The University of North Carolina Tar Heels and the University of Texas Longhorns faced off in Chapel Hill, NC with the two team splitting the wins. The Longhorn’s claimed the win on the men’s side with a final score of 160-132, however it was the Tar Heel women who emerged victorious with a final score of 154-146.
Texas Men’s Press Release:
No. 1 Texas (5-0) won 13 of 16 events and smothered No. 12 North Carolina with its depth en route to a 160-132 win over the Tar Heels Friday evening at UNC’s Koury Natatorium.
Texas yielded the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, to the Tar Heels, but the Longhorns soon showed off their range and took control of the meet. Freshman Townley Haas claimed the 1,000 freestyle in 9 minutes, 4.71 seconds, just off of his No. 6 national mark of 9:04.17 from last month. Sophomore Jonathan Roberts took second at 9:07.40 and senior Sam Lewis rounded out a one-two-three UT finish in 9:09.65.
NCAA champion Clark Smith led a one-two Texas showing in the 200 freestyle and was victorious in 1:37.08. Freshman Ryan Harty took second at 1:37.40. UNC captured the 100 backstroke before three-time NCAA champion junior Will Licon put another event in the Texas win column with his 54.59 in the 100 breaststroke.
American record holder Jack Conger put away a workmanlike win in the 200 butterfly at 1:44.12, the nation’s top time of the season. Senior John Martensadded a third-place mark of 1:46.53. Sophomore sprinter Brett Ringgold put away the first of his two wins and claimed the 50 freestyle in 20.24. Senior Matt Ellis added a third-place mark of 20.64. Ringgold completed the sprint sweep by winning the 100 freestyle in 44.18.
Three-time All-America senior diver Cory Bowersox edged teammate Sean O’Brien for the win and took the one-meter event with 386.85 points. O’Brien settled for second at 379.50. Bowersox later completed the springboard sweep and won the three-meter event with 417.68 points.
Harty, one of the centerpieces of Texas’ top-ranked freshman class, won the 200 backstroke in 1:44.88. The Gardner, Massachusetts, native brought the nation’s No. 6 mark in the 200 backstroke (1:43.87 last month) into this weekend’s competitions. Conger added a second-place mark of 1:46.40.
Licon, the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 breaststroke, was victorious in the same event Friday evening in 1:58.83. Licon upset American record holder Kevin Cordes of Arizona and won the event’s NCAA title last March.
With the team victory in hand, Texas elected to decline the remaining points and complete the final three events as exhibitions. Nevertheless, Smith won the 500 freestyle in 4:25.57. The son of a pair of former Longhorns swimmers, Smith is the reigning NCAA champion in the 500 freestyle.
Sophomore Joseph Schooling, the reigning NCAA champion in the 100 butterfly, claimed the same event Friday in 46.73. Martens put away the 400 individual medley for Texas in 3:54.90.
The top-ranked Longhorns wrap their weekend road swing with what promises to be a stiff challenge at No. 5 N.C. State. The meet gets underway Saturday at 11 a.m. ET in Raleigh.
Texas Women’s Press Release:
No. 6 Texas (5-1) claimed seven events and picked up a team-high three wins from All-America junior Madisyn Cox, but No. 2 North Carolina edged the Longhorns by a 154-146 count Friday evening at UNC’s Koury Natatorium.
UNC claimed the 200-yard medley relay before Texas freshman Joanna Evans scored the Horns’ first win of the day in the 1,000 freestyle in 9:45.10. Cox won the 200 freestyle in 1:46.32, just ahead of her season best from last week’s win at Texas A&M.
Texas collected 16 points by way of its one-two-three finish in the 100 breaststroke, where freshman Olivia Anderson took the win in 1:01.67. Junior Jordan Surhoff, whose sister Kendall swims for North Carolina, placed second at 1:02.52 while sophomore Bethany Leap took third at 1:03.65.
Later on, freshman Quinn Carrozza paced an impressive one-two Texas finish in the 200 backstroke and took the win in 1:55.31. All-America junior Tasija Karosas followed in second at 1:56.23. Cox returned to post her second win of the day and claimed the 200 breaststroke at 2:11.75. Anderson, the 100 breaststroke winner earlier in the afternoon, took second at 2:13.26.
Evans followed her win in the 1000 freestyle with an equally impressive victory in the 500 freestyle. The native of The Bahamas was victorious in 4:48.84.
Freshman Meghan O’Brien led the Texas divers with her second-place total of 333.90 points on three-meter and second-place mark of 304.35 points on one-meter. Senior Meghan Houston totaled 300.45 points for third place on one-meter.
Cox nailed down her third win of the evening in the 400 individual medley at 4:10.43, the fourth-fastest time in the country this season. Junior Maggie D’Innocenzo added fourth points with her second-place time of 4:18.43.
North Carolina took a narrow 143-140 lead into the meet’s final event, the winner-take-all 400 freestyle relay. With 11 points going to the relay winner, a Texas victory would have given the Longhorns 151 points and the team win. However, North Carolina claimed the win in 3:17.70 while Texas settled for second place at 3:18.68.
Texas wraps its road trip Saturday morning when it visits No. 7 N.C. State at 10 a.m. CT.
University of North Carolina Press Release:
The University of North Carolina men’s and women’ swimming and diving teams competed against nationally ranked Texas on Friday afternoon at Koury Natatorium. The Tar Heel women emerged victorious, beating the #6 Longhorns 154-146. The Tar Heel men lost No. 1 Texas 160-132.
“[Texas has] a very talented women’s team, but an extremely talented men’s team,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “I knew it would be very, very competitive. My biggest concern was if we could get it down to the last relay. In the men’s meet we didn’t, but for the women’s meet we did. We had to win it [and] we went our best time of the season to win the meet.”
The UNC women won nine out of 16 events, including both relays. Seven individuals posted season-best times in the meet. In the 1000-yard free, Robyn Dryer had a season-best time of 10:01.52. Ally Hardesty’s time of 1:46.74 in the 200 free was her best on the season. Caroline Baldwin placed first in the 50 free with a season-best time of 22.63, and Lauren Earp won the 100 free at a season-best 49.59. In the 200-yard breaststroke, Abby Fisher had a season-best time of 2:15.82, and Maddy Burns’ time of 4:21.14 in the 400-yard IM was her season-best time.
Additionally, diver Elissa Dawson placed first on the three-meter board with a season-best score of 381.00, just three points high of her career high. The women’s 400-yard freestyle relay – composed of Ally Hardesty, Caroline Baldwin, Sarah Hitchens and Lauren Earp – also had a season-best time (3:17.70) and won the event.
On the men’s side, both relay teams placed first in their events. The 200-yard medley relay team – Nic Graesser, Kurt Wohlrab, Sam Lewis and Ben Colley – finished with time of 1:28.13. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Lucas Popp, Nic Graesser, Ben Colley and Mitch DeForest clocked a time of 2:58.58. Also, Eugene Tee had a season-best time of 3:58.76 in the 400 IM. Nic Graesser took first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 47.87.
“We are so thrilled that Texas came back to UNC,” said DeSelm. “We went there two years ago and they agreed to come back. It was great competition.”
The Tar Heels return to Koury Natatorium on Thursday to compete in the annual Nike Cup Invitational. The competition lasts Thursday through Saturday and consists of both morning and afternoon sessions.
