The Texas Longhorns started off their NCAA title pursuit on Wednesday night in Greensboro with a victory in the 800 freestyle relay at 6:07.34, winning ahead of California (6:08.68) and Texas A&M (6:10.79).
The team of Drew Kibler (1:30.65), Austin Katz (1:33.02), Carson Foster (1:31.55) and Jake Sannem (1:32.03) won the title for Texas’ 15th NCAA title in the 800 freestyle relay, and their second in a row since 2019.
“We take pride in this relay and we wanted to get momentum going for this meet,” Foster said on the broadcast. “We wish our teammates could be here but we know they are watching from the hotel and back in Austin so getting momentum is important.”
Early on, the teams from Florida and Texas A&M, who front loaded their relays, were well in front of Texas and Cal and were looking to potentially steal the show, but did not have the horsepower on the back end.
Cal was off the pace on the front half but closed the gap on the anchor leg and looked dangerous to win with a 100 to go but Texas’ Sannem put the hammer down and wasn’t fazed by the pressure thrown by the Golden Bears. The Cal team of Trenton Julian (1:31.41), Daniel Carr (1:33.14), Destin Lasco (1:32.13) and Bryce Mefford (1:32.00) finished second for 34 big points in their pursuit of a second straight team title that will be awarded Saturday night.
“They push us and it makes the sport of swimming faster and it’s going to be a great battle all week long,” Foster said of Cal.
Cal and Texas have traded national championships each of the last 10 years with the exception of Michigan’s title in 2013, and it will be a fight through the end of the meet as the Golden Bears are seeded to win based on the psych sheet while the Longhorns have brought four divers to the meet.
Elsewhere in the race
Kieran Smith. Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media
Florida’s Kieran Smith (1:29.66) and Texas A&M’s Shaine Casas (1:30.59) put down some very impressive lead-off legs for their schools as the Aggies had a big lead at the halfway point with Mark Theall (1:31.46) swimming the second leg. Texas A&M’s Koko Bratanov (1:33.31) and Clayton Bobo (1:35.43) replicated their race with the Gators from SECs for third place as the two SEC schools put on a similar race last month in Columbia.
The Gators’ team of Smith (1:29.66), Trey Freeman (1:32.88), Alfonso Mestre (1:33.79) and Bobby Finke (1:34.58) finished in fourth at 6:10.91 as the top four teams all came from the last heat.
NC State (6:12.06), Georgia (6:12.34), Stanford (6:13.02) and Louisville (6:13.72) also placed in the top eight to pick up All-American honors.
The quickest splits outside the top four came from USC’s Alexei Sancov (1:31.82), Ohio State’s Paul DeLakis (1:31.93), Georgia’s Luca Urlando (1:32.17) and Georgia Tech’s Baturalp Unlu (1:32.27).
The Texas Longhorns now have 15 NCAA titles in the 800 free relay, which is the most for any school in any of the five NCAA relays, as the 2021 team joins the teams from 1988 – 1991, 1998 – 2001, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2019 as champions in this event. This is also the first time since 2015 that the winner of this relay did not break the NCAA record as that was the last year the 800 free relay was swum on Friday night of the meet.
Previous Texas national champions:
- 2019 (Drew Kibler, Austin Katz, Jeff Newkirk, Townley Haas) 6:05.08
- 2016 (Jack Conger, Townley Haas, Clark Smith, Joseph Schooling), 6:08.03
- 2012 (Dax Hill, Clay Youngquist, Kip Darmody, Neil Caskey), 6:15.55
- 2010 (Scott Jostes, Dave Walters, Neil Caskey, Ricky Berens), 6:12.77
- 2009 (Dave Walters, Ricky Berens, Scott Jostes, Michael Klueh), 6:10.16
- 2003 (Aaron Peirsol, John Suchand, Rainer Kendrick, Chris Kemp), 6:18.62
- 2001 (Scott Goldblatt, Nate Dusing, Chris Kemp, Jamie Rauch), 6:18.00
- 2000 (Jon Younghouse, Nate Dusing, Scott Goldblatt, Jamie Rauch), 7:05.05 * (SCM)
- 1999 (Bryan Jones, Scott Goldblatt, Nate Dusing, Jamie Rauch), 6:23.03
- 1998 (Bryan Jones, Scott Goldblatt, Nate Dusing, Jamie Rauch), 6:23.78
- 1991 (Josh Davis, Matt Stahlman, Kevin Williams, Adam Werth), 6:24.18
- 1990 (Shaun Jordan, Adam Werth, Matt Stahlman, Doug Gjertsen), 6:21.39
- 1989 (Adam Werth, Shaun Jordan, Matt Stahlman, Doug Gjertsen), 6:22.51
- 1988 (Jeff Olsen, Adam Werth, Shaun Jordan, Doug Gjertsen), 6:23.47
Event 1 Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
==================================================================================
NCAA: N 6:05.08 3/27/2019 Texas
D Kibler, A Katz, J Newkirk, F Haas
Meet: M 6:05.08 3/27/2019 Texas
D Kibler, A Katz, J Newkirk, F Haas
American: A 6:05.08 3/27/2019 Texas
D Kibler, A Katz, J Newkirk, F Haas
U. S. Open: O 6:05.08 3/27/2019 Texas
D Kibler, A Katz, J Newkirk, F Haas
Pool: P 6:11.84 2/27/2019 Louisville
N Albiero, Z Harting, B Piszczorowicz, C Paulson
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 Texas 6:07.34 6:07.25P 40
1) Kibler, Drew JR 2) r:0.30 Katz, Austin SR
3) r:0.29 Foster, Carson FR 4) r:0.20 Sannem, Jake SR
r:+0.60 20.49 43.07 (43.07)
1:06.42 (1:06.42) 1:30.65 (1:30.65)
1:52.01 (21.36) 2:15.57 (44.92)
2:39.39 (1:08.74) 3:03.67 (1:33.02)
3:24.98 (21.31) 3:48.32 (44.65)
4:11.85 (1:08.18) 4:35.22 (1:31.55)
4:56.30 (21.08) 5:19.67 (44.45)
5:43.23 (1:08.01) 6:07.25 (1:32.03)
2 California 6:11.98 6:08.68P 34
1) Julian, Trenton SR 2) r:0.17 Carr, Daniel SR
3) r:0.17 Lasco, Destin FR 4) r:0.13 Mefford, Bryce SR
r:+0.64 21.15 43.85 (43.85)
1:07.23 (1:07.23) 1:31.41 (1:31.41)
1:52.37 (20.96) 2:15.92 (44.51)
2:39.98 (1:08.57) 3:04.55 (1:33.14)
3:25.60 (21.05) 3:49.33 (44.78)
4:12.91 (1:08.36) 4:36.68 (1:32.13)
4:57.34 (20.66) 5:20.17 (43.49)
5:43.87 (1:07.19) 6:08.68 (1:32.00)
3 TAMU 6:11.63 6:10.79P 32
1) Casas, Shaine JR 2) r:0.08 Theall, Mark SR
3) r:0.20 Bratanov, Koko JR 4) r:0.18 Bobo, Clayton JR
r:+0.61 20.88 43.68 (43.68)
1:06.71 (1:06.71) 1:30.59 (1:30.59)
1:51.47 (20.88) 2:14.18 (43.59)
2:37.55 (1:06.96) 3:02.05 (1:31.46)
3:23.50 (21.45) 3:47.46 (45.41)
4:10.99 (1:08.94) 4:35.36 (1:33.31)
4:56.63 (21.27) 5:20.38 (45.02)
5:45.25 (1:09.89) 6:10.79 (1:35.43)
4 Florida 6:12.24 6:10.91P 30
1) Smith, Kieran JR 2) r:0.62 Freeman, Trey SO
3) r:0.53 Mestre, Alfonso SO 4) r:0.46 Finke, Bobby JR
r:+0.71 20.80 43.45 (43.45)
1:06.49 (1:06.49) 1:29.66 (1:29.66)
1:51.31 (21.65) 2:14.78 (45.12)
2:38.68 (1:09.02) 3:02.54 (1:32.88)
3:23.73 (21.19) 3:47.47 (44.93)
4:11.85 (1:09.31) 4:36.33 (1:33.79)
4:58.02 (21.69) 5:21.94 (45.61)
5:46.55 (1:10.22) 6:10.91 (1:34.58)
5 NC State 6:12.68 6:12.06 28
1) Miller, Luke FR 2) r:0.18 Knowles, Eric SR
3) r:0.17 Gezmis, Erge SR 4) r:0.21 Tapp, Hunter SO
r:+0.61 21.65 44.96 (44.96)
1:08.57 (1:08.57) 1:32.55 (1:32.55)
1:54.08 (21.53) 2:17.62 (45.07)
2:41.30 (1:08.75) 3:05.65 (1:33.10)
3:26.92 (21.27) 3:50.70 (45.05)
4:15.08 (1:09.43) 4:39.62 (1:33.97)
5:00.51 (20.89) 5:23.91 (44.29)
5:47.79 (1:08.17) 6:12.06 (1:32.44)
6 Georgia 6:14.00 6:12.34 26
1) Magahey, Jake FR 2) r:0.21 Hils, Zach SO
3) r:0.29 Dunham, Bradley SO 4) r:0.26 Urlando, Luca FR
r:+0.74 21.97 45.95 (45.95)
1:09.61 (1:09.61) 1:33.17 (1:33.17)
1:54.20 (21.03) 2:17.97 (44.80)
2:42.24 (1:09.07) 3:06.54 (1:33.37)
3:27.87 (21.33) 3:51.02 (44.48)
4:15.53 (1:08.99) 4:40.17 (1:33.63)
5:01.32 (21.15) 5:24.76 (44.59)
5:48.67 (1:08.50) 6:12.34 (1:32.17)
7 Stanford 6:12.83 6:13.02 24
1) Maurer, Luke FR 2) r:0.28 Forst, Preston FR
3) r:0.41 Gonzalez, Mason JR 4) r:0.25 Shoults, Grant SR
r:+0.62 21.84 45.50 (45.50)
1:09.43 (1:09.43) 1:33.34 (1:33.34)
1:54.78 (21.44) 2:18.20 (44.86)
2:41.81 (1:08.47) 3:05.93 (1:32.59)
3:27.39 (21.46) 3:51.63 (45.70)
4:16.19 (1:10.26) 4:40.35 (1:34.42)
5:01.78 (21.43) 5:25.41 (45.06)
5:49.01 (1:08.66) 6:13.02 (1:32.67)
8 Louisville 6:16.61 6:13.72 22
1) Albiero, Nicolas SR 2) r:0.16 Paulson, Colton JR
3) r:0.18 Eastman, Michael JR 4) r:0.28 Worrell, Kyle JR
r:+0.63 21.35 44.68 (44.68)
1:08.31 (1:08.31) 1:32.31 (1:32.31)
1:53.24 (20.93) 2:16.85 (44.54)
2:40.77 (1:08.46) 3:05.08 (1:32.77)
3:26.03 (20.95) 3:49.67 (44.59)
4:14.53 (1:09.45) 4:38.79 (1:33.71)
5:00.20 (21.41) 5:24.10 (45.31)
5:48.41 (1:09.62) 6:13.72 (1:34.93)
9 Indiana 6:16.12 6:14.68 18
1) Frankel, Tomer FR 2) r:0.21 Mathias, Van JR
3) r:0.32 Burns, Brendan SO 4) r:0.24 Franzman, Jack JR
r:+0.58 21.42 45.01 (45.01)
1:08.68 (1:08.68) 1:32.98 (1:32.98)
1:54.03 (21.05) 2:18.16 (45.18)
2:42.91 (1:09.93) 3:07.30 (1:34.32)
3:28.33 (21.03) 3:51.73 (44.43)
4:15.90 (1:08.60) 4:40.38 (1:33.08)
5:01.45 (21.07) 5:25.95 (45.57)
5:50.31 (1:09.93) 6:14.68 (1:34.30)
10 VT 6:14.04 6:15.19 14
1) Manoff, Blake JR 2) r:0.08 Ivanov, Antani JR
3) r:0.25 Coll Marti, Carles FR 4) r:0.46 Tornqvist, Sam SR
r:+0.64 21.12 44.68 (44.68)
1:08.78 (1:08.78) 1:34.28 (1:34.28)
1:54.98 (20.70) 2:18.31 (44.03)
2:42.44 (1:08.16) 3:06.95 (1:32.67)
3:27.71 (20.76) 3:51.47 (44.52)
4:15.72 (1:08.77) 4:40.25 (1:33.30)
5:02.52 (22.27) 5:26.62 (46.37)
5:51.25 (1:11.00) 6:15.19 (1:34.94)
11 Michigan 6:13.00 6:15.54 12
1) Callan, Patrick JR 2) r:0.22 Mitchell, Jake FR
3) r:0.22 Berlitz, Danny SO 4) r:0.16 Davis, Wyatt FR
r:+0.67 21.38 44.91 (44.91)
1:08.64 (1:08.64) 1:32.63 (1:32.63)
1:53.69 (21.06) 2:17.47 (44.84)
2:42.01 (1:09.38) 3:06.15 (1:33.52)
3:28.12 (21.97) 3:52.13 (45.98)
4:16.65 (1:10.50) 4:40.93 (1:34.78)
5:02.22 (21.29) 5:26.08 (45.15)
5:50.52 (1:09.59) 6:15.54 (1:34.61)
12 Arizona 6:16.30 6:16.34 10
1) Namir, Daniel JR 2) r:0.23 Fail, Brooks SR
3) r:0.35 Ingram, Hunter SO 4) r:0.23 Maric, Ogi SO
r:+0.60 21.68 45.22 (45.22)
1:09.43 (1:09.43) 1:34.03 (1:34.03)
1:55.33 (21.30) 2:18.91 (44.88)
2:42.78 (1:08.75) 3:06.87 (1:32.84)
3:28.53 (21.66) 3:52.48 (45.61)
4:17.25 (1:10.38) 4:41.99 (1:35.12)
5:03.28 (21.29) 5:27.21 (45.22)
5:51.82 (1:09.83) 6:16.34 (1:34.35)
13 Virginia 6:17.89 6:16.44 8
1) Brownstead, Matt FR 2) r:0.02 Schilling, Sam SR
3) r:0.16 Grender, Justin JR 4) r:0.14 Wright, Jack SO
r:+0.62 21.11 44.55 (44.55)
1:08.56 (1:08.56) 1:33.16 (1:33.16)
1:54.37 (21.21) 2:18.48 (45.32)
2:42.69 (1:09.53) 3:07.27 (1:34.11)
3:28.44 (21.17) 3:52.29 (45.02)
4:17.12 (1:09.85) 4:42.70 (1:35.43)
5:03.70 (21.00) 5:27.86 (45.16)
5:52.30 (1:09.60) 6:16.44 (1:33.74)
14 Ohio St 6:14.51 6:16.63 6
1) Delakis, Paul SR 2) r:0.23 Armstrong, Hunter SO
3) r:0.23 Satterfield, Shaw FR 4) r:0.20 Watkins, Thomas SO
r:+0.69 21.55 44.42 (44.42)
1:08.07 (1:08.07) 1:31.93 (1:31.93)
1:53.47 (21.54) 2:17.49 (45.56)
2:41.61 (1:09.68) 3:05.35 (1:33.42)
3:27.08 (21.73) 3:51.37 (46.02)
4:15.95 (1:10.60) 4:40.82 (1:35.47)
5:02.68 (21.86) 5:27.17 (46.35)
5:51.88 (1:11.06) 6:16.63 (1:35.81)
15 Missouri 6:17.02 6:17.97 4
1) Dahlgren, Jack JR 2) r:0.28 Dubois, Jack JR
3) r:0.27 Reed, Grant SR 4) r:0.46 Rindshoej, Freddie FR
r:+0.65 21.58 44.95 (44.95)
1:09.07 (1:09.07) 1:33.78 (1:33.78)
1:55.36 (21.58) 2:18.97 (45.19)
2:43.19 (1:09.41) 3:07.77 (1:33.99)
3:29.22 (21.45) 3:53.15 (45.38)
4:17.64 (1:09.87) 4:42.66 (1:34.89)
5:05.06 (22.40) 5:29.21 (46.55)
5:53.54 (1:10.88) 6:17.97 (1:35.31)
16 Notre Dame 6:19.07 6:18.04 2
1) Hoagland, Jack SO 2) r:0.29 Delong, Alec SO
3) r:0.15 Wilburn, Cason SO 4) r:0.26 McKeen, Sadler SR
r:+0.74 22.19 45.89 (45.89)
1:10.02 (1:10.02) 1:33.58 (1:33.58)
1:55.16 (21.58) 2:19.49 (45.91)
2:44.58 (1:11.00) 3:09.89 (1:36.31)
3:30.86 (20.97) 3:55.00 (45.11)
4:19.90 (1:10.01) 4:44.46 (1:34.57)
5:05.36 (20.90) 5:28.70 (44.24)
5:52.96 (1:08.50) 6:18.04 (1:33.58)
17 Wisconsin 6:20.24 6:19.34
1) Newmark, Jake FR 2) r:0.40 Benson, Andrew FR
3) r:0.39 Dannhauser, Joshua JR 4) r:0.15 Aman, Caleb JR
r:+0.70 22.12 45.59 (45.59)
1:09.44 (1:09.44) 1:33.89 (1:33.89)
1:55.38 (21.49) 2:19.13 (45.24)
2:43.67 (1:09.78) 3:08.73 (1:34.84)
3:30.76 (22.03) 3:54.77 (46.04)
4:19.23 (1:10.50) 4:43.52 (1:34.79)
5:05.81 (22.29) 5:30.14 (46.62)
5:54.86 (1:11.34) 6:19.34 (1:35.82)
18 USC 6:17.04 6:19.91
1) Sancov, Alexei JR 2) r:0.23 Margarino, Dominic SO
3) r:0.41 Saunders, Max SO 4) r:0.29 Homans, Harry SO
r:+0.62 21.34 44.37 (44.37)
1:07.96 (1:07.96) 1:31.82 (1:31.82)
1:53.00 (21.18) 2:17.15 (45.33)
2:42.01 (1:10.19) 3:07.76 (1:35.94)
3:29.64 (21.88) 3:54.22 (46.46)
4:19.08 (1:11.32) 4:43.97 (1:36.21)
5:06.08 (22.11) 5:30.38 (46.41)
5:54.94 (1:10.97) 6:19.91 (1:35.94)
19 GT 6:18.85 6:20.42
1) Unlu, Baturalp FR 2) r:0.16 Pumputis, Caio SR
3) r:0.21 Wakeland, Clark JR 4) r:0.33 Kertesz, Daniel SR
r:+0.64 21.53 44.84 (44.84)
1:08.67 (1:08.67) 1:32.27 (1:32.27)
1:53.15 (20.88) 2:16.51 (44.24)
2:41.62 (1:09.35) 3:07.84 (1:35.57)
3:29.44 (21.60) 3:53.47 (45.63)
4:18.34 (1:10.50) 4:43.49 (1:35.65)
5:05.53 (22.04) 5:29.69 (46.20)
5:54.77 (1:11.28) 6:20.42 (1:36.93)
20 U.S. Navy 6:18.54 6:20.96
1) Waters, Ryan SR 2) r:0.15 Cook, Daniel SR
3) r:0.19 McGovern, Garrett FR 4) r:0.10 Wallace, Dominick SR
r:+0.72 21.72 45.53 (45.53)
1:10.10 (1:10.10) 1:34.83 (1:34.83)
1:56.35 (21.52) 2:20.45 (45.62)
2:45.57 (1:10.74) 3:10.81 (1:35.98)
3:32.63 (21.82) 3:56.89 (46.08)
4:21.79 (1:10.98) 4:46.64 (1:35.83)
5:07.92 (21.28) 5:31.65 (45.01)
5:55.90 (1:09.26) 6:20.96 (1:34.32)
21 UNC 6:20.96 6:23.37
1) Sungalia, Tomas JR 2) r:0.14 Koenigsperger, niel SR
3) r:0.33 Hussey, Patrick FR 4) r:0.21 Poelke, Boyd FR
r:+0.76 21.87 45.15 (45.15)
1:09.26 (1:09.26) 1:33.36 (1:33.36)
1:55.22 (21.86) 2:19.40 (46.04)
2:44.27 (1:10.91) 3:09.08 (1:35.72)
3:31.19 (22.11) 3:55.41 (46.33)
4:20.21 (1:11.13) 4:45.03 (1:35.95)
5:07.97 (22.94) 5:32.76 (47.73)
5:57.96 (1:12.93) 6:23.37 (1:38.34)
22 Tennessee 6:19.61 6:23.69
1) Bailey, Seth JR 2) r:0.20 Jackson, Will FR
3) r:0.08 Briggs, Nolan JR 4) r:0.43 Chambers, Micah FR
r:+0.60 22.03 45.66 (45.66)
1:10.06 (1:10.06) 1:34.99 (1:34.99)
1:56.00 (21.01) 2:19.77 (44.78)
2:44.99 (1:10.00) 3:10.39 (1:35.40)
3:32.47 (22.08) 3:56.67 (46.28)
4:22.12 (1:11.73) 4:47.45 (1:37.06)
5:09.09 (21.64) 5:33.37 (45.92)
5:58.49 (1:11.04) 6:23.69 (1:36.24)
-- Florida St 6:20.18 DQ
Early take-off swimmer #2
1) Yanchev, Yordan FR 2) r:-0.04 Ghaffari, Azis SO
3) r:0.32 Corredor, Santiago JR 4) r:0.34 Quirie, David FR
r:+0.66 21.88 45.40 (45.40)
1:09.89 (1:09.89) 1:34.98 (1:34.98)
1:56.55 (21.57) 2:21.02 (46.04)
2:46.44 (1:11.46) 3:10.89 (1:35.91)
3:33.50 (22.61) 3:58.12 (47.23)
4:23.05 (1:12.16) 4:48.36 (1:37.47)
5:10.57 (22.21) 5:35.38 (47.02)
6:00.29 (1:11.93) DQ (1:36.26)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 1 1. Texas 40 2. California 34 3. Texas A&M 32 4. Florida 30 5. NC State 28 6. Georgia 26 7. Stanford 24 8. Louisville 22 9. Indiana 18 10. Virginia Tech 14 11. Michigan 12 12. Arizona 10 13. Virginia 8 14. Ohio St 6 15. Missouri 4 16. Notre Dame 2
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