No. 7 Texas Rallies To Upset No. 5 Stanford Women

STANFORD, California, November 3. NO. 7 Texas (3-1) trimmed and ultimately overcame a 25-point deficit late in the meet to secure a 151.5-148.5 victory over host No. 5 Stanford (2-1) Saturday afternoon at the Cardinal's Avery Aquatics Complex.

“I think everybody played their part today,” UT head coach Carol Capitani said. “There were people in each event who found a way to make something happen. We had people like Kaitlin Pawlowicz, Gretchen Jaques and Laura Sogar come out and get wins, just like our diversdid. You don't want to take credit from them, but we also had people like Marylyn Toledo, Spindrift Beck and Alex Hooper come out and have some of the best dual meets they've ever had. The divers did a heck of a job. It was just a great team effort all the way around.”

Stanford took an early lead with a win in the 200-yardmedley relay before UT's Pawlowicz claimed a win in the 1000 freestyle in 9:50.98. Sogar posted the next victory for Texas in the 100 breaststroke, where she led a one-two UT finish in 1:01.15. Jaques took second in 1:01.53. Both times were good for NCAA “B” cuts.

Pawlowicz returned to post a win in the 200 butterfly in 2:01.00 before senior diver Diana Wilcox captured the three-meter event with 308.40 points. Wilcox's victory helped cut the Stanford lead to 76.5-73.5.

The Cardinal took first, second and fourth in the 100 freestyle to push their lead to 14 points. Stanford stretched its lead to a meet-high 25 points after going one-two in the 200 backstroke, but Texas methodically trimmed the lead before winning the meet in the final event of the day, the 400 freestyle relay.

Sogar kicked off the rally by taking first in the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.85. Beck added an additional two points for Texas by placing fourth in 2:15.15 to cut the Stanford lead to 114.5-92.5. Pawlowicz notched her third win of the day by clocking 4:51.44 in the 500 freestyle. Stanford still led the meet by 21 points after taking second, third and fourth in the 500 freestyle, but Texas took a significant chunk out its deficit in the next event, the 100 butterfly.

Jaques led a one-two Longhorns finish in the 100 butterfly in 54.08, well under the NCAA “B” cut of 54.62. Senior Kelsey Amundsen added four points by taking second in 55.48, and junior Marylyn Toledo notched two more points by taking fourth in 56.21.

Stanford led 127.5-117.5 after the 100 fly, but Texas trimmed the Cardinal lead to five points by taking first and third in the one-meter diving event. Junior Maren Taylor earned nine points for Texas by taking first with 302.78 point, and freshman Meghan Houston added three more points by placing third with 280.50 points.

Stanford's Maya DiRado won the 200 individual medley in 2:00.47, but Texas only lost one point to Stanford since it took second, third and fourth places in the event. Sogar took second in 2:01.97, while sophomore Skylar Smith placed third in 2:02.33. Beck placed fourth in 2:02.56.

With Texas trailing 144.5 to 138.5 heading into the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay, the Longhorns needed to win the 400 freestyle relay and have an additional relay place second or third to win the meet. Texas did just that.

UT collected 11 points by winning the event, as Jaques, senior Bethany Adams, junior Sarah Denninghoff and Amundsen finished in 3:19.07, good for a NCAA “B” cut. But, the points that ultimately won the meet came from UT's “B” relay, as juniors Samantha Tucker and Alex Hooper and sophomores Shelby Webber and Kelsey LeNeave won the decisive two points for Texas by placing third in 3:25.49. Stanford's “A” relay collected four points by placing second.

Had the Cardinal's “B” relay taken third place, the final score would have read 150.5 to 149.5 in Stanford's favor. Instead, Texas outscored Stanford by a 13-4count in the final relay to make the final score 151.5 to 148.5 in favor of the Longhorns.

The Texas divers continue fall competition on Nov. 15 at the Houston Invitational. The Texas swimmers will compete later this month when UT welcomes the USA Swimming AT&T Winter National Championships (Nov. 29-Dec. 1).

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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