Tonight marked the fourth and final night of the 2019 Big 12 Conference Championships at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
The University of Texas men’s and women’s squads earned their 23rd and 7th consecutive conference titles, respectively.
To no one’s surprise both Longhorn squads emerged victorious, but on the men’s side there was a much tighter race for the team trophy than in previous years. The West Virginia Mountaineers were less than 200 points behind the Longhorns, marking one of the closest margins in the history of the conference.
Along with the continuation of one of the most dominate win streaks in the country, we saw some standout individual performances as well.
Texas senior stud Ryan Harty defeated his teammate, Austin Katz, in the 200 back on his way to erasing his meet record in the event. Both men will face off again at the NCAA meet in just a few weeks.
On the women’s side we saw Joanna Evans post the only sub-16:00 time in the 1650 free. Her mark of 15:57.28 lowered the meet record which previously belonged to Texas A&M’s Maureen McLaine, who set the old record back in 2012.
Tonights events included:
- Women’s 1650 Free (Fastest Heat)
- Men’s 1650 Free (Fastest Heat)
- Women’s 200 Back
- Men’s 200 Back
- Women’s 100 Free
- Men’s 100 Free
- Women’s 200 Breast
- Men’s 200 Breast
- Women’s 200 Fly
- Men’s 200 Fly
- Women’s 400 Free Relay
- Men’s 400 Free Relay
Scores
Women:
- University of Texas – 1073.5
- University of Kansas – 754.5
- West Virginia University – 533
- Texas Christian University – 474
- Iowa State University – 443
Men:
- University of Texas – 1028
- West Virginia University – 849.5
- Texas Christian University – 646.5
For complete results of this week’s competition, click here.
Check below for an event-by-event recap of tonight’s Big 12 action.
Women’s 1650 Free (Fastest Heat)
Texas senior Joanna Evans threw down a monster time of 15:57.28 to win the entire event. Not only was Evans’ mark a new personal best and the only sub-16:00 time of the meet, but it was also a new conference record by three full seconds.
Evans was followed by her teammate Evie Pfeifer who swam a time of 16:12.79, which was good enough for second place ahead of Kansas junior Crissie Blomquist who touched third in 16:38.95.
Rounding out the top eight was TCU’s Mary Woods with her 16:58.42.
Men’s 1650 Free (Fastest Heat)
Texas freshman Alex Zettle scorched the finals tonight by dropping a the only sub-15:00 time of the meet with his 14:48.32. Fellow Longhorn Chris Yeager touched well behind in a 15:01.56, which was good enough for second overall.
TCU’s Dayne Odendaal touched third for the Horned Frogs in a 15:43.34.
Notably, Longhorn sophomore Jack Collins was marked as exhibition after he threw down a swift 14:51.95, which would have made him second overall.
Both those sub-15:00 times should be enough to get invited to the NCAA meet.
Women’s 200 Back
Quinn Carrozza was able to get by a trio of Kansas swimmers to earn the win. Carrozza posted a 1:52.88, which will likely be good enough to get her into NCAA’s, ahead of Jayhawks Elizabeth Amato (1:55.49, 2nd), Manon Manning (1:57.52, 3rd) and Lauryn Parrish (1:57.99, 4th).
Getting eighth in that A final was TCU’s Madison Ibrahim who swam a time of 2:01.44.
Winning the B final was Kansas freshman Dewi Blose in a quick 1:59.75.
Taking the C final was Texas freshman Kendall Shield with her time of 1:58.30.
Men’s 200 Back
Longhorn senior Ryan Harty dipped under his teammate’s (Austin Katz‘s) meet record by swimming a swift 1:38.61 while the former record holder, Katz, touched second in 1:39.33. Fellow Longhorn John Shebat swam the third and final sub-1:40 time of the meet with his 1:39.55.
WVU’s Trayton Saladin took eighth overall with his 1:48.32.
Nabbing the B final was Longhorn Josh Artmann in a 1:41.60 while WVU’s Phillip Kay rounded out that heat in 1:49.97.
Women’s 100 Free
Texas completed a 1-2-3-4 sweep of the A final with Claire Adams (47.82) leading the way and Julia Cook (48.53), Anelise Diener (48.67) and Grace Ariola (49.12) following closely.
Iowa State had Anna Anderson in the mix with her 49.87, which was good enough for fifth.
Julia Nilton took sixth for WVU in a 49.93.
The Jayhawks had a duo of Jenny Nusbaum (50.18) and Carly Straight (50.56) take seventh and eighth, respectively.
Kansas senior Taylor Sieperda nabbed the B final win for the Jayhawks with her 50.61.
Earning a C final victory was Longhorn Jordan Wheeler in a time of 50.69.
Men’s 100 Free
The Texas men repeated the women’s success by securing a 1-2-3-4 finish with Daniel Krueger dropping a 42.33 to earn the win.
Drew Kibler (42.86), Townley Haas (42.93) and Matthew Willenbe (43.34) followed behind.
TCU’s Jackson Boersma swam a 44.99 to get eighth.
Luke Bowman earned a B final win for the Longhorns with his 43.52, while we saw WVU’s Brandon Christian rounding out that heat in a 46.91.
Women’s 200 Breast
Kansas Jayhawk Kate Steward (2:11.98) pulled off an upset to get past WVU’s Emma Harris who touched second in 2:12.55.
Steward’s mark of 2:11.98 might just be good enough to sneak into NCAA’s.
Texas Longhorn Holly Jansen fell to third with her 2:13.15.
Longhorn senior Olivia Anderson appeared she was going for a 100 split when she bolted out in a 1:00.74 across the first 100. Her final time ended up being 2:26.89, good enough for eighth.
Topping the B final was Iowa State’s Bryn Ericksen in a time of 2:20.10.
Men’s 200 Breast
The men’s A final saw the most diverse top three of the whole meet with a Longhorn winning the event; Braden Vines in a 1:54.23.
Taking second was WVU’s Tristen Disibio in a 1:54.70 while Hugh McPherson from TCU took third in 1:58.28.
Women’s 200 Fly
Lady Longhorn Remedy Rule swam to an A final win with her production of a 1:53.81 while WVU’s Morgan Bullock snuck into second with her impressive 1:55.25.
Texas junior Lauren Case swam to a third place finish with her 1:56.99.
Kansas had three Jayhawks in the final; Haley Bishop (2:01.09, 4th), Ellie Flanagan (2:01.28, 5th) and Libby Walker (2:03.05, 8th).
Winning the B final was Iowa State’s Lucia Rizzo who put together a 2:02.34.
The C final went to Kansas Jayhawk Greta Olsen with her 2:01.67.
Men’s 200 Fly
Winner of the men’s 100 fly A final from last night was the same man who captured tonight’s 200 fly victory, WVU’s David Dixon.
Dixon put together a 1:42.15, which was good enough for the win and dipped under what it took to get invited to NCAA’s last year.
Andrew Koustik touched in second with a 1:42.48, also a probable NCAA invitation.
A duo of Longhorns followed with Sam Pomajevich (1:45.80) and JT Larson (1:46.63) taking third and fourth, respectively.
TCU had two swimmers in that A heat with Micahel Chwaluk posting a 1:48.95 for seventh and Tommy Thach swam a 1:50.66 for eighth.
WVU’s Ryan Kelly took first in the B final with his 1:49.37.
Women’s 400 Free Relay
Texas swam away with the win in the A final with their team of Brooke Hansen (48.74), Anelise Diener (48.32), Grace Ariola (48.83) and Claire Adams (47.69) putting together a 3:13.58.
Kansas was a ways behind in 3:20.60, although it did include a swift split from Carly Straight, who threw down a 49.63; one of the few non-Texas sub-50 swims in the field.
Iowa State placed third with their production of a 3:21.21.
WVU finished behind in fourth with a 3:21.75 and TCU rounded out the meet with a 3:27.32.
Men’s 400 Free Relay
The Texas men had a tougher battle to win their race, but in the end they did just that by throwing together a 2:52.08, which was just enough to get by WVU who swam a 2:54.35 for second place overall.
TCU touched in third with their sub-3:00 time of 2:58.65.
Notably, unlike the other events this weekend, the Texas B relay, which was marked as exhibition, was actually beaten by the WVU A team, which shows how well the Mountaineers stepped up to the occasion to race the Longhorns.
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