{"id":501553,"date":"2022-03-26T18:09:29","date_gmt":"2022-03-27T01:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=501553"},"modified":"2022-03-26T19:52:38","modified_gmt":"2022-03-27T02:52:38","slug":"ncaa-mens-championships-texas-finishes-meet-on-high-note-with-400-free-relay-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-mens-championships-texas-finishes-meet-on-high-note-with-400-free-relay-triumph\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas Finishes Meet on High Note With 400 Free Relay Triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Men’s Championships: Texas Finishes Meet on High Note With 400 Free Relay Triumph<\/strong><\/p>\n

The California Golden Bears had already been declared winners of the NCAA team title, but that was not going to stop Texas from going out with a bang. Arizona State had the lead through 300 yards, but Texas anchor\u00a0Danny Krueger<\/strong> was brilliant on the final leg to pull his team to another triumph. The team of\u00a0Drew Kibler<\/strong> (41.58),\u00a0Cameron Auchinachie\u00a0<\/strong>(41.39),\u00a0Caspar Corbeau<\/strong> (42.06) and\u00a0Krueger (41.00) combined for a time of 2:46.03, defeating the Sun Devils by 0.37.<\/p>\n

The comeback brought back memories of the 2019 NCAA Championships, when Texas captured the title in the 400 free relay after Cal had clinched the meet. Kibler and Krueger were both freshmen on that Texas team, and Krueger actually led off that winning relay quartet.<\/p>\n

“I think it was really an opportunity to share an experience with a team and enjoy an awesome race with the guys,. It was a fantastic team effort, and the coaching staff was super supportive through the whole thing,” Krueger said.<\/p>\n

“I know DK (Krueger) was familiar with this from 2019,” Kibler said. “We were in a familiar situation. We knew the outcome of the meet. It\u2019s in our nature to race, to give it everything we have. It can be easy to throw in the towel, but Texas Fight all the way. I was reminiscing on my seniors, how they fought all the way. It meant a lot.”<\/p>\n

Arizona State’s\u00a0Grant House<\/strong>,\u00a0Leon Marchand<\/strong>,\u00a0Carter Swift<\/strong> and\u00a0Cody Bybee<\/strong> finished second in 2:46.40, marking the highest relay finish at an NCAA Championships since\u00a0Bob Bowman<\/strong> took over as head coach in 2015. Cal ended up fourth, two hundredths behind, in 2:46.42.\u00a0Bjorn Seeliger<\/strong>,\u00a0Jack Alexy<\/strong>,\u00a0Hugo Gonzalez\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Destin Lasco<\/strong> swam for the Bears.<\/p>\n

Virginia finished fourth in 2:46.80 as\u00a0Matt King<\/strong> propelled the Cavaliers with a 41.28 split. That was enough to propel Virginia into the top-10 by 11.5 points over in-state rival Virginia Tech. NC State finished fifth in 2:47.29, just ahead of Florida (2:47.39), which had\u00a0Kieran Smith<\/strong> splitting 41.35 on the anchor leg.<\/p>\n

The fastest split of the competition belonged to Harvard’s\u00a0Dean Farris<\/strong>, who recorded a 40.51 split on the Crimson’s ninth-place relay.<\/p>\n

But this brief moment belonged to Texas, a chance for the Longhorns to take the spotlight despite coming up a little bit short in the always-competitive team showdown against the Golden Bears.<\/p>\n

“It being only my second NCAAs, we always knew that the battle between us and Cal was going to be a tough one. It\u2019s never going to be easy. I remember talking with Cam and Drew before the race by saying a statement that I heard from (head coach) Eddie<\/strong>\u00a0(Reese<\/strong>) and (assistant coach) Wyatt<\/strong> (Collins<\/strong>) before. \u2018How do you want to be remembered?\u2019” Corbeau said. “I think that was something that helped us leave it in the pool tonight and throw everything we possibly can at this last relay.”<\/p>\n