2016 Texas Invite: Longhorn Seniors Post Nation Leading Times on Day 4

by Robert Gibbs 34

December 03rd, 2016 College, News

2016 TEXAS INVITATIONAL

Women’s 1650 Free

  1. Cierra Runge, Wisconsin, 15:52.22
  2. Danielle Valley, Wisconsin, 16:00.89
  3. Tjasa Oder, Arizona, 16:02.20

The Badger women went 1-2 in this event, led by Cierra Runge‘s 15:52.22, a NCAA “A” cut, and a time that would have earned her 7th place at last year’s NCAA championships.  Last year’s 7th place finisher was Runge’s teammate Danielle Valley, who finished 2nd tonight in 16:00.89.  That was Runge’s second win and “A” cut of the meet, and she’ll be a huge help to Wisconsin this championship season after transferring from Cal and taking a year off.

Men’s 1650 Free

  1. Clark Smith, Texas, 14:32.77
  2. True Sweetser, Stanford, 14:35.03
  3. Matt Hutchins, Wisconsin, 14:47.62

At least two great storylines in this event from the top two finishers alone.  There was some handwringing after Clark Smith split a 1:36 on Texas’s B 800 free relay Wednesday, but you have to wonder if he was even suited up for that swim, given how he’s looked since then.  He won the 500 free on Thursday, and then tonight he took the 1650 in 14:32.77, just over a second off his personal best from last year, and another nation-leading time.

But to get the win tonight, Smith had to run down Stanford freshman True Sweetser, who was ahead through the 1300 mark.  Stanford’s distance group has been on fire this meet, perhaps due to the influence of new assistant coach Jeff Kostoff.

Women’s 200 Back

  1. Tasija Karosas, Texas, 1:51.56
  2. Claire Adams, Texas, 1:52.43
  3. Cameron McHugh, Arizona, 1:53.76

Longhorns Tasija Karosas and Claire Adams repeated their 1-2 finish from this morning’s preliminaries, with both swimmers dropping about a second.  As is true with a lot of the events in this meet, both of their times were faster than that what it took to win this event at the Winter Nationals this evening in Atlanta.

Men’s 200 Back

  1. Anton Loncar, Denver, 1:40.57
  2. Patrick Conaton, Stanford, 1:41.60
  3. Jonathan Robert, 1:41.80

Congrats to commenter Rookery, who posted yesterday, “Bet Loncar has a dirty 200 back after that splitting tonight.”  Sure enough, Denver’s Anton Loncar‘s 23.09 split on the backhalf of yesterday’s 100 back was a sign of things to come, and he took this event tonight in 1:40.57.

The Stanford distance group are not the only members of the Cardinal in great form this week, as Patrick Conaton took 2nd in 1:41.60, a time that should get him a NCAA invite in this event.

Longhorns Jonathan Roberts, John Shebat, and Josh Artmann swept the 3rd-5th spots.

Women’s 100 Free

  1. Louise Hansson, Southern California, 47.55
  2. Rebecca Millard, Texas, 47.84
  3. Lineea Mack, UCLA, 48.31

USC’s Louise Hansson smoked the field this morning, putting up a 47.51 that ranked her 3rd in the NCAA going into tonight.  She was just off her mark this evening, touching in 47.55, but that was still enough for the win.  2nd place went to Longhorn Rebecca Millard in 47.84, a new personal best for her.  UCLA’s Linnea Mack rounded out the top three with a 48.48.

Notably, Runge managed a 49.64 not too long after winning the mile earlier in the session.

Men’s 100 Free

  1. Dylan Carter, Southern California, 42.14
  2. Sam Perry, Stanford, 42.55
  3. Brett Ringgold, Texas, 42.71

USC took a hit last year when Dylan Carter and Santo Condorelli both redshirted to focus on the Olympics, but Carter has especially been looking in good form this meet, and his 42.14 from this evening’s final ranks him only behind Caeleb Dressel and Michael Chadwick in the NCAA so far this season.

Stanford’s sprint group is not nearly as deep as its distance group right now, but Sam Perry continues to impress, dropping a 42.55 here for 2nd place.

Brett Ringgold was the 3rd guy in the final who went under the time it took be be invited to NCAA’s last year in this event, with a 42.71.

Swimming out of the C final, however, Texas sophomore Tate Jackson hit a new personal best in a time of 42.79, which should also secure him an invite.  Longhorn men, especially their sprinters, seem to have a habit of breaking out during their sophomore season, so look for Jackson to pick up some points in the sprint freestyles at NCAA next March.

Women’s 200 Breast

  1. Madisyn Cox, Texas, 2:07.21
  2. Riley Scott, Southern California, 2:08.99
  3. Amanda Sanders, Denver, 2:10.73

Madisyn Cox continues to roll this week, picking up her third win of the meet after victories in the 200 IM and 400 IM.  USC’s Riley Scott got 2nd here, while teammate Kirsten Vose‘s 2:10.06 in the B final would have earned her 3rd place in the A final.  That place instead went to Denver’s Amanda Sanders in 2:10.73.

Men’s 200 Breast

  1. Will Licon, Texas, 1:50.76
  2. Matt Anderson, Stanford, 1:55.26
  3. Max Williamson, Stanford, 1:56.32

The word on the street (supported by some team photos we’ve seen) is that Will Licon has been injured this season, which is why he’s shied away from the breaststroke events so far this season.  Guess when you’re the American Record holder in this event, you can swim injured and still drop the fastest time in the NCAA this season by two and a half seconds.  By the way, his opening split tonight would put him 9th in the NCAA this season in the 100 breast.

Stanford continued its streak of putting at least one man in the top three of each of the 200s at this meet, as Matt Anderson and Max Williamson went 1:55.26 and 1:56.32.  Anderson’s time should put him on the bubble for a NCAA invite, based on what it’s taken the past few years.

Women’s 200 Fly Finals

  1. Remedy Rule, Texas, 1:53.97
  2. Madison Wright, Southern California, 1:54.45
  3. Lauren Case, Texas, 1:54.69

Longhorn Remedy Rule has really been looking strong in this event this fall after failing to score at NCAA’s last year.  She went a personal best of 1:55.52 last month against Stanford, and the dropped time this morning and this evening to secure the win in a NCAA “A” cut of 1:53.97, the 2nd-fastest time in the nation this season.  That time should also put her into the championship final of this event at NCAA’s if she can repeat it.

Men’s 200 Fly Finals

  1. Jack Conger, Texas, 1:40.24
  2. Justin Wright, Arizona, 1:42.88
  3. Jimmy Yoder, Stanford, 1:44.29

Jack Conger jumped into the water less than ten minutes after Indiana’s Vini Lanza threw down the fastest time in the nation at Winter Nats, and proceeded to lower that mark by another second, posting a new nation-leading time in 1:40.24.  Conger’s teammate and US Open record holder Joseph Schooling has been absent from this meet, although he wasn’t entered in this event anyway.  Conger, a senior, will be looking for his first individual NCAA title next March, and this event could be his best shot.

Arizona put four men into this final, and Justin Wright secured 2nd place in 1:42.88, a time that should be good for a NCAA invite.  Jimmy Yoder continued the aforementioned Stanford streak regarding 200s with a 3rd place finish, in 1:44.29.

Women’s 4×100 Free Relay

  1. Texas (Millard, Adams, Rule, Karosas), 3:12.29
  2. Southern California (Hansson, Wade, Moseley, Apostalon), 3:12.74
  3. Arizona (Ochitwa, Konopka, McHugh, Cox), 3:13.63

The Texas women topped off a great meet by ripping a nation-leading time in the 4×100 free relay, led by Adams’s 47.43 split.  Southern California rode Anika Apostalon‘s 47.35 split to a 3:12.74, which ranks them only behind Texas and Stanford this season.  The fastest split of the evening belonged to Katrina Konopka, who split a 47.05 on Arizona’s second leg.

Men’s 4×100 Free Relay

  1. Texas (Ringgold, Haas, Conger, Jackson), 2:51.34
  2. Southern California (Condorelli, Tribunstsov, Mulcare, Carter), 2:52.21
  3. Stanford (Perry, Kremer, Cogswell, Conaton), 2:52.70

The Longhorn men wrapped up the meet with a 2:51.34 victory that puts them only a few tenths behind Alabama and Florida in this event this season.  Brett Ringgold led off for Texas in 42.45, faster than he swam in his individual 100 free earlier in the session, while Dylan Carter had the fastest split at 42.21 while anchoring USC’s 2nd place relay.

In This Story

34
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

34 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
HARAMBE
7 years ago

When I see results like this after a season free from breastroke I get a nagging feeling that Will Licon ain’t hard. I hope he returns to form and start again winning duel meets

ct swim fan
7 years ago

All these fast times make me wonder if these teams will be able to duplicate this in March. I also don’t want to hear anyone say they weren’t rested, shaved, suited up. Please, all one has to do to realize any comment of that sort is bull, is look at the times done in previous dual meets this fall by these same swimmers when they were training hard.

Rookery
Reply to  ct swim fan
7 years ago

You must not be referring to Texas lol

Theiss
Reply to  ct swim fan
7 years ago

They might be rested, but shaved and tapered is another story. There is a big difference between the times they went at this meet and their lifetime bests. Considering how last year’s NCAA’s turned out, I wouldn’t be surprised if they make some crazy drops this year as well. In all, I say they’re rested and suited up, but not shaved and tapered.

ct swim fan
Reply to  Theiss
7 years ago

How much more can there be when some schools are setting school records in mid season invites.

Swimmer
Reply to  Theiss
7 years ago

FYI. Rested = Tapered. Shaving makes very little difference. Everybody knows that.

Reply to  Swimmer
7 years ago

Very much depends on the person. I always had a lot to shave, and it would account for at least a second or more in a 100 breaststroke, even without rest or a fast suit.

Better \"Swimmer\"
Reply to  Swimmer
7 years ago

I don’t know what kind of a “swimmer” you were/are but to say rested=tapered is just ignorant.

ISeeALemon
Reply to  Swimmer
7 years ago

Resting and tapering are two very different animals. Tapering takes a course of several weeks, maybe months, little by little, taking yardage off. Hence the name, “tapering.”

Bigly
Reply to  ct swim fan
7 years ago

There was the same question about the NCAAs taper before Olympic Trials and Olympics. I’d say that worked out pretty well for the Cal, Texas, and Georgia boys, along with others.

Tom
7 years ago

I don’t recall seeing ryan harty swimming? Anyone knows whats going on?

SamH
Reply to  Tom
7 years ago

I think he broke his arm climbing a tree. Saw it in comment threads on multiple occasions over the last month or so.

As I am typing I cannot tell if it is a joke or not, but that’s the word.

Schooling Has Not Peaked
Reply to  SamH
7 years ago

Not a joke, unfortunately. He really did hurt his arm by failing from the tree. He’s much better now though!

Azfan400
7 years ago

Apostalon was not fastest in womens 4×100. Konopka split 47.05

BarryA
7 years ago

Isn’t the swimmer on the left John Shebat?

mxskier
7 years ago

Will Licon’s time isn’t 0.4 seconds ahead of Andrew Wilson swimming at Emory. And wilsons 51.1 I think is fastest in the 100 across all divisions. Not even fair.

Rookery
Reply to  mxskier
7 years ago

Schwingenschogl was 51.07 at the Mizzou Invite I believe

Andrew Majeske
Reply to  Rookery
7 years ago

Yes–in prelims

Years of Plain Suck
7 years ago

Stanford’s distance swimmers have looked great lately.

Indeed, they have six swimmers under 4:27 in the 500 free:

Sweetser
Shoults
Egan
Murphy
Yoder
Ledecky

Uberfan
Reply to  Years of Plain Suck
7 years ago

She would have been in the c final

Bigly
Reply to  Uberfan
7 years ago

If she actually had someone to race, who knows, might have made the B final.

Rookery
7 years ago

I’m humbled and honored Mr. Gibbs

About Robert Gibbs