Danny Krueger, Kelly Pash Lead Texas to Sweeps of Indiana and Texas A&M
In a battle that came down to the final 100 yards of racing, the Texas men took down Indiana in exciting showdown between two of the country’s top college programs Friday afternoon in Austin. The Texas-Indiana dual meet came as part of a three-time event also featuring Texas A&M, and it was the Longhorns coming out on top of the Hoosiers and Aggies in both men’s meets and both women’s meets.
The Texas men beat Indiana 155-145 while cruising over Texas A&M 220-80. Indiana also beat Texas A&M by the same 220-80 margin. In the meet-ending 400 freestyle relay, Indiana led Texas by two tenths as the Hoosiers’ Rafael Miroslaw and Texas’ Danny Krueger dove in. Miroslaw recorded a strong 42.74 split, but he was no match for the Texas fifth-year who came home in 42.05. The team of Peter Larson, Caspar Corbeau, Luke Hobson and Krueger combined for a time of 2:52.45, compared to Indiana’s 2:54.90.
Krueger was also an individual winner in the 50 free (19.72) and 100 free (43.19), while David Johnston cruised in the 1000 free (8:51.24) and 500 free (4:18.73). The Longhorns went 1-2 in both breaststroke events, with Corbeau edging Jake Foster in the 100 breast 53.57 to 53.70 and Foster taking down Corbeau in the 200-yard race, 1:55.32 to 1:56.78. In the 200 IM, Carson Foster got the win in 1:44.18, with older brother Jake second in 1:46.38.
Indiana, meanwhile, got the meet off to a blazing start by taking down Texas in the 200 medley relay. Luke Barr, Josh Matheny, Tomer Frankel and Van Mathias finished in 1:26.42, just seven hundredths ahead of Texas. Mathias went into the pool four hundredths ahead of Texas anchor Krueger and managed to slightly out-split Krueger (19.13 to 19.16) to nail down the win.
Brendan Burns was a monster for the Hoosiers as he claimed three individual wins. Burns, the NCAA champion last year in the 200 butterfly and runnerup in the 100 back, beat Carson Foster a pair of head-to-head matchups, first in the 200 fly (1:42.45 to 1:43.35) and then again in an incredibly tight 200 back (1:41.46 to 1:41.65). Later in the meet, Burns won the 100 fly in 46.52, with Frankel (46.92) securing a 1-2 for Indiana. Additionally, Miroslaw picked up a comfortable win in the 200 free (1:35.23), and Barr won the 100 back (47.40). In diving, Quinn Henninger won 3-meter (368.80) and 1-meter (401.85).
The women’s meet saw Texas beating Indiana 200-100 and winning 209-89 over Texas A&M, while the score in the Indiana-A&M women’s meet was also 200-100, this time in favor of the Hoosiers. For Texas, the big winner was senior Kelly Pash, who picked up first-place finishes in the 200 free (1:45.86), 100 free (48.17) and 200 IM (1:57.32). Pash was also a part of a winning effort in the 400 free relay along with Grace Cooper, Kyla Leibel and Bridget Semenuk (3:17.29).
Texas also won the 200 medley relay in 1:38.32 with Emma Sticklen, Anna Elendt, Dakota Luther and Semenuk, and three of those swimmers would go on to score individual wins over the course of the meet while the fourth just missed. Elendt and Lydia Jacoby went 1-2 in the 100 breast with respective times of 59.26 and 59.93, and Luther cruised to a 1:55.23 triumph in the 200 fly. In the 50 free, Cooper (22.51) and Semenuk (22.53) finished 1-2, and Sticklen got her win in the 100 fly in 52.57. Bridget O’Neil took wins in 3-meter (294.10) and 1-meter (367.70) diving.
Indiana was led by Mariah Denigan, who pulled away from Erica Sullivan to win the 1000 free (9:45.47) before later winning 500 free (4:48.47). Anna Peplowski edged Sticklen to win the 100 back, 53.37 to 53.42, and then she cruised in the 200 back (1:55.97). One event later, her older sister Noelle Peplowski used a scintillating finish to overtake Elendt for the win in the 200 breast, 2:10.41 to 2:10.57. The elder Peplowski out-split Elendt by more than a second over the final 50 yards.