Jack Conger Sets School Record, Texas Sweeps Arizona and SMU

Photo Credit: Griffin Scott

AUSTIN – Texas sophomore Jack Conger broke the school record in the men’s 200 fly with the fastest time in the NCAA this season (1:40.34) as the Texas swimming and diving teams swept both Arizona and SMU on Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

Texas Men’s Press Release

Texas All-America sophomore Jack Conger set a school record and became the NCAA’s fourth-fastest swimmer ever in the 200-yard butterfly as the Longhorns finished off double-dual wins over No. 14 Arizona and SMU Saturday at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

Conger (Rockville, Md.) won the event Saturday in 1 minute, 40.34 seconds and eclipsed the school mark of 1:41.00 set by UT freshman Joseph Schooling last month at the Texas Invitational. The 1:40.34 ranks Conger No. 1 in college swimming this season and ranks him as the fourth-fastest swimmer in NCAA history. Conger’s effort goes down as the fifth-fastest 200 butterfly performance in NCAA history.

“I wouldn’t say this was expected or planned, but it’s what I’ve been thinking about,” Conger said. “Last night I warmed down a lot so I could prepare for this race. The last few days leading up to the meet we were really narrowed in on one or two events to focus on, and the 200 fly was that for me. It’s not necessarily an off event, but it’s something besides backstroke, which is nice to do to get my mind off of something I enjoy and love doing so much. It was really nice.”

“It was totally surprising to all of us,” UT head coach Eddie Reese said. “He got out there real strong and his last three 50’s (50-yard splits) were 25.9 (seconds), 25.9, 26 flat. You just don’t see that in butterfly.”

Senior Tripp Cooper produced a strong mid-season swim in the same race and took second in 1:45.02. Sophomore Will Licon added a sixth-place mark of 1:49.51.

Texas cruised to easy overall team victories over Arizona and SMU in the two-day double-dual meet. The top-ranked Longhorns defeated the 11th-ranked Wildcats by a 241-126 margin and took down SMU by a 287-83 count.

Texas opened the meet’s second day with a convincing win in the 200-yard medley relay, where freshman Brett Ringgold, juniors John Murray and Matt Ellis and Conger were victorious in 1 minute, 28.02 seconds.

Texas chalked up a one-two-three finish in the 500 freestyle and picked up NCAA provisional-qualifying cuts from senior Jake Ritter and junior Sam Lewis. Ritter took the win in 4:24.22 while Lewis followed closely behind in 4:24.70. Senior Clay Youngquist took third in 4:28.40.

Senior Kip Darmody led a one-two Longhorns showing atop the 100 backstroke in 47.86 while Ringgold added a second-place mark of 47.94. All-America sophomore Mark Anderson was the lone Longhorn in Saturday’s platform event, where he placed second with 390.30 points.

Texas finished off the team victory when Ringgold, junior Aaron Gustafson, senior Keith Murphy and Darmody claimed the 400 freestyle relay in 2:56.10.

Texas concludes its regular season next Friday (Feb. 6) when it hosts TCU on Senior Day.

ADDITIONAL POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas sophomore Jack Conger
On his 200 butterfly performance: The only reason I knew it was going to be a big-time swim was because I had people at each end cheering for me and cheering loud. So, I thought I was doing really, really well or I was dying and somebody was catching me. But, I saw that I wasn’t dying and nobody was catching me, so I knew something special was going to happen. I wanted to be under the 1:40 barrier, but I PR’d (recorded a personal record). I finished big for this point in the season…being broken down with heavy training and still lifting and doing dryland workouts. I can’t be mad.

Texas head coach Eddie Reese
On the meet as a whole: Everyone tried hard, and some of them put on (racing) suits. I have a clue to where everybody is in their training, and I will work very hard to get it right.

NCAA Div. I All-Time Performers: 200 Butterfly

Dylan Bosch (Michigan), 1:39.33
Tom Shields (California), 1:39.65
Marcin Cieslak Florida), 1:40.19
Jack Conger (Texas), 1:40.34
Mark Dylla (Georgia), 1:40.60
NCAA Div. I All-Time Top Performances: 200 Butterfly

Dylan Bosch (Michigan), 1:39.33
Tom Shields (California), 1:39.65
Marcin Cieslak (Florida), 1:40.19
Tom Shields (California), 1:40.31
Jack Conger (Texas), 1:40.34

Texas Women’s Press Release

No. 6 Texas held on to its leads over No. 11 Arizona and SMU and pulled away to victories over both teams Saturday afternoon at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

The Longhorns knocked off Arizona by a 213-159 margin and dealt SMU a 224-146 defeat. Arizona defeated SMU, 193.5-176.5.

Texas took second overall but notched a win over Arizona in the 200-yard medley relay, where sophomore Tasija Karosas, senior Gretchen Jaques and freshmen Mimi Schneider and Rebecca Millard finished in 1 minute, 39.96 seconds.

Senior Kaitlin Pawlowicz led the Horns in the 500 freestyle with her second-place mark of 4:48.98. Sophomore Madisyn Cox produced a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle and won the event Saturday in 1:46.37, good for a NCAA “B” cut. Karosas followed with an impressive mid-season time of 53.18 for a win and NCAA “B” cut in the 100 backstroke.

Jaques, the nation’s No. 2 swimmer in the 100 breaststroke, maintained her dominance of the event and was victorious in 59.91. Senior Kelsey LeNeave led the Horns in the 200 butterfly with her second-place mark of 2:01.85.

Cox returned to finish off an impressive double with her winning time of 1:58.34 in the 200 individual medley. Karosas and senior Skylar Smith solidified a one-two-three Texas finish in 2:04.99 and 2:05.10, respectively.

All-America senior Emma Ivory-Ganja led a one-two Texas finish in platform diving with a winning score of 290.50 points. Sophomore Murphy Bromberg, a former U.S. national champion in the event, took second with 262.30 points.

Texas wraps the regular season next Friday (Feb. 6) when it hosts TCU on Senior Day.

POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas head coach Carol Capitani
On pulling away to victories over Arizona and SMU: We certainly have a lot of pride and we know we have another dual meet before the end of the season. I think it’s always a boon to race in front of a home crowd. We came here with some specific goals of getting some more people to qualify for NCAAs (Championships). We were working on the little things and sometimes those specific goals don’t line up really well with winning your dual meet. We had to come in today, be really tough and still go after those goals. That seemed to solve itself, which is awesome. I think we raced tough. A lot of people are in different phases of training and tiredness. Although Madisyn (Cox) swam really fast, we took a day-and-a-half of rest. That’s really, really inspiring and I think it’s going to bode well for the end of the season.

On Madisyn Cox’s personal bests Friday and Saturday: As a coach, it’s not surprising with the way I’ve seen Madisyn train day-in and day-out. She’s just growing up and learning how to control her energy during a race. She’s learning how to control her emotions and have a little bit more fun with it. I think with every kid that’s as driven and perfectionistic, you run the risk of just getting too wound up before a race. Madisyn had a lot of fun with it and she had some confidence. It was fun to see her swim out there.

On standout performances: Gretchen Jaques is just so rock solid and I’m already know I’m going to miss her like crazy (when she graduates). She’s fun and she throws out some friendly challenges with me about her times, like getting the team out of morning practice if she swims “x” time. To have her go 59 seconds in the 100 breast and end the afternoon with a 49 leading off the 400 free relay is really impressive. She’s just grown up so much. She’s what it means to be Texas tough. Kaitlin Pawlowicz had the second best 1000 in the country (Friday) all season. Watching her get more and more confident and have more and more fun in this sport, nothing could make me happier as a coach.

On the freshmen: Mimi (Schneider) had a heck of a meet. That was the best meet Mimi has swam all season. I think it’s hard being a freshman. You have a lot to learn, a lot to take in and a lot of expectations to live up to. I think we’re in a good spot on that learning curve and we’re trying to smash in as much as we can before the end of the season. They all did very well. I think all of them as a group have done exceptionally well in terms of getting faster as we go along. I’m excited to see what they have at conference.

On the team as a whole: Our team is not real sharp right now. We didn’t let them off the mat—we lifted (weights) twice this week. We lifted Thursday. Between lifting, the start of school, homework, being back in class, they weren’t real fresh. I don’t want them fresh right now. That’s why we are excited about some of the swims right now. We are going to be even more excited when we do give them some rest.

Arizona Press Release

The Arizona men’s and women’s swimming and diving team defeated Southern Methodist but fell to host Texas in dual meet at Lee & Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

The men’s team defeated SMU 241-128 but fell to Texas 241-126 in the two day meet.

On Saturday, the men secured four NCAA B cuts. Andrew Sovero won the 100 breast in 54.44 seconds while Kevin Cordes finished second at 54.60. Both times were under the B cut. Brad Tandy swam the 50 free in 19.87 to win the event by two-hundredths of a second and beat the B standard comfortably. Michael Meyer won the 200 IM in a time of 1:47.24, also good enough for an NCAA B mark.

UA divers took first and third on the platform as Rafael Quintero cruised to victory with a score of 428.65, defeating second-place Mark Anderson (Texas) by 38.35 points. Dominic Ricotta finished third with a score of 354.90.

The women’s team defeated SMU 193.50-176.50 but fell to Texas 213-159.

Bonnie Brandon had a strong showing, winning the 500 free in a time of 4:46.92, her best time this season, and good enough for an NCAA B time. Brandon also posted a B cut in the 100 back, finishing third in the event with a time of 54.79.

Elizabeth Pepper was victorious in the 200 fly, posting a time of 1:59.07, under the NCAA B standard.

Taylor Schick swam the 200 free in 1:47.74, good for second place in the event and an NCAA B cut.

Karolyn Loftus led all UA divers, finishing third on the platform with a score of 231.40. Izzy Diamond, Sally Hackett and Kaitlin Costello finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Arizona is back in action for its final home meet of 2015 on Saturday, Feb. 7. The Wildcats take on ASU for senior day beginning at 1 p.m. at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.

For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat swimming and diving, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and be sure to follow the team on Twitter @ArizonaSwimming.

SMU Women’s Press Release

Despite falling to #6 Texas and #11 Arizona in double-dual action, the SMU women’s swimming and diving team picked up six first-place finishes, including three of four relays, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center on the campus of the University of Texas on Friday and Saturday. The Mustangs were edged out by the host Longhorns, 224-146, while they narrowly fell, 193.5-176.5, to Arizona.

“This was a great weekend of swimming and diving,” Head Coach Steve Collins said. “I felt our team stepped up to the challenge of racing top NCAA programs. I was happy that our relay teams led the team as that will be a major focus at the NCAAs. We had many outstanding swims and now will look forward to more improvement at the Conference Championships.”

The Mustangs kicked off the meet much how they left off the last time they meet the two schools, with a top spot in the 200-yard freestyle relay. After winning a pair of relays two seasons ago, seniors Nathalie Lindborg and Isabella Arcila, sophomore Marne Erasmus and freshman Adrienn Santa clocked in at 1:31.39 for the win.

SMU didn’t waste any time picking up maximum points in individual events as Nathalie Lindborg posted a ‘B’ cut and season-best 49.29 in the 100-yard freestyle. The Trelleborg, Sweden, native was the only swimmer to break 50.00 in the event. Sophomore Marne Erasmus, who earned SMU’s highest finish of third at the 2014 NCAA Championship, also took top points in the 100-yard butterfly in 54.31.

The 200-yard backstroke saw Mustangs occupy the second and fourth spots with Arcila clocking a season-best ‘B’ cut 1:55.72 and sophomore Ursa Bezan doing the same with a 1:59.00. SMU saw even more success in the 200-yard breaststroke with sophomores Tara-Lynn Nicholas (2:13.37) and Kirsty McLauchlan (2:14.40) outpacing their season times and placing second and third, respectively, and posting consolation qualifying standards. Senior Rachel Nicol was the third Mustang in the top five of the event.

McLauchlan has also proven to be one of the Mustangs’ strongest IMers and proved it with a third-place finish in the 400-yard event.

Night one ended with a second-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay as Arcila, Nicol, Erasmus and Santa touched the wall in 3:39.39.

The Ponies set the tone early on day two by pacing all teams in the 200-yard medley relay, touching the wall first in 1:39.47. Arcila, Nicholas, Erasmus and Nathalie Lindborg were narrowly off their season-best of 1:39.35.

Bezan posted back-to-back fourth place finishes in freestyle events including the 500- and 200-yard, and Nicholas followed up the performance with a second place finish in the 100-breast with a season best 1:00.91. Junior Tiffany Sudarma also picked up solid points for the Ponies in the 200-yard butterfly, placing third.

The highlights of day two came in the 50-yard freestyle and 400-free relay as Arcila posted a personal best 22.30 and was trailed by Nathalie Lindborg with a 23.08 for the top two spots and significant points. The 400-free relay of Arcila, Nathalie Lindborg, Erasmus and Santa dominated its own season best time of 3:23.19 posting a 3:19.94.

Junior Anna Volchkov also picked up third-place points for SMU in the 200-yard individual medley.

In diving action, sophomore Lauren Lamb placed 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 1-meter and 3-meter, while freshman Madeline Wainman was 11th in the 3-meter. On day two, Lamb was eighth from the platform.

SMU is back in action on Friday for a dual meet at North Texas at 5 p.m. CT in Denton, and finishes the weekend with a pre-conference time trial event in Southlake, Texas, which includes swimmers from UNT and Oklahoma Baptist.

SMU Men’s Press Release

The SMU men’s swimming and diving team lost to No. 1 Texas and No. 14 Arizona in double dual action this weekend at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

The Longhorns topped the Mustangs, 287-83, and Arizona won, 241-128.

Freshman Christian Scherubl headlined the Mustangs’ performance with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.26). The Austria native’s time is an NCAA ‘B’ Standard time. Scherubl also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle (44.63).

Fellow freshman Bartosz Krzyzaniak registered the top individual for a Mustang behind Scherubl, touching the wall third in the 200-yard backstroke (1:48.11).

Sam Straughan also posted a ‘B’ cut time, as he finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (48.13). The junior transfer also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (48.66).

Scherubl, Krzyzaniak, Straughan and Ziga Cerkovnik led the Mustang relay teams to two second-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:21.22) and the 400-yard medley relay (3:16.95). The squad also finished third in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:00.56).

Brooks Logan, Justin Gibson, Brad Dorsey and Nicholas Hook also teamed up to finish third in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:24.49).

In the distance freestyle events, Eastman Holloway finished seventh and set a new personal record in the 1,000-yard freestyle (9:21.04). The junior also placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:32.49).

Tyler Rauth recorded fifth-place finishes in both the 100-yard butterfly (49.17) and 200-yard butterfly (1:49.20).

Senior Devin Burnett was the Mustangs’ top diver, placing in the top six in all three diving events. The Plano, Texas, native’s best performance was a fourth-place finish (354.90) in the platform.

The Mustangs host the Pre-Conference Time Trials on Feb. 7 in Southlake, Texas. The meet will be SMU’s final meet before the American Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 18-21.

Arizona, SMU vs. Texas Dual Meet – Results

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