Texas Invitational: Jillian Cox, Emma Sticklen Impress for Longhorn Women on Final Night
During the final session of the Texas Invitational, the home team continued to dominate for both the women and men. The Texas women got big swims from faces old and new, with the two-time defending NCAA champion in the 200 butterfly, Emma Sticklen, once again lowering her best time while freshman Jillian Cox swam a mark that would have won last year’s NCAA title in the 1650 freestyle.
As for the men, the Longhorns swept all events on the final night, with sophomores Rex Maurer and Will Modglin each concluding breakout meets with their third individual win apiece.
Women’s 1650 Freestyle
In her first time racing the one-mile race at a college invitational, Jillian Cox continued her impressive freshman season by jumping into the all-time top-10 in the event. She previously swam the country’s fastest time this college season while moving to seventh all-time in the 500 free, and now she has posted a time quicker than anyone else in college swimming.
But this one did not come easily as Cox had to shake off a late surge by Stanford’s Aurora Roghair, who briefly pulled to within a second of the lead in the closing third of the race. Only in the final 150- yards did Cox truly assert herself, finishing in 15:34.66 to take her place among the all-time greats in the event while knocking a whopping 24 seconds off her previous best time of 15:58.68 from last March.
Roghair, meanwhile, finished in 15:36.43 to go to No. 12 all-time, a second ahead of the 15:37.74 that Georgia’s Abby McCulloh swam on the way to winning the national title in the event last March. Roghair, who placed second in that NCAA Championships race, now ranks No. 12 all-time in this event. Kate Hurst, a Texas freshman alongside Cox, finished third in 15:48.78, a time which would have placed fifth at last year’s national meet.
Men’s 1650 Freestyle
After setting an American record in the 500 free and moving into the all-time top-five in the 400 IM, Texas sophomore Rex Maurer has concluded the meet with a huge best time in the 1650 free, knocking more than 24 seconds off his previous top mark on the way to a 14:30.47 clocking, a tenth quicker than Zalan Sarkany, formerly of Arizona State and now at Indiana, swam to win the NCAA title in the event last year.
After a lackluster freshman year at Stanford, Maurer has been extremely impressive during his debut run at Texas, sending him into championship season squarely among the national-title favorites in the mid-distance events as well this mile.
Moreover, Maurer comfortably defeated a swimmer who represented the U.S. in the 1500-meter free at the Paris Olympics, Texas teammate David Johnston. The veteran actually led for almost the entire race, with a margin of five seconds during the middle portion, but he faded badly at the end as Maurer pulled ahead at the 1550-yard mark and surged to the finish. Johnston touched in 14:35.42, with USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski third in 14:53.61.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
The reigning NCAA champion in the 200 back swam under 1:50 for the first time this season. Wisconsin fifth-year swimmer Phoebe Bacon swam a mark of 1:49.66 as she overtook teammate Maggie Wanezek after trailing by two tenths at the halfway point. Bacon will face a huge challenge in the event later this year, however, as Claire Curzan became the fastest swimmer ever in the event earlier in the day at the Tennessee Invite.
Wanezek took second in 1:50.62, with Stanford’s Levenia Sim third in 1:53.50. 26.58 55.60 (29.02)
Men’s 200 Backstroke
One day after becoming the first swimmer this season to break 44 in the 100 back, Will Modglin put forth a huge swim over 200 yards, clocking 1:37.84 to slice a full second off his lifetime best. Just four swimmers eclipsed that time at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Cal Poly’s Drew Huston (1:41.31) and Texas’ Ben Sampson (1:42.01) rounded out the top three while Rex Maurer swam the event in prelims and clocked 1:38.27, a mark only five swimmers beat at the 2024 NCAA Championships.
Women’s 100 Freestyle
The class of the field in the women’s 100 free was Torri Huske, the Olympic silver medalist in the long course equivalent race at the Paris Games. Huske was more than a half-second up on the field at the halfway point, and she finished in 46.62, a mark that only Gretchen Walsh and the graduated Katharine Berkoff beat at last year’s NCAA Championships. Huske was redshirting from college swimming during the 2023-24 season.
Texas’ Ava Longi finished clear of the rest of the field in second at 47.46, with USC’s Minna Abraham touching out Texas’ Grace Cooper for third, 47.74 to 47.78.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Texas’ Camden Taylor continued his strong week in the freestyle events with a 100-yard time of 42.35, holding off a strong finish from Stanford’s Luke Maurer, who came in at 42.50. Pitt’s Julian Koch took third in 42.61.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Stanford’s Lucy Bell has been a revelation in the 200 breaststroke in recent weeks. Best known for her exploits in the IM and butterfly events, Bell clocked the country’s fastest time in the Cardinal’s meet at Arizona State, and she finished just two tenths off that mark in her win at the Invite.
Bell pulled away from the field and put up a time of 2:06.55. Wisconsin’s Hazal Ozkan placed second in 2:08.46, with Texas’ Piper Enge third in 2:09.38.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Texas’ Will Scholtz finished second to teammate Nate Germonprez in the 100-yard event Thursday, but in the 200 breast, Scholtz blasted ahead of the field and held on despite a painful final 50 yards. He clocked 1:51.66 to beat teammate Brayden Taivassalo by a half-second, with Taivassalo coming in at 1:52.20.
USC’s Ben Dillard took third in 1:52.42 while Germonprez clocked 1:52.25 in prelims before scratching in the final.
Women’s 200 Butterfly
For the second time this season, Texas fifth-year swimmer Emma Sticklen has gone under her best time in the 200 butterfly while making a run at the NCAA and American records in the event.
Sticklen, the two-time defending NCAA titlist in the race, paced the field by more than two seconds at the halfway point and held her pace to finish in 1:49.54, beating her previous best time of 1:49.77 from last month’s Texas-LSU dual meet. The Stanford duo of Lillie Nordmann (1:53.79) and Caroline Bricker (1:54.62) rounded out the top three.
Sticklen remains the fourth-fastest performer ever, with Regan Smith the fastest performer ever at 1:48.33, Alex Walsh holding the NCAA record at 1:49.16 and former Stanford star Ella Eastin holding a best time of 1:49.51.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
It was a wire-to-wire win in the final individual event of the meet for Texas’ Logan Walker, who held off the field down the stretch to swim a time of 1:41.01, three-quarters of a second clear of teammate Ryan Branon Jr. (1:41.76) and USC’s Michal Chmielewski (1:41.82).
Women’s 400 Freestyle Relay
In a meet full of tight races between the Texas and Stanford women, the Longhorns came out on top in the final opportunity as U.S. Olympian Erin Gemmell executed a come-from-behind anchor leg to give her team the win.
The Longhorns’ team of Emma Sticklen, Ava Longi, Grace Cooper and Gemmell came in at 3:10.22, with Longi providing the quickest split of 47.30 and Gemmell finishing in 47.49. That was enough to beat the 3:10.87 recorded by Stanford’s Aurora Roghair, Gigi Johnson, Torri Huske and Annika Parkhe. Huske provided by far the best split in the race, going 45.98 on the third leg.
USC placed third in 3:12.44 with Vasilissa Buinaia, Minna Abraham, Caroline Famoud and Macky Hodges.
Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay
The Texas men concluded their dominant week with a 1-2 finish in the 400 free relay. The team listed as the “B” squad came out on top in 2:49.67, with Will Modglin leading off in 42.08 before teammates Kobe Ndebele, Kyle Peck and Coby Carrozza finished in 2:49.67. Carrozza had the only sub-42 split of the race.
The other Texas squad consisted of Camden Taylor, Luke Hobson, Nate Germonprez and Rex Maurer, clocking 2:50.37. USC’s Oliver Sogaard-Anderson, Luke Maurer, Ben Dillard and Ian Pickles took third in 2:51.05.