From UT – COLLEGE STATION, TX – The No. 3 ranked University of Texas men’s swimming and diving team won all three individual swimming events on Thursday night to take a 257-201 lead over No. 20 ranked Texas A&M after the first day of finals at the 1998 Big 12 Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium.
Team scores following Thursday night’s finals were: 1) Texas (257), 2) Texas A&M (201), 3) Nebraska (187.50), 4) Kansas (138), 5) Iowa State (114.50), 6) Missouri (76).
Recording the biggest upset of the day was Longhorn freshman Scott Goldblatt (Scotch Plains, N.J.), who shattered the Big 12 record and recorded an NCAA automatic standard to capture the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:20.65. Goldblatt defeated World Championship Team member and event favorite Tyler Painter of Kansas, who finished third (4:22.78). Erik Jorgensen of Kansas held the previous Big 12 record in the event with a time of 4:21.52, set in 1997. Longhorn freshman Jamie Rauch (Houston, Texas) was second with an NCAA consideration standard and career-best time of 4:22.75, while sophomore Jon Younghouse (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) was fourth with an NCAA consideration standard of 4:23.84.
Longhorn freshman Nate Dusing (Villa Hills, Ky.) coasted to a victory in the 200-yard individual medley with a career-best and NCAA consideration standard of 1:47.70. Dusing defeated the second-place finisher, Keith Ebbert of Nebraska, by nearly three seconds (1:50.12). Texas senior Ramon Kik (Houston, Texas) was fifth with an NCAA consideration time of 1:50.21, and sophomore Brent McDonald (Greenville, Ind.) was seventh with a time of 1:50.93.
Texas senior Neil Walker (Verona, Wis.) successfully defended his 1997 Big 12 Championship in the 50-yard freestyle, breaking his own Big 12 meet record with an NCAA automatic standard of 19.59. Walker’s previous conference meet record in the 50-yard freestyle was a 19.75, set in 1997. Longhorn senior Steve Martyak (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) was fourth with an NCAA consideration standard and season-best time of 19.87.