Texas Wins Big 12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship
AUSTIN, TX – The No. 11 Texas women’s swimming and diving team, with the help of a 1-3-4-6 finish on the 10-meter diving platform led by junior Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas / Klein), won its first-ever Big 12 Conference Swimming and Diving team title. It is UT’s first conference title in the sport since the 1995-96 team won the final of 14 Southwest Conference titles.
Wilkinson, the 1997 NCAA National Champion on the 10-meter platform, successfully defended her title in the event with a total score of 650.95 points. For her achievements, Wilkinson was named Outstanding Diver of the Meet. She succeeds former UT standout and four-time NCAA National Champion Vera Ilyina, who won the award the previous two years. Head diving coach Matt Scoggin was named Big 12 Diving Coach of the Year for the third straight year.
The Longhorns, who led for most of the meet, trailed Nebraska by 18 points after Husker Destiny Lauren’s win in the 200-yard butterfly. But Texas racked up 64 points with the four finalists to effectively clinch the title. All Texas had to do was finish the meet’s final event, the 400 freestyle relay, and the Longhorns finished second in an NCAA consideration time of 3:22.04. The meet will be broadcast on FOX Sports Net beginning Thursday, Feb. 25. The full TV schedule will be posted tomorrow.