Texas hosted the up-and-coming NC State Wolfpack in Austin Friday evening. A year after the Longhorns won a pair of tight dual meets against NC State in Raleigh, neither the women’s nor men’s dual was especially competitive in the team race this time around.
Texas crushed NC State on the women’s side, leaving the Longhorns in a position to exhibition all of their swimmers after the 500 free, and the Longhorn women won by a final score of 166.5-127.5.
But on the men’s side, the Wolfpack crushed the two-time defending NCAA champions on their home turf, 173.5-126.5. Texas was again without senior Will Licon, a four-time individual NCAA champion who has yet to compete this season.
The Longhorn women edged the Wolfpack to open the meet in the 200 medley relay. Tasija Karosas, Madisyn Cox, Brynne Wong and Rebecca Millard finished in 1:38.35, holding off a spirited charge from NC State’s Elise Haan, Kayla Brumbaum, Krista Duffield and Ky-Lee Perry, who finished at 1:38.93.
In the men’s 200 medley relay, Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling blasted a 20.58 fly leg, but it was not enough to propel the Longhorns to a victory as Ryan Held, yet another man who stood on the top podium in Rio, anchored in 18.85. Coleman Stewart, Derek Hren, Andreas Schillerup and Held finished in 1:27.10, and Texas’ John Shebat, Inri Ganiel, Schooling and Brett Ringold finished second in 1:27.52. NC State’s “B” squad (Hennessey Stuart, Zachary Warner, Soeren Dahl and Joe Bonk) finished a close third (1:28.03).
NC State’s Hannah Moore continued her blistering start to the season, winning the 1000 free in 9:35.51. Only Leah Smith (9:23.79) has surpassed that mark so far this season. Texas’ Joanna Evans touched second in 9:43.43, which ranks third in the country this season, and NC State’s Rachel Muller finished third in 10:00.59.
In a clash of Olympians in the men’s 1000, NC State’s Anton Ipsen got the better of Longhorns Clark Smith and Townley Haas. Ipsen crushed the field in 8:52.04, becoming the first man to crack nine minutes this season, while Smith finished second in 9:02.29. NC State’s Adam Linker was third in 9:04.06, and Haas finished well back in fifth in 9:17.10.
Texas finished 1-2 in the women’s 200 free to pick up some much-needed points. Evans, minutes after her 1000 free, overtook teammate Remedy Rule on the last 50 and won in 1:47.66. Rule took second in 1:47.93, and NC State’s Rachel Muller finished third in 1:47.66. Texas’ Jack Conger then won the men’s 200 free in 1:35.82, overtaking Dahl on the last 50. Dahl came in second at 1:36.03, and Texas’ Jonathan Roberts got third in 1:36.35.
Karosas emerged victorious in the women’s 100 back, touching in 53.21. NC State’s Alexia Zevnik picked up second-place honors in 53.51, and Texas’ Claire Adams came in third at 53.88. The Wolfpack men picked up big points in the men’s 100 back as Stuart touched out Shebat, 47.77 to 47.85. Stewart finished third in 48.01, and Schiellerup grabbed third in 48.50.
The Longhorn women again swept the top two spots in the women’s 100 breast. Cox won the race in 1:00.39, and Olivia Anderson came in second at 1:00.78. Brumbaum ended up third in 1:01.65. NC State then swept the top four spots in the men’s 100 breast, as Hren won in 54.69, and he was followed by teammates Patrik Schwarzenbach (55.55), Warner (56.06) and Daniel Graber (56.14).
Lauren Case won the women’s 200 fly for Texas in 1:59.42, the only swim under the two-minute mark. Maggie D’Innocenzo finished second for the Longhorns in 2:01.38, and NC State’s Lydia Jones was third (2:02.50).
While the Texas women had already opened up a big lead in the points race at this point, the Longhorn men needed a boost as they trailed the Wolfpack 64-29. They got just that in the 200 fly as Schooling won in a quick 1:45.82, and Will Glass tied for second with NC State’s James Bretscher, as both touched in 1:47.80.
Millard and Perry then tied for the win in the women’s 50 free in 22.55. Only Abbey Weitzeil (22.26) and Mallory Comerford (22.32) have been quicker this season. Duffield finished a distant third in 22.96. Held then crushed the field in the men’s 50 free in 19.49. Texas’ Tate Jackson touched second in 20.15, just ahead of Schiellerup’s 20.18.
Millard again won in the women’s 100 free, beating the field by almost a second in 48.78. NC State’s Courtney Caldwell touched in 49.72 for second, just ahead of Perry (49.75). Held then crushed the field in the men’s 100 free with a 43.10 clocking. The Wolfpack’s Justin Ress (44.30) and Mark McGlaughlin (44.30) completed the podium, leaving Conger to settle for fourth in 44.51.
Karosas won her second individual event of the evening with a top-ranked 1:55.45 in the women’s 200 back. Zevnik touched second in 1:56.12, and Adams claimed third in 1:57.59. Stuart held off Roberts to win another event for the Wolfpack men in the 200 back. Stuart finished in 1:44.23, while Roberts came in at 1:44.86, and Shebat was third in 1:45.58.
Cox picked up her second individual win of the meet in the women’s 200 breast in 2:10.40. Brumbaum (2:12.26) and Anderson (2:13.36) completed the podium. The Wolfpack men then continued their roll with another one-two finish in the men’s 200 breast. Schwarzenbach won in 2:00.32, while Hren held off Texas’ Hayden Henry for second, 2:02.40 to 2:02.52.
Moore picked up her second win for the day (and just the third overall for NC State) when she won the 500 free in 4:43.13. Evans claimed second place in 4:49.92, and Muller grabbed third in 4:56.92.
Wins have been few and far between for the two-time defending NCAA champion Texas men, but Smith picked up one in the men’s 500 free. He touched in 4:17.09, while Ipsen had to settle for second this time, touching in 4:19.05. Haas was well back in the heat but held on for third in 4:24.56.
The Texas women exhibitioned many of their swims beginning with the 100 fly, having clinched the meet victory, but the racing remained plenty competitive as Duffield touched out Rule by one one-hundredth, 54.27 to 54.28. Case touched third in 53.58.
The Longhorn men picked up their second consecutive event win in the men’s 100 fly with the familiar duo of Schooling and Conger. Schooling, the Olympic gold medalist in the event, touched in 46.93, and Conger came in next at 47.60. Well back in third was Bretscher in 49.33.
The Longhorns got big points in diving as Meghan O’Brien swept both the one-meter (311.25) and three-meter (363.38), with teammates Alison Gibson and Sofia Rauzi finishing second and third, respectively, in both events. On the men’s side, Mark Anderson swept the two events, with scores of 439.35 on the one-meter board and 389.10 on the three. Rounding out the podium in both events were Texas’ Grayson Campbell and NC State’s James Brady.
In the final women’s individual event of the day, Moore picked up her third victory in the 400 IM, touching in 4:15.35. Moore was the only Wolfpack woman to win an event without tying. D’Innocenzo took second in 4:22.16, and NC State’s Jessica Horomanski finished third in 4:26.02.
Dahl then held off Roberts to win the men’s 200 IM. Dahl touched in 1:47.96, while Roberts (1:48.25) and Shebat (1:49.98) rounded out the top three.
The Wolfpack women touched out Texas by two one-hundredths to win the 400 free relay. Zevnik, Perry, Duffield and Caldwell finished in 3:17.72. Caldwell had just enough left in the tank to hold off Cox, who anchored for Texas in a blistering 48.73. Millard, Nora McCullagh and Rule swam the first three legs of that swim.
The NC State men completed their dominant meet with yet another narrow relay win. Jackson, Ringgold and Conger gave Schooling a two-tenth lead over the NC State trio of Schiellerup, Bonk and McGlaughlin at the 150 mark, but Held anchored in 18.90 to go by the Singapore-native, who split 19.11. NC State touched in 1:18.86, and Texas was four one-hundredths back in 1:18.90.
Click here to find full results from the meet.
@WolfpackSWD @packswimdive So proud of the Pack tonight! Big show on a big stage a long way from home!
Kari Spencer Horomanski Jess is mentioned in this article!
Thanks for sharing!
Wowww
“Ipsen crushed the field in 8:52.04, becoming the first man to crack nine minutes this season,”
Ipsen & Wilimovsky we both under 9 min last weekend.