Texas Invitational: USC Women Score Pair of Relay Wins on Opening Day
USC has two relay wins to show for its first day at the Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invitational on Wednesday in Austin.
The USC women’s 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays both tallied wins in NCAA A cuts on the first day of the four-day midseason invitational. The latter came with Texas a distant third.
USC started with a win in the women’s 200 medley relay. The foursome of Caroline Famous, Kaitlyn Dobler, Anicka Delgado and Vasilissa Buinaia went 1:34.07, booking one of two NCAA A cuts in the race. Buinaia had just enough left to edge out the Longhorns, with Grace Cooper eating away at all but .07 seconds of the Trojans’ advantage. The time is a USC program record.
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🚨 SCHOOL RECORD🚨
What a way to open the Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invitational!!! pic.twitter.com/ycLpbcte2f
— USC Swim & Dive (@USCswim) November 16, 2023
Texas was second in 1:34.14, an A cut. Emma Kern, Anna Elendt and Emma Sticklen were the first three-quarters of that squad. USC Was quicker in each corresponding leg until the anchor. Texas’ B squad was third, in an NCAA A cut time. Wisconsin was barely under the B cut standard in fourth in 1:36.98.
Buinaia was the lone holdover for the 800 free relay. Claire Tuggle, Justina Kozan and Lilla Minna Abraham led that foursome to victory in 6:53.54, an A cut. Abraham was the star, taking the anchor with USC in third, more than a second behind Texas. But she blasted a 1:41.52 on the anchor.
Second was not Texas but Stanford, rallying to go 6:54.94. Aurora Roghair was the only Cardinal swimmer over 1:44, with Lillie Nordmann, Natalia Mannion and Kayla Wilson following with strong swims.
Texas slid to third in 6:56.37, with Kelly Pash, Erin Gemmell, Olivia Bray and Angie Coe. Pash’s 1:42.64 put them into clean water more than a second to the good, but it wasn’t enough.
Wisconsin added a fourth A cut in 6:59.75 with Abby Carlson, Phoebe Bacon, Abby Wanezek and Blair Stoneburg.
The men’s side contained no upsetting the natural order of the Longhorns on the top step. The 800 free relay prevailed if not dominated, thanks to a great swim by Stanford in second. Both earned A cuts for their troubles.
Texas won in 6:11.66 with Nate Germonprez, Coby Carrozza, Will Modglin and Luke Hobson, the latter half part of the school’s American record of 18 months ago. Carrozza’s 1:32.05 was vital, but Hobson trailed at the final handoff and had to fight off Stanford with a 1:31.27.
The Cardinal performed beautifully, going 6:12.28. Rex Maurer, Luke Maurer, Henry McFadden and Andres Dupont Cabrera made up the squad, the middle two in the 1:32s for their splits.
Texas won the 200 medley relay with an NCAA B cut of 1:24.22. Modglin, Will Scholtz, Cole Crane and Camden Taylor comprised that squad. Stanford was second, USC third, both outside the B standard.
