After Two Second-Place Finishes, Texas Women Hunting a National Title in 2024
Two seasons ago, the Longhorns snuck up on everyone. At the 2022 NCAA Women’s Championships, Virginia was a heavy favorite for a repeat national championship with Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh returning and freshman Gretchen Walsh providing additional star-power while Stanford was in position to make it back to at least the runnerup spot with Olympic medalists Regan Smith and Torri Huske joining the squad.
But Texas, without a single top-two finish until the final day of the meet, when Erica Sullivan (1650 freestyle) and Anna Elendt (200 breaststroke) each placed second, ended up riding all-around depth to 406 points, marginally ahead of Stanford’s 399.5. That marked the first top-two result for the program since 1994, 18 years before Carol Capitani took over as head coach.
Capitani’s group was even better in 2023, scoring 414.5 points to comfortably beat Stanford for second. Sure, Virginia was still miles ahead at 541.5, but it was a no-less satisfying result. This time, Texas scored two individual national championships, with Lydia Jacoby earning a come-from-behind win in the 100 breast and Emma Sticklen overtaking Alex Walsh for the 200 fly title, punctuating a field where Texas finished 1-3-5 with Kelly Pash and graduate transfer Dakota Luther joining Sticklen toward the top of the podium.
Fast forward one season, and Texas returns almost all the key pieces of its 2023 squad while adding perhaps the best freshman class in the country. With Douglass, the two-time NCAA swimmer of the meet, leaving college swimming, we must consider the possibility: could Texas dethrone Virginia on the national level in March?
Sure, not likely, not with the Walsh sisters and a loaded sprint group still pacing the Cavaliers, but the possibility cannot be ruled out.
Lydia Jacoby won her first individual NCAA title last season — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Of the Longhorns’ 13 A-final swims at last year’s NCAA Championships, the swimmers responsible for 12 of those are returning: Jacoby, Sticklen, Pash, Elendt and Olivia Bray, with only Luther moving on. All four of Texas’ diving scorers return, including 2023 A-finalists Hailey Hernandez and Jordan Skilken. Kyla Leibel is Texas’ only key relay contributor to depart, with Grace Cooper continuing to take on a significant role.
And those Texas freshman? Two competed for the U.S. team at this summer’s World Championships. Jillian Cox dropped 10 seconds in the 800-meter free this year to reach the senior-level global stage, and she swam in a World Championships final as the second American representative along with Katie Ledecky. Cox could combine with Sullivan, in her junior year of college but her last year of NCAA eligibility, for a monster 1-2 punch in the distance races.
And then there’s Erin Gemmell, a key member of the American women’s silver-medal-winning 800 free relay at Worlds. Gemmell swam a best time of 1:55.97 in a key leadoff swim that gave the Americans a chance. Instantly, she will become a title-favorite in the 200 and 500 free on the college level, although Florida freshman and fellow Worlds team member Bella Sims will surely have something to say, and Gemmell provides a huge boost to at least three and likely four relays.
The Texas freshman class also includes Campbell Stoll, the Wisconsin-native who could be a three-event scorer as a freshman between the individual medley races and the 200 fly or 200 breast, and Indiana-native sprint backstroker Berit Berglund.
Meanwhile, Virginia adds a group headed by Long Island-natives Cavan Gormsen and Tess Howley, but filling the hole of a swimmer who has broken American records in four different individual events over the last two seasons while winning six individual and eight relay titles is no easy task. The crazy part is that Virginia has a versatile sprint star with Olympic credentials on deck this year, but Claire Curzan is ineligible for college competition after joining the Cavaliers after the transfer window.
The 2025 Virginia team could lose Alex Walsh, but it will see Curzan joining the mix alongside Leah Hayes, the 2022 World Championships bronze medalist in the 200 IM and a multi-time World Junior Championships gold medalist this year, plus fellow top recruit Bailey Hartman. Texas, however, could see big departures with a senior-heavy class this year. We’ll see who decides to take advantage of the fifth-year waiver in its final year, but Pash, Sullivan and Skilken are among those definitely done with college racing in March.
So this becomes the chance for Capitani, longtime associate head coach Mitch Dalton and the Longhorn women. This could be the year to put a scare into the budding Virginia dynasty. And maybe, if a few breaks go Texas’ way, a title drought lasting more than three decades could end.