Big 12 Saturday Recap: Texas Women Remain Undefeated

Jan 17, 2016; Austin, TX, USA; Madisyn Cox swims in the women's 200 meter IM final at Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Photo Courtesy: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

By Jason Tillotson. 

Not a whole lot of action around the Big 12 conference on this latter part of the weekend but the meet we do have is set to host some gnarly dives and exciting races as Texas takes on University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

So far this season we have seen the University of Texas swimming and diving teams travel around the nation and compete against an array of competition, which is likely a strategic move by the coaching staff designed to expose their athletes to a wide variety of the nation’s best. A few weeks ago they took on Indiana and Florida from the Big 10 and the SEC, then they travelled to Texas A&M for another taste of the SEC. Now we see Texas approach the Carolinas, to test their ability against two schools in the ACC; NC State and UNC, Chapel Hill.

Yesterday’s dual with Texas and NC State ended in a victory for the women, 184-116, continuing their undefeated season and maintaining their number two ranked status. The Longhorn men fell the Wolfpack, 116-176 which further perpetuates their four-meet loss streak. For a full recap of the meet, click here.

Here’s a closer look at today’s action:

Texas (W) vs. UNC (W)

Score: Texas 172, UNC 125

The Longhorn women showed one of the reasons why they’re undefeated; they race exceptionally well. This was evident in most of their swims today as the Longhorns won several individual events. Their weaknesses began to show towards the second half of the meet, especially in the shorter events.

In the 50 and 100 freestyles the lady Longhorns were defeated by Tarheel sprint standout Caroline Baldwin. The Texas women were able to rebound by sweeping the Tarheels in the longer stroke events, like the 200 backstroke. In that event, the Longhorns took 1-2-3 with Claire Adams leading the way in 1:57.39, followed by her teammate Kaitlin Harty in 1:57.51 while Evie Pfiefer finished third in 1:59.56, making those three swimmers the only three to stay under the 2:00 mark.

The Texas women completed yet another sweep in the 100 butterfly with freshman Emily Reese getting her hand on the wall first with a time of 54.22. Following closely behind was teammate Remedy Rule in 54.40 while Victoria Edwards rounded out the top three in 55.80.

Junior Quinn Carrozza was able to secure herself a win in the 500 freestyle. The two tar heel women who flanked her during the race stayed with Carrozza as she came into the final 100, but in the end it was all Carrozza as she touched first in 4:50.64.

The Lady Longhorns took one more sweep in the final individual event of the day, the 200 IM. Pfiefer got her hand on the wall first with a swift 2:00.49. Right behind her was Brooke Hansen with a 2:01.46 while teammate Nora Mccullagh swam a 2:02.57 for third.

In the 400 freestyle relay, the Texas ladies overcame their sprint freestyle deficit from earlier in the meet and edged past UNC with a time of 3:19.08 to UNC’s 3:19.21.

valdas-abaliksta-north-carolina

Photo Courtesy: Jeffrey A. Camarti-UNC Athletics Communications

Texas (M) vs. UNC (M)

Score: Texas 162, UNC 137

The Longhorn men won their first meet of the season, despite deep holes in their roster and some off events being swum by their stars.

The men’s team continued to show slight signs of struggle, though this is probably the strongest they have looked against any other team they have faced so far. Unlike the women’s team, the Longhorn men were able to secure the sprint freestyles. Senior Brett Ringgold won both sprint freestyle events in 19.93 and 44.46, respectively. Finishing the 1-2-3 Texas sweep of the 50 freestyle was Joseph Schooling with a time of 20.13 and Tate Jackson in 20.34. In the hundred, the man who finished behind Ringgold to make it a 1-2 punch for the Longhorns was Luke Bowman in a time of 44.89.

The relatively large gaps in the Longhorn’s roster was shown when they swept the 200 backstroke, with freshman standout Austin Katz leading the way in 1:45.92, but got completely annihilated in the 200 breaststroke. The fastest Longhorn in the event was backstroke and distance specialist Jonathan Roberts in 2:04.13. The Longhorns didn’t swim their fastest breaststroker Casey Melzer in either breaststroke event today.

Schooling was back in action today after missing the dual meet against Texas A&M for unknown reasons. Though he may as well been absent in the 200 butterfly because Schooling faded to sixth, posting a time of 1:52.90 which is well of his in-season best. Freshman Sam Pomajevich was able to secure the win for the Longhorns though with a time of 1:48.52. Schooling was able to sneak in for a victory in the 100 butterfly, posting a 47.18, which is still not a great mark for Schooling, but a win nonetheless. John Shebat was third in that race by posting a 49.08.

Also notably absent from the second half of today’s meet was Townley Haas. Haas’ absence was most felt in the 500 freestyle where the Longhorns suffered a 1-2 blow from the Tarheels. Sophomore backstroker Ryan Harty was able to step in and break up the 1-2-3 sweep with a time of 4:32.20.

Roberts cruised to a 3:53.63 in the last individual event of the day, the 400 IM, with a time seven seconds faster than the second place finisher.

The men’s meet offered a 200 freestyle relay, which Texas was able to win with a 1:20.46 with UNC coming in second with 1:21.08. Both times are nowhere near what these two teams will put up at the end of the season, but a solid race for a mid-November dual meet.

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Thomas A. Small
6 years ago

Congratulations ladys

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