5 Races to Watch at the Big 12 Championships

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Photo courtesy: Mike Comer and Shanda Crowe/ProSwimVisuals.com

By Diana Pimer, Swimming World College Intern

The 2015 Men’s and Women’s Big 12 Championships are set to take place Feb. 25 – Feb. 28 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas. The Longhorns will dominate the team competition on both the men’s and women’s sides, with individual challenges coming from the remaining schools – Texas Christian University, West Virginia University, Iowa State University (women only), and the University of Kansas (women only).

Not all swimmers will be fully-rested at this meet, but there will still be some intense races. Multiple meet records have a chance at falling, and some swimmers have the potential for breakout and NCAA qualifying swims.

Psych sheets and championship information are available at Big12Sports.com.

In the meantime, here are five can’t-miss races at the Big 12 Championships:

Women’s 100 Breast

Day: Friday

Top 3 qualifiers: Gretchen Jacques (UT) – 58.78, Jordan Surhoff (UT) – 1:01.35, Kasey Roberts (ISU) – 1:02.19

Meet Record: Breeja Larson (TAMU) – 57.92

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Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

Last year’s champion Gretchen Jacques is seeded first in this event, with a time a second and a half faster than her swim at this meet last year. She is less than 1 second off of Olympian Breeja Larson’s meet record, and sits almost three seconds ahead of her closest competitor. This race will be exciting to watch because Jacques has the potential to break such a prestigious meet record. Also, four teams have women seeded in top 8, so even though Texas swimmers may come out on top in this race, this will be a great scoring opportunity for the other women’s teams.

Women’s 200 Back

Day: Saturday

Top 3 qualifiers: Sarah Denninghoff (UT) – 1:52.61, Tasija Karosas (UT) – 1:54.97, Yulduz Kuchkarova (UK) – 1:57.83

Meet Record: Dominique Bouchard (MU) – 1:52.02

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Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com

Karosas was last year’s champion in this event, but she will have to battle past teammate Sarah Denninghoff (the 2013 champion) if she wants to repeat this victory. Both women have a chance at dipping under the meet record, depending on how much they are rested for this meet. Denninghoff is currently 11th in the country in this event, so only time will tell which of these women will touch the wall first. Also in the mix is Kuchkarova of Kansas. She was third in last year’s final, but dropped a significant amount of time from her seed time. If she repeats this pattern, a surprise victory could come from this sophomore.

Women’s 400 IM

Day: Friday

Top 3 qualifiers: Madisyn Cox (UT) – 4:06.37, Chelsie Miller (UK) – 4:10.01, Kaitlin Pawlowicz (UT) -4:10.82

Meet Record: Sarah Henry (TAMU) – 4:05.48

The Big 12 Conference may experience some deja vu in this event, as the top three seeds are the same top three finishers from last year. The difference is that this year, Cox has taken the lead. Miller went 4:07 in last year’s final, so both she and Cox have a c rack at breaking Henry’s meet record. In addition, if a non-Texas swimmer is going to win an event, it may come down to Chelsie Miller. Cox will prevail in the backstroke leg of the race, but don’t expect to see Miller give up. Her strong distance background will power her through the finish.

Men’s 100 Breast

Day: Friday

Top 3 qualifiers: Austin Temple (UT) – 54.15, Imri Ganiel (UT) – 54.39, Liam Lockwood (UT) – 54.43

Meet Record: Brendan Hansen (UT) – 52.50

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Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

Although not seeded in the top 3, last year’s runner up in this event, Story Ford of Texas Christian, has a chance of taking this event this year. He was out-touched last year by Ganiel, but has the potential to steal the spotlight come Friday night. Could the third time be the charm for this junior? He will have to push through a strong Texas field if he wants to be on top of the podium.

Men’s 100 Back

Day: Friday

Top 3 qualifiers: Kip Darmody (UT) – 46.20, Jack Conger (UT) – 46.32, Andrew Marsh (WVU) – 46.58

Meet Record: Hill Taylor (UT) – 45.65

Darmody will be looking to take back his 2013 title in this event, but he will be challenged by teammate Jack Conger and West Virginia’s Andrew Marsh. Darmody and Conger are pretty much safe in terms of qualifying for NCAAs, so it will be interesting to see how much these men rest for this meet. It is not impossible for Marsh to pull off a victory in this event, even with these big-name Longhorns in the race. Conger may not even participate in this event, which would further open the door of opportunity for Marsh to qualify for NCAAs and touch the wall first in this final.

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