Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
AUSTIN, Texas, October 17. Texas men’s swimming swept every event tonight, albeit with the last several being exhibition wins to keep the score close (153-113) against the Texas A&M Aggies. The Texas freshman shined with a handful of wins.
Will Licon kicked off the festivities for the Longhorns with a B-cut time of 48.44 in the men’s 100-yard back. That swim is among the top in the country this year, but well back of Ryan Murphy’s blazing 47.17 for California today. The Longhorns went 1-2-3 in the event with Will Glass (49.41) and Aaron Gustafson (49.81) also clearing 50 seconds.
Licon doubled up later in the meet with a B-cut time of 1:48.18 in the 200-yard IM. That swim pushed him to third in the NCAA behind Florida’s Matt Elliott (1:47.95). UT’s Jared Butler finished second in 1:51.98 with Texas A&M’s Gonzalo Carazo Barbero claiming third in 1:52.26.
Israeli Olympian Imri Ganiel cruised to victory in the men’s 100-meter breast with a 56.81 for Texas, while teammates Liam Lockwood (57.26) and Austin Temple (57.32) finished second and third. Matt Korman demonstrated the Longhorn dominance with a non-scoring fourth-place 57.38. Ganiel then topped the men’s 200-yard breast in an exhibition 2:04.58. Korman (2:05.13) took an exhibition second. Mauro Castillo Luna finished third in 2:05.53.
With two of the top butterfliers in the world, Matt Ellis and Joseph Schooling, not swimming the race, Jack Conger still managed to drop a B-cut time of 47.71 to win the men’s 100-yard fly. That put him second in the NCAA behind UNC’s Ben Colley (47.55) against Tennessee. Tripp Cooper touched second in 48.83 with Texas A&M finally breaking into the top three with a 49.87 from Luke Shaw.
Texas freshman Jonathan Roberts moved to second in the NCAA in the men’s 1000-yard free with a swift 9:12.47 in the distance freestyle vent. He stands behind only Florida’s Carlos Omana (9:11.59) right now. Texas’ Nic Munoz placed a distant second in 9:25.67 with teammate John Martens giving UT another 1-2-3 with a 9:26.16. Antoine Marc was the top swimmer for the Aggies with a fourth-place 9:39.84.
Schooling, fresh off a strong Asian Games outing, albeit with some off-the-deck controversy, took home the men’s 200-yard freestyle title in 1:38.43. That’s ninth in the country right now, just behind Florida’s Corey Main (1:38.41). UT’s PJ Dunne (1:40.89) and Jake Ritter (1:41.65) finished second and third with Ellis (1:42.46) and Ian Lemaistre (1:42.83) posting non-scoring fourth and fifth-place finishes.
Another Texas freshman, Brett Ringgold, won the men’s 50-yard free with a B-cut time of 20.03. That swim moved him just outside the top five in the NCAA this year that have broken 20 seconds. Texas A&M had its best finish of the meet so far with Cory Bolleter (20.53) and Jacob Gonzales (20.62) finishing second and third in the sprint free event.
Ringgold doubled up with a 44.62 in the men’s 100-meter free shortly after the diving break. Ellis (45.07) and Murray (45.94) took second and third for Texas with A&M’s Bolleter finishing fourth in 46.20.
Clark Smith led another Texas 1-2-3 with a B-cut 1:47.18 in the men’s 200-yard fly, while John Martens (1:50.40) and Chris Scheaffer (1:51.29) finished off the podium sweep.
Texas pulled its foot off the gas in the men’s 200-yard backstroke as all Longhorns began being exhibitioned with the win easily at hand. Conger posted the fastest time in his second race of the night with a B-cut 1:45.84, while Licon (1:46.66) exhibitioned a second-place swim. A&M’s Brock Bonetti touched third in 1:50.98.
Ritter picked up an exhibition win in the men’s 500-yard free with a time of 4:35.76. Carazo Barbero finished just behind for A&M with a 4:35.83, while Dunne exhibitioned a third-place 4:36.20.
In diving events, Cory Bowersox won the men’s one-meter with 432.75 points ahead of teammate Mark Anderson’s second-place 425.78. Will Chandler also cleared 400 with a third-place tally of 404.03 points. Anderson then won the men’s three-meter event with 447.08 points, while Chandler took second with 446.93 points. A&M’s Tyler Henschel finished third with 433.43 points.
The Longhorns then closed out the night with a 2:58.96 to win the men’s 400-yard free relay. Ringgold became the second swimmer under 44 seconds this year with a 43.90 as the leadoff. Only Nick Soedel has been faster with a 43.40 from earlier this month. Murray (45.57), Ellis (44.84) and Schooling (44.65) closed out the rest of the swim. A&M’s Bolleter (46.95), Jacob Gonzales (45.78), Turker Ayar (46.50) and Carazo Barbero (46.60) placed second in 3:05.83.