Big 12 Weekly Preview: Texas Travels West, WVU Hosts Tri-Meet

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.

With championship season fast approaching most teams around the NCAA are looking to get their last minute races in before the Big 12 Conference Championship, which is about a month away as the meet begins February 21-24.

On Friday the University of Texas men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will head out west to take on Arizona State University in a one-day dual. On the very next day both Longhorn squads will go from Tempe to Tucson to face the Wildcats from the University of Arizona.

Meanwhile the Jayhawks from the Kansas University will travel down south to take on Arkansas in a Big 12 vs SEC battle.

TCU will travel north within their home state to battle the University of North Texas.

On Saturday, West Virginia University will host a tri-meet with Villanova and Iowa State, which should give the lady Mountaineers a nice preview of the Cyclones from Iowa State before Big 12’s.

Here’s a closer look at this weekend’s Big 12 action:

Texas vs. ASU (Friday)

The Longhorn men come into this dual with a 2-4 win/loss record, with one of those wins coming from their recent dual with Auburn. The ASU men are currently holding a record of 2-4. The lady Longhorns come in unscathed with a record of 6-0, while the ASU women are still positive with a record of 4-3.

On the men’s side senior Brett Ringgold will lead the Longhorns in the sprint freestyles which will be key races (relays included) versus the Sun Devils on Friday. Another challenge area for the Longhorns will be the backstroke events. While Texas does have freshman standout Austin Katz, ASU has Zachary Poti who is expected to fire right back at Katz.

The breaststroke events should provide for some exciting races since ASU brings in Christian Lorenz who posted a 1:53.54 at the Texas Invite earlier this season, which is much quicker than anything the Longhorns have on their roster.

On the women’s side, the Texas ladies will look to distance-superstar Joanna Evans to lead the team in the distance free events and contribute to much needed relay points. Quinn Carrozza and Claire Adams will take the charge in the backstroke events with Adams coming in with an NCAA ‘A’ cut in the 100 distance.

Texas vs. Arizona (Saturday)

On Saturday The University of Arizona will look to sprint-stud Jorge Iga to battle Ringgold in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Arizona’s Justin Wright should give Joseph Schooling and Sam Pomajevich a run for their money in the butterfly events while Texas will struggle in the breaststroke and distance free events due to their lack of a go-to guy in those areas.

For the women’s meet, the usual suspects should carry Texas to a win. The Longhorns deep breaststroke squad consisting of Evie Pfeifer, Olivia Anderson and Kennedy Lohman should help score key points.

Kansas vs. Arkansas

KU is coming straight off a win against William Jewel last week where they defeated the Cardinals 130-64. The Jayhawks will use their deep freestyle roster of Haley Bishop, Carly Straight and Jenny Nusbaum to take on the impressively quick SEC Razorbacks.

Manon Manning will likely lead the Jayhawks into the backstroke battle with her NCAA ‘B’ cuts in both the 100 and 200 distance. The breaststroke event swill be the toughest for the Jayhawks as their top swimmer in both the 100 and 200 distance, Hayley Downey, comes in just a tad slower then the Razorbacks’ top breaststroker. Arkansas brings in Syndey Angell who has posted times of 1:02.04 and 2:14.19 in the 100 and 200, respectively this season.

TCU vs. North Texas

On Saturday the lady Horned Frogs from TCU will travel to North Texas University to take on the Mean Green.

Both teams come in with strikingly similar strong points on their rosters. TCU has a few swimmers at low 23’s, 50’s and 1:50’s in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle races as does North Texas. With those tight races individually, we should also see close freestyle relay situations as well.

In the stroke events, TCU will trust Devin Newton with the breaststroke responsibilities while Micaela Roemer will lead the charge in butterfly.

West Virginia vs. Villanova and Iowa State

WVU will host the Villanova men and women while the Iowa State women will also be in attendance.

The Mountaineers will likely be safe from any danger of losing the meet, as both squads come in with much deeper and faster rosters, though that does not mean we will be deprived of fast swimming and close races.

For the ladies, Morgan Bullock will take the lead in the IM events for the Longhorns while Amelie Currat will try and win the backstroke events.

On the men’s side Merwane ElMerini, who has had an impressive season so far, will be the go-to guy for most of the relay situations on Saturday.

The always versatile Nate Carr will attempt to carry the Mountaineer men in whichever stroke head coach Vic Riggs decides he is most useful.

Iowa State’s Martha Haas will attempt to get the Cyclones into a point-scoring position in the breaststroke events.

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