No. 3 Texas captured six of seven events and remained in control of the team standings Friday evening at the 2017 Big 12 Championships.
The night’s first race featured the Olympic gold medalist in the 100m butterfly and one of America’s top butterfly swimmers in Texas senior Jack Conger. Schooling edged Conger for the win in 44.06, just .05 off of his NCAA record and good for the third-fastest swim of all-time. Conger took a close second at 44.56 while junior Brett Ringgold took third at 46.32. Senior Will Glass placed fourth at 46.51 while sophomore Max Holter took fifth at 46.86.
Junior Jonathan Roberts posted a lifetime best and an NCAA automatic-qualifying cut in the 400 IM, as he won his second straight Big 12 title in the event at 3:40.26. Former NCAA champion Will Licon took second at 3:43.85 while sophomore Sam Stewart placed third at 3:44.49.
The 200 freestyle featured the event’s American record holder and defending NCAA champion Townley Haas, who placed fifth in the same event at the Rio Olympic Games. Haas logged an NCAA automatic-qualifying cut of 1:32.17 for the win while his fellow sophomore from Virginia, Jeff Newkirk, finished as the runner-up in 1:34.02. All-America senior Clark Smith, an Olympics teammate of Haas, took third at 1:34.22 while senior P.J. Dunne took fourth at 1:34.64.
Sophomore John Shebat captured his first individual conference title in the 100 backstroke and took the win at 45.72 in a one-two Texas finish. Freshman and Austin native Josh Artmann took second at 47.37.
Freshman Grayson Campbell captured his first career Big 12 championship and won with room to spare on three-meter with 451.85 points. All-America senior Mark Anderson, Wednesday’s champion on one-meter, finished as the runner-up with 401.75 points.
Texas wrapped up the third night of the championships with an NCAA automatic-qualifying cut in the 200 freestyle relay, where sophomore Tate Jackson joined Shebat, junior Brett Ringgold and Haas to finish in 1:17.10.
Sophomore Casey Melzer added a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke (53.67) while junior Austin Temple took third (53.97).
Texas leads the Big 12 Championships with 748 points while West Virginia holds second with 566 points. TCU sits in third with 442 points.
The fourth and final day of the Big 12 Championships begins Saturday with preliminaries at 10 a.m. CT.
Texas All-America senior Madisyn Cox added a second individual school record to her résumé as the second-ranked Longhorns continued their unblemished run through the Big 12 Championships Friday at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Earlier this season, Cox claimed the school mark from two-time U.S. Olympian Kathleen Hersey in the 200 IM, and on Friday evening, she took the 400 IM for herself, as well. The Lubbock native clocked 4:01.15 for the win and eclipsed the school and Big 12 marks of 4:01.91 by Hersey from the 2009 NCAA Championships. Cox’s 4:01.15 is good for the No. 3 national time this season. Senior Maggie D’Innocenzo added a runner-up finish in 4:14.28.
Sophomore Meghan O’Brien completed a sweep of the springboard events at the Big 12 Championships and claimed Friday’s three-meter final with 383.00 points. Freshman Alison Gibson added a third-place total of 311.70 points.
Freshman Lauren Case secured her first career Big 12 title and captured the 100 butterfly in 52.03. Sophomore Remedy Rule followed closely behind in second at 52.05 while senior Brynne Wong placed third at 53.89.
Bahamian Olympian Joanna Evans won her second league crown in as many nights and won her first Big 12 title in the 200 freestyle at 1:44.41. Sophomore Quinn Carrozza placed second at 1:46.11 while her classmate Nora McCullagh took third at 1:47.11. Sophomore Anelise Diener placed sixth at 1:49.27.
Senior Tasija Karosas nearly took down her school and Big 12 records in the 100 backstroke, but her winning time of 50.96 was good for a championship record. Freshman Claire Adams followed closely behind at 51.29 while her classmate Kaitlin Harty placed third at 54.07. Senior Rebecca Baxley took eighth at 55.31.
Senior Jordan Surhoff won her first Big 12 individual title and claimed the 100 breaststroke at 1:00.89. Sophomore Olivia Anderson took second at 1:01.66.
Texas capped the evening by posting the third-fastest 200 freestyle relay in school history, as senior Rebecca Millard, Adams, Rule and Diener clocked 1:28.04, well under the NCAA automatic-qualifying cut.
Texas leads the championships with 694 points while Kansas sits in second with 437.5 points. West Virginia holds third with 390.5 points and Iowa State is in fourth place with 371.5 points. TCU holds fifth place at 303.5.
The fourth and final day of the Big 12 Championships begins Saturday at 10 a.m. CT.
