By Sarah Lloyd, Swimming World College Intern
In a dogfight of a meet in Austin, Texas on Saturday January 9, the Texas men came up victorious against Georgia, while the Texas women lost a close fight. The men’s meet between No. 1 Texas and No. 3 Georgia ended in a 170-110 win for the Longhorns, while the No. 6 Texas fell just short to the No. 2 Georgia women, who claimed the meet with a score of 155-145.
Men’s Meet:
The Texas men began the meet with a formidable showing the the 1000 free, claiming the top three spots. Junior Clark Smith won the event and posted the only time under 9:00 (8:57.18). He was followed by sophomore Jonathan Robert (9:09.83) and senior Sam Lewis (9:11.01). The Georgia men fired back, however, in the 200 medley relay and the Texas team of John Shebat, Will Licon, Jack Conger, and John Murray touched second (1:28.18), a little over half a second behind the Bulldogs.
Texas freshman Townley Haas took the 200 free (1:35.77), while fellow freshman Ryan Harty was second by just three hundredths of a second in the 100 back (46.77). Harty was also first in the 200 back (1:43.38). Junior Licon, who also won the 200 breast (1:56.40), and sophomore Austin Temple went 1-2 in the 100 breast, going 54.56 and 56.03 respectively.
Junior Conger took the 200 fly (1:43.65), sophomore Brett Ringgold was second in the 50 (20.33) and first in the 100 free (44.39). Haas also took the 500 free (4:24.85), after which Conger took the 100 fly (47.14), followed by junior teammate Will Glass (48.14).
Texas divers Cory Bowersox, Mark Anderson, and Sean O’Brien took first through third on both boards to help the Longhorns solidify victory.
Women’s Meet:
The Texas and Georgia women battled hard from the get go, with freshman Joanna Evans posting the second time for the 1000 free (9:45.74) behind Georgia’s Brittany MacLean. The Texas team of Tasija Karosas, Olivia Anderson, Mimi Schneider, and Rebecca Millard took the 200 medley relay (1:39.62). Junior Karosas was the next Longhorn to win an event with her 53.14 in the 100 back. Freshman Anderson then took the 100 breast with a time of 1:01.61.
After these early victories, the Georgia women took over, but the Longhorns kept it close by several second through fifth place finishes. A breakthrough came when junior Madisyn Cox won the 400 IM (4:10.71). The Texas women then took second and third in the 400 free relay and a final push came from the Longhorn divers Meghan Houston, Sofia Rauzi, and Brooke Pospicha, whose efforts on both boards kept the competition close. In the end, however, Georgia took the meet by a margin of 10 points.
The Longhorns are back in action from January 15-17 for the USA Swimming Arena Pro Series meet at Austin, Texas and then again on January 29 and 30 in Tucson, Arizona for a dual meet against Arizona.
Full meet results 2016 Texas vs. Georgia Dual – Results
Hey y’all – the headline text says Texas won both meets. We wish! Thanks for the coverage.