2023 Big 12 Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2023 BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, February 22 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, TX
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Texas (10x)
  • Men: Texas (26x)
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Championship Central

After an exhilarating few days of racing during week one of the NCAA conference season, it’s time for week two. Things will kick off at the 2023 Big 12 Championships tonight as the men and women take to the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays.

Texas won all four of these events on night one of the meet last year and they’re favoured tonight to go 4-for-4 again. That doesn’t mean they will come away on top without a fight as TCU and WVU on the men’s side and TCU, WVU, Kansas, and Iowa State on the women’s side try their best to dethrone the reigning champs.

In addition to the quartet of relays, the men’s and women’s 1-meter diving events will also go down on the first day of the meet. Stay tuned here to stay up to date on the first night of action.

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: 1:31.73, Virginia – 2023 ACC Championships
• Big 12 Record: 1:34.04, Texas – 2022 Big 12 Championships
• Big 12 Championship Record: 1:34.04, Texas – 2022 Big 12 Championships
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:36.24

Top 3:

1. Texas – 1:34.21
2. TCU – 1:38.62
3. West Virginia – 1:39.43

The University of Texas women picked up their first win of the meet by swimming a 1:34.21 to finish just over 4 seconds ahead of Texas Christian University’s 1:38.62. The Longhorns used the same four women here that they did at this season’s mid-season meet, the Minnesota Invite.

Olivia Bray, Anna Elendt, Emma Sticklen, and Grace Cooper were around the same time here as they swam in Minnesota: a 1:34.46. The time was, however, a bit slower than what Texas swam at the 2022 Big 12 Championships last year, which was a new Big 12 conference and meet record (1:34.04).

Olivia Bray had the fastest split in the field on the backstroke leg with a 23.85 and Anna Elendt followed that up with a 26.07 breaststroke. Emma Sticklen threw down a 22.98 on the butterfly and anchor Grace Cooper finished things off for Texas with a 21.31. All four Texas women were the fastest on their respective legs among the five A teams racing tonight.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: 1:21.13, Florida – 2022 NCAA Championships
• Big 12 Record: 1:21.54, Texas – 2017 NCAA Championships
• Big 12 Championship Record: 1:22.24 – 2022 Big 12 Championships
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:23.76

Top 3:

1. Texas – 1:23.53
2. TCU – 1:25.63
3. West Virginia – 1:25.42

The Texas men made it 2-for-2 in the 200 medley relay as they clinched the gold medal with a 1:23.53, ahead of TCU’s 1:25.63. The Longhorns were more than a second slower here than what they swam last year at the Big 12 Championships when they established the current meet record of 1:22.24.

Carson Foster opened with a 21.40 backstroke split for Texas, touching ahead of TCU freshman Edgar Cicanci who posted a 22.14, and West Virginia’s Justin Heimes who swam a 21.84. Notably, the leading man on Texas’ ‘C’ team, Ethan Harder, out-swam Foster here with a 21.32.

The rest of the Texas ‘A’ team posted the fastest times in the field on their splits in the form of William Chan (breast, 22.89), Caspar Corbeau (butterfly, 20.28), and Daniel Krueger (freestyle, 18.96).

Women’s 800 Free Relay

• NCAA Record: 6:45.91, Stanford – 2017 NCAA Championships
• Big 12 Record: 6:54.83, Texas – 2017 NCAA Championships
• Big 12 Championship Record: 6:58.37, Texas – 2009 Big 12 Championships
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 7:00.86

Top 3:

1. Texas – 6:56.49
2. West Virginia – 7:15.56
3. Iowa State – 7:15.87

The Texas women broke the first meet record of the meet in the 800 freestyle relay, delivering a 6:56.49 Big 12 record. They undercut their own record of 6:58.37 from back at the 2009 Big 12 Champs. Kelly Pash hit a 1:43.38 on the opening leg, touching ahead of Abby Reardon of West Virginia (1:47.81) and Lucia Rizzo of Iowa State (1:48.06).

The fastest among the three women with a relay takeover on Texas was Olivia Bray who hir a 1:42.91 on the third leg, which was the only time under 1:43 of the night. Kyla Leibel was #2 on the Longhorn relay with a 1:43.38 and Erica Sullivan anchored in a 1:44.69 to bring home the win.

West Virginia and Iowa State battled it out until the very last stroke for the silver medal, finishing only 0.21 seconds apart. At the 600-meter mark, West Virginia had a bit more of a lead, splitting a 5:26.36 to Iowa State’s 5:28.15. It was Iowa State’s Ashley Bengtson on the anchor leg who almost closed the gap, hitting a 1:47.72, but West Virginia’s closer, Morgan Burton managed to hold her off.

Men’s 800 Free Relay

• NCAA Record: 6:03.89, Texas – 2022 NCAA Championships
• Big 12 Record: 6:03.89, Texas – 2022 NCAA Championships
• Big 12 Championship Record: 6:05.08, Texas – 2019 Big 12 Championships
• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 6:16.02

Top 3:

1. Texas – 6:10.64
2. TCU – 6:23.85
3. West Virginia – 6:31.10

Texas came away with an expected win in the men’s 200 freestyle relay, hitting a 6:10.64. Coby Carrozza started things off with a 1:32.65 split. That got Carrozza pretty close to his current best time in the individual 200 freestyle, which is a 1:32.56 from last year’s NCAA Championships.

Geremia Freri got things started for TCU with an opening split of 1:35.38, touching ahead of West Virginia’s Roanoke Shirk with a 1:36.17.

Texas won this relay last year at the NCAA Championships, setting a new NCAA and Big 12 record courtesy of 3/4 of the men who swam it tonight in Carrozza, Hobson, and Carson Foster. Jake Foster joined the quartet this year, replacing Drew Kibler. Hobson split a 1:32.29 here to trail his NCAA split from last year of 1:30.84. Foster was also faster last year at the big meet (1:31.05) but got relatively close tonight with a 1:31.76 anchor leg.

Even swimming more than five seconds off the team’s recent NCAA record in this event, the Texas men we well under the 6:16.02 NCAA ‘A’ Cut here and will be favored to win the event again at NCAAs this year.

Swimming on Texas’ ‘B’ team, Peter Larson split a 1:32.50, which was actually a bit faster than Coby Carrozza‘s swim on the ‘A’ relay. That time for Larson was just under his own best time in the event of 1:32.53 from NCAA Championships in 2021.

Men’s 1 Meter Diving

Top 3:

1. David Ekdahl, TCU – 419.80
2. Noah Duperre, Texas – 401.30
3. Max Burman, TCU – 389.35

Texas Christian University pulled off its first win of the meet in the first diving event as David Ekdahl topped the podium in the 1 meter. He scored 419.80 points for TCU. Ekdahl repeated as champion, having won this event last year and scored more than 20 points more this year. In 2022 he took gold with a score of 388.50.

Texas’ Noah Duperre got onto the podium as well with 401.30 points and Max Burman scored 389.35 for the bronze medal.

Women’s 1 Meter Diving

Results not available at time of posting.

Women’s Team Scores After Night 1

1. University of Texas – 80
2. West Virginia University – 66
3. Iowa State University / Texas Christian University – 62
5. University of Kansas – 58

Men’s Team Scores After Night 1

1. University of Texas – 139
2. Texas Christian University – 116
3. West Virginia University – 75