Madisyn Cox, Bonnie Brandon Highlight First Day of Texas/Arizona/SMU Tri-Meet

Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com

AUSTIN – Southern Methodist University appeared to be the weaker team at this weekend’s two-day tri-meet against Texas and Arizona, but the Mustangs did not roll over after today’s action, surprising the crowd with a relay victory and several key swims to highlight the men’s and women’s competition. Texas and Arizona had some strong swims of their own as the two teams had swimmers post key times in several races.

Texas/Arizona/SMU women’s meet, day one

To start the meet, Brandon won the 1000 freestyle with a 9:39.03, unofficially the fastest 1000 freestyle posted this season. Georgia’s Amber McDermott had swum a 9:43.00 in October to lead the nation in the event. Right behind in second place was Texas’ Kaitlin Pawlowicz with a 9:41.32, now second in the nation. It’s likely these two times could hold up as the fastest in the nation, since the dual meet season is winding down.

Southern Methodist made its statement in the second event, winning the women’s 200 free relay with a 1:31.39 using Nathalie Lindborg, Isabella Arcila, Marne Erasmus and Adri Santa. Arcila’s 21.78 – a split not usually seen in a dual meet – was the clincher for the Mustangs as they beat Texas by just 16 hundredths of a second. Texas’ 1:31.55 was faster than Arizona’s 1:32.28.

The momentum continued for the SMU women right into the next event, the 100 freestyle. Lindborg posted the only sub-50 second swim of the day with a 49.29. That’s her fastest swim of the season, beating the 49.41 she put up at the Art Adamson Invite in November. Nationwide, it only ranks her in the top 40 and is about 1.5 seconds off the NCAA automatic qualifying time. But today, it gave her the crucial first-place points. Arizona’s Taylor Schick was second with a 50.29, while Texas was third and fourth thanks to the 50.51 by Rebecca Millard and the 50.76 by Mimi Schneider.

Arcila nearly took down NCAA finalist Bonnie Brandon of Arizona in the 200 backstroke, holding a 1.4-second lead at the 100-yard mark. But Brandon used a 28.92 on the final 50 yards to reel in Arcila and win with a 1:55.58 to Arcila’s 1:55.72. Well back in third was another NCAA finalist, Sarah Denninghoff of Texas, with a 1:58.47.

Erasmus had quite a battle on her hands in the 100 fly, but led from start to finish with a 54.31. Katja Hajdinjak of Arizona was second with a 54.72 while Texas went 3-4 with Kelsey Leneave (54.77) and Brynne Wong (54.80).

SMU challenged for the win in the 200 breast, where Tara-Lynn Nicholas held the lead over Texas’ Gretchen Jacques at the 100-yard mark by five tenths of a second. But Jacques outsplit Nicholas on the final 100, 1:08.10 to 1:10.30, to win with a 2:11.63. Nicholas was second with a 2:13.37 while teammate Kirsty MacLauchlan was third with a 2:14.40 ahead of the 2:14.50 by Arizona’s Emma Schoettmer.

Texas took a 1-2 finish in the 400 IM with a swift 4:06.37 by Madisyn Cox, seven seconds faster than what she had swum this season and good enough for fifth in the nation. That’s a lifetime best for Cox, beating the 4:09.25 she swam last year at the Big 12 championships, and exactly one second slower than the automatic qualifying time for the NCAA championships. Cox was 22nd in the 400 IM last year at the NCAAs, but now looks to be in scoring position, possibly in the top eight. Cox was a full 10 seconds faster than teammate Pawlowicz, who was second with a 4:16.35. MacLachlan made a move on Pawlowicz in the breaststroke leg, but could only finish third with a 4:16.35.

Texas and SMU were virtually neck and neck going into the freestyle leg of the 400 medley relay, but a 49.90 from Millard was enough to give Texas the win with a total time of 3:38.06. SMU was second with a 3:39.39, while Arizona was third with a 3:40.78.

Texas/Arizona/SMU men’s meet, day one

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott


The men’s meet featured some interesting lineups from Texas, as head coach Eddie Reese switched two of his top athletes from their best events. Instead of swimming the 200 backstroke, one of the events in which he made the NCAA final last season, Jack Conger swam the 100 free. Kip Darmody, who made the 100 free final for Texas last March, swam the 200 back today. The points scored might have turned out the same if the two had swum their best events, however.

Conger won the 100 free with a 44.09, beating out the 44.63 from SMU’s Christian Scherubl, a freshman from Austria. Texas’ Tripp Cooper was third with a 44.72, while Arizona’s Brad Tandy and Texas’ Keith Murphy shared fourth-place points by tying with times of 45.01.

In the 200 backstroke, Darmody settled for second place with a 1:46.72 behind the 1:45.81 from Arizona’s Michael Meyer. SMU continued to put up top-three times with a 1:48.11 from freshman Bartosz Krzyzaniak. Meyer was the only double winner of the meet, winning the 400 IM with a 3:48.84, six seconds better than the 3:55.47 by Texas’ John Martens for second place.

The men’s meet started with a big win for Texas, as Sam Lewis won the 1000 free with a 9:02.18. He never lost the lead and posted regular 27-low splits, with a few splits in the 26-high range for good measure. That time is one of the top 10 swum this season. Arizona’s Ty Fowler and Texas’ Clay Youngquist battled for second place, and after more than nine minutes of swimming, they tied for second with a 9:13.89.

Texas’ relay strength showed in the 200 free relay, which the Longhorns won by almost two seconds over Southern Methodist with a 1:19.32 to SMU’s 1:21.22. Arizona was in the hunt, but was disqualified for an early takeoff by not only the “A” team, but the “B” team as well.

Texas could score big at the NCAA championships in the 100 butterfly, and that showed today with a 1-2-3 finish. Brett Ringgold led the Longhorns with a 47.36, overtaking John Murray and Will Glass in the final stretch. Murray was second with a 47.70, while Glass faded to third with a 47.74 after a 21.94 opening 50 yards. Note that the event did not include Conger, who made the NCAA final last March, or Joe Schooling, who could score in the 100 fly at NCAAs as a freshman.

One of the anticipated matchups in today’s competition was the men’s 200 breaststroke, featuring Will Licon of Texas, the leader in the collegiate rankings so far this season with a 1:52.18, and three-time 200 breast NCAA champion Kevin Cordes of Arizona. Licon made the early statement with a 56.61 at the 100, but Cordes responded with a 29.77 on the third 50. But that wasn’t enough, and Licon won with a 1:57.26 to Cordes’ 1:58.42. Texas’ Matt Korman rounded out the sub-2:00 swims with a 1:59.63.

Similar to the women’s relay, Texas and SMU were in a tight battle in the men’s 400 medley relay. After Arizona led by two seconds thanks to a 53.99 from Cordes, the three schools dove in together on the freestyle leg. Though Scherubl posted the fastest freestyle split with a 44.12, it couldn’t get SMU the victory, as Texas’ Keith Murphy put up a 44.61 to help the Longhorns win with a 3:16.88 to SMU’s 3:16.95. Arizona’s Brad Tandy posted a 44.43 freestyle split to give Arizona third in the relay with a 3:17.22.

Arizona vs. SMU vs. Texas Tri-Meet – Results

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Jason
Jason
9 years ago

i believe Kaitlin Pawlowicz went a 4:16

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