2018 Big 12 Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2018 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 24
• Texas Swimming Center, Austin, TX (Central Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Texas men (21x) & Texas women (5x) (results)
• Live results
• NCAA Qualifying
• Live Video
• Championship Central

We’re back with day 3 finals of the 2018 Big 12 Championships in Austin, Texas. Swimmers are set to compete for individual titles in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. We’ll also see finals of the 200 free relays and 3-meter diving. Among the swimmers to watch out for tonight on the men’s side are Texas All-Americans Joseph Schooling (100 fly), Jonathan Roberts (400 IM), and Townley Haas (200 free). Notably, Texas’ John Shebat will not be swimming the 100 back final after his 45.92 swim in prelims. West Virginia’s Jake Armstrong looks to prevent a Longhorn sweep of the events as he’s the heavy favorite in the 100 breast.

On the women’s side, Texas’ Kennedy Lohman (100 breast) is looking for her first Big 12 title after dropping half a second from her lifetime best in prelims. Freshman teammate Evie Pfeifer, who had a big swim in last night’s 500 free final, is going for her 2nd win of the meet. Another Longhorn standout, Claire Adams, is closing in on the Meet Record in the 100 back.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 51.92, Lily Moldenhauer (Texas), 2014
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 51.19
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 52.52

1. GOLD: Remedy Rule, Texas, 52.41
2. SILVER: Lauren Case, Texas, 52.72
3. BRONZE: Morgan Bullock, West Virginia, 53.15

Texas teammates Remedy Rule and Lauren Case turned closely, 24.40 to 24.60, at the halfway mark, with Rule holding on to the slight edge to win the race by 3 tenths. West Virginia’s Morgan Bullock continued her impressive run with a bronze medal, knocking another 2 tenths off her best time as she came from behind to out-touch Texas’ Emily Reese (53.25), who took it out with Rule in 24.40 but faded slightly on the back half.

MEN’S 100 FLY:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 44.06, Joseph Schooling (Texas), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 45.49
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 46.10

1. GOLD: Joseph Schooling, Texas, 45.10
2. SILVER: Brett Ringgold, Texas, 46.18
3. BRONZE: Tate Jackon, Texas, 46.24

Texas’ Joseph Schooling controlled the race, taking it out in 21.09 en route to his 45.10 victory. Teammates Brett Ringgold and Tate Jackson were separated by a nail, with Jackson knocking half a second from his lifetime best. West Virginia’s Sam Neaveill and Texas’ Sam Pomajevich were neck-and-neck throughout the race, with Neaveill just out-touching Pomajevich 47.30 to 47.36 for 4th place.

WOMEN’S 400 IM:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 4:01.15, Madisyn Cox (Texas), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:04.70
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 4:10.86

1. GOLD: Evie Pfeifer, Texas, 4:10.27
2. SILVER: Maxine Wolters, Texas, 4:13.01
3. BRONZE: Mary Kate Luddy, Iowa State, 4:17.77

Texas freshmen Evie Pfeifer and Maxine Wolters were neck-and-neck through the fly leg, but Pfeifer started to take control through the back leg. She continued to extend her lead, closing in 28.37 as she won by nearly 3 seconds. She’s been quicker than that this season, however, with a 4:08.47 from the Texas Invite. Wolters was about a second shy of her best to take silver. Iowa State’s Mary Kate Luddy took 2 seconds off her lifetime best to earn bronze, outpacing teammate Haley Ruegemer (4:18.15) through the back half.

MEN’S 400 IM:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 3:40.26, Jonathan Roberts (Texas), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 3:39.95
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 3:44.92

1. GOLD: Jonathan Roberts, Texas, 3:43.72
2. SILVER: Sam Stewart, Texas, 3:44.93
3. BRONZE: Ryan Harty. Texas, 3:46.45

Texas’ Jonathan Roberts led from start to finish here, outpacing teammate Sam Stewart to win by a second. Fellow Longhorn Ryan Harty trailed Stewart by tenths after the back leg, but started to fall back on breaststroke as he settled for bronze. West Virginia’s Nate Carr (3:48.06) and Texas’ JohnThomas Larson (3:49.97) joined them in breaking 3:50.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 1:43.43, Karlee Bispo (Texas), 2011
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:43.30
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 1:45.44

1. GOLD: Quinn Carrozza, Texas, 1:44.41
2. SILVER: Nora McCullagh, Texas, 1:46.54
3. BRONZE: Giselle Gursoy, West Virginia, 1:47.39

Texas’ Quinn Carrozza was already leading by a second when she flipped at 50.44 halfway, extending her lead to 2 seconds to take the gold. Nora McCullagh followed to give the Horns the 1-2 punch, while West Virgnia’s Giselle Gusroy rounded out the top 3. Kansas teammates Jenny Nusbaum (1:47.92) and Lauryn Parrish (1:48.84) each earned a spot in the top 5.

MEN’S 200 FREE:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 1:32.01, Ricky Berens (Texas), 2009
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:32.54
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 1:34.20

1. GOLD: Townley Haas, Texas, 1:33.53
2. SILVER: Jeff Newkirk, Texas, 1:33.69
3. BRONZE: Parker Neri, Texas, 1:35.10

Reigning NCAA champ Townley Haas flipped in 45.50, leading Texas teammate Jeff Newkirk by a couple of tenths at the 100-yard mark. Newkirk outpaced Haas slightly on the 3rd 50, but they came home in identical 23.88s as Haas touched just over a tenth ahead of Newkirk. Longhorn freshman Parker Neri rolled in with a 1:35.10 for bronze, clipping about a tenth off his lifetime best.

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 57.92, Breeja Larson (Texas A&M), 2012
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 58.85
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 1:00.34

1. GOLD: Kennedy Lohman, Texas, 59.25
2. SILVER: Olivia Anderson, Texas, 1:00.37
3. BRONZE: Haley Downey, Kansas, 1:01.43

Texas’ Kennedy Lohman knocked a few more hundredths off her lifetime best to top the field by a second. Teammate Olivia Anderson was about 3 tenths shy of her lifetime best and finished right around the 2017 NCAA invite time. Kansas’ Haley Downey used her front-end speed to take the edge over Texas’ Brooke Hansen (1:01.98) for bronze, while Hansen used her back-half speed to out-touch West Virginia’s Emma Harris (1:02.07).

MEN’S 100 BREAST:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 51.15, Will Licon (Texas), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 51.74
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 52.62

1. GOLD: Jake Armstrong, West Virginia, 52.59
2. SILVER: Tristen Disibio, West Virginia, 52.75
3. BRONZE: Casey Melzer, Texas, 52.97

West Virginia went 1-2 with Jake Armstrong and Tristen Disibio. Armstrong was about half a second shy of his lifetime best 52.11 from prelims, but still managed to hold off Disibio. Texas’ Casey Melzer dipped below 53 second for the first time to take bronze, while teammate Austin Temple was 4th in 53.60.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 50.96, Tasija Karosas (Texas), 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 51.16
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 52.65

1. GOLD: Claire Adams, Texas, 51.13
2. SILVER: Amelie Currat, West Virginia, 53.73
3. BRONZE: Kaitlin Harty, Texas, 53.91

Claire Adams picked up another win for Texas, coming within 2 tenths of her lifetime best with an NCAA ‘A’ cut. That was her 3rd fastest swim ever in the event, behind only her swims from 2017 NCAAs. West Virginia’s Amelie Currat came from behind to clip Texas’ Kaitlin Harty for silver. That was Currat’s fastest swim in an individual race, but she was slightly faster with a 53.50 leadoff on the 400 medley relay.

MEN’S 100 BACK:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 45.41, Andrew Marsh (West Virginia), 2016
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 45.25
• 2017 NCAA Invite Time: 46.28

1. GOLD: Austin Katz, Texas, 46.02
2. SILVER: Josh Artmann, Texas, 47.38
3. BRONZE: Angelo Russo, West Virginia, 47.89

Austin Katz was about 7 tenths shy of his season best, but still won handily in 46.02. West Virginia’s Angelo Russo was out ahead of Josh Artmann, 22.80 to 23.00, but Artmann had the better back-half speed as he finished half a second ahead for the silver.

WOMEN’S 3-METER DIVING:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 414.20, Maren Taylor (Texas), 2014

1. GOLD: Alison Gibson, Texas, 388.05
2. SILVER: Meghan O’Brien, Texas, 368.65
3. BRONZE: Murphy Bromberg, Texas, 365.40

The Texas women swept the podium again, with Alison Gibson winning gold. Meghan O’Brien and Murphy Bromberg had a close contest for 2nd, but O’Brien came up 3.25 points ahead.

MEN’S 3-METER DIVING:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 527.10, Drew Livingston (Texas), 2011

1. GOLD: Jordan Windle, Texas, 470.80
2. SILVER: Michael Proietto, West Virginia, 374.85
3. BRONZE: Reed Merrit, Texas, 358.40

Jordan Windle topped the podium tonight, giving the Longhorn men their 5th win of the day. West Virginia’s Michael Proietto represented the Mountaineers with a silver ahead of Texas’ Reed Merrit.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE RELAY:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 1:28.04, Texas, 2017
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:28.71

1. GOLD: Texas, 1:28.31
2. SILVER: West Virginia, 1:31.53
3. BRONZE: Kansas, 1:32.02

Rebecca Millard got the ball rolling for Texas in 22.10. Claire Adams put up the fastest split of the field with a 21.84 on the 2nd leg. Bringing them home on the back half were Anelise Diener (22.12) and Remedy Rule (22.25). Notably, Brooke Hansen had the 2nd fastest split with a 22.04 as the anchor of Texas’ B relay.

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 3:

  1. University of Texas               703   2. West Virginia University        434.5
  3. University of Kansas            407.5   4. Iowa State University             321
  5. Texas Christian University        310

MEN’S 200 FREE RELAY:

• Big 12 Meet Record: 1:16.89, Texas, 2009
• NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:17.62

1. GOLD: Texas, 1:16.90
2. SILVER: West Virginia, 1:18.30
3. BRONZE: TCU, 1:22.55

The Texas men came up just .01 shy of the Meet Record, with Tate Jackson leading off in 19.20. Brett Ringgold threw down the fastest split of the field in 18.65 on the 2nd leg. Austin Katz (19.94) and Joseph Schooling (19.11) took over the back half. The Horns’ John Shebat had the 4th fastest split for Texas with a 19.40 on the 2nd leg of the B relay.

MEN’S TEAM SCORES THROUGH DAY 3:

  1. University of Texas               723   2. West Virginia University          611
  3. Texas Christian University        444