simon Frank (1:50.48) took second and third for Texas A&M.
Men’s Platform Diving
Texas junior Drew Livingston received perfect 10s from all seven judges on his fourth round dive to propel him to victory in the platform event over Missouri freshman David Bonuchi and Texas A&M junior Grant Nel. After Nel received a single perfect 10 on his fourth dive, posting a score of 84.00 points on the dive, Livingston answered right back with perfection, receiving 99.00 points for his effort. Livingston finished with a score of 478.40 giving him his second platform championship in three years and his second victory of the weekend. After trailing through the first 5 rounds, Bonuchi (393.70) managed to overtake Nel (390.35) in the final round to move into the second spot.
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay
Needing only a fourth place finish in the final event to reclaim the championship, Texas’ 400 freestyle relay team swam away from the field to win their fourth relay title of the weekend. The most dominant swimmer at this year’s Big 12 meet, Karlee Bispo, gave Texas a big lead and ensured the Longhorns would bring the team championship back to Austin. The team of Bispo, Kelsey Amundsen, Bethany Adams, and Samantha Tucker posted a time of 3:14.41, the third fastest time in the country. Texas A&M’s team of Maria Sommer, Erica Dittmer, Hannah Kinder and Liliana Ibanez placed second in 3:16.51, well under the NCAA invite time from last year. Missouri’s Cassie Cunningham, Francie Szostak, Lisa Nathanson, and Dominique Bouchard took third in 3:19.99
In the final team standings, Texas outdistanced Texas A&M by 17 points, 948 – 931. Missouri took third with 588.5 points, while Kansas (409.5), Nebraska (350) and Iowa State (176) rounded out the field.
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay
Texas had never lost the 400 freestyle at the Big 12 championships, until tonight that is. The team of team of Balazs Makany, John Dalton, Henrik Lindau, and Kyle Troskot not only propelled Texas A&M their first ever victory in the event, but ended a four-year unbeaten run by Texas in all swimming events at the conference meet. The Aggies’ time of 2:52.76 is the fifth fastest time in the country.
Dax Hill anchored the Texas relay with a blistering 41.76, however it was not enough to chase down Troskot. Texas’ team of Woody Joye, Scott Jostes, Austin Surhoff, Dax Hill finished .07 of a second behind A&M in a final time of 2:52.83.
Texas took the team championship with a total score of 1052 points. Texas A&M placed second with 817 points, while Missouri finished third with 707 points.
