Eight NCAA ‘A’ Cuts Seen on Night Two of 2017 Texas Invitational

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold/Aringo

By Jason Tillotson.

After just the 800 freestyle and 200 medley relays last night, the nation’s fastest collegiate swimmers were anxious to dive in on night two of the 2017 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational. Amongst the college athletes were some of the nation’s fastest professional swimmers like Matt Grevers and Madisyn Cox.

During the battles between the pros and the college stars, we saw many NCAA ‘A’ standards achieved tonight, which gives us a mild preview of what is to come in March at the NCAA Division I championships.

The Texas women kicked off this evening session with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay. The lady Longhorns put together a time of 1:28.81, just a tenth of a second off the NCAA ‘A’ cut. In second place was was Wisconsin in a 1:29.35 followed by USC in a time of 1:29.57.

The Texas men continued the Longhorn winning trend with an NCAA ‘A’ cut time of 1:16.13 while USC nabbed the second place finish with in a 1:17.66. Stanford took third in a time of 1:18.07.

The distance freestylers took their turn in the tank with Longhorn Joanna Evans winning the women’s 500 freestyle in an NCAA ‘A’ cut time of 4:35.05. Arizona’s Hannah Cox took second in a 4:39.49. Evie Pfeifer out of Texas placed third in 4:39.64. Winning the B final was Longhorn Quinn Carrozza with a 4:40.97, a time that would have placed her fourth overall, had she qualified for the A heat. Winning the C final was Margaux Verger from UCLA in a time of 4:45.33. Taking the D heat in a time of 4:49.35 was Vera Koprivova out of Rutgers.

In a field absent of Clark Smith, Stanford’s Grant Shoults took the win in the men’s 500 freestyle with a 4:11.34. Fellow Stanford distance man, Liam Egan took second with a 4:14.03. Third went to Longhorn Townley Haas with his 4:14.43. Taking the B final win was Longhorn Parker Neri in a time of 4:16.35. Earning a victory in the C final was Stanford’s Matthew Hirschberger with a 4:19.32. Jake Sannem out of USC touched first in the D final with his 4:21.37.

Cox earned the lady Longhorns another win tonight in Austin with her 1:54.39 performance in the 200 IM. Taking second was Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson in 1:55.36 with USC’s Riley Scott right behind in 1:55.63, for third. The B final was won by USC’s Tatum Wade in a 1:56.69. The C final featured UCLA’s Kenisha Liu taking the win with a 2:00.15. UNLV’s Kyndal Phillips took the D final with her time of 2:00.89.

Stanford’s Abrahm Devine touched first in the men’s 200 IM with a time of 1:41.99, just shy of the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 1:41.88. Arizona’s Nick Thorne took second in 1:42.76 while Texas’ Sam Stewart nabbed third in a time of 1:44.97. Earning the B final win was Brennan Pastorek with his 1:44.99 while the C final victory was awarded to his teammate Will Macmillan in 1:46.04. The D final was won by Steven Medvedev out of Arizona in 1:47.49.

The women’s splash and dash was next on the lineup with USC’s Marta Ciesla taking the win in 22.23. The Longhorn duo of Rebecca Millard and Claire Adams followed Ciesla with times of 22.28 and 22.34, respectively. Laura Kurki earned Arizona a B final win with her time of 22.72. Another Wildcat victory was earned by Zohar Shikler in the C final with her time of 22.82. The D final was taken by UCLA’s Kenisha Liu in a 22.90.

Oklahoma Baptist’s David Lambert was able to top a star studded field with his 19.17. Olympian Matt Grevers touched second in 19.22 while Longhorn Brett Ringgold took third in 19.32. Jack Conger made an appearance in the B final and won it with a time of 19.56. The C final victor was USC’s Ralf Tribuntsov who swam a 19.57 while the D final went to Jacob Huerta with his 20.01.

The 400 medley relay for both the men and women wrapped up the finals session tonight in Austin as the lady Trojans earned a win with their time of 3:29.96. Also producing a NCAA ‘A’ cut time was Texas who touched second in 3:32.59. Third went to Arizona who put together a 3:33.52.

Despite a disqualification of their A relay, the Texas men still pulled off a win with their B team by putting together a time of 3:06.11, earning the NCAA ‘A’ standard. Also under the ‘A’ standard was ASU, who posted a time of 3:07.44 for second place. Third went to Stanford who swam a 3:07.65.

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