2023 Texas Invitational: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2023 TEXAS HALL OF FAME INVITATIONAL

• November 15-18, 2023 (10 am/6 pm CT)
• Austin, Texas
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Prelims: 10 am (CT) / 6 pm (CT)
• Results

After things got underway last night with some relays, the first full day of action at the 2023 Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite is upon us from the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.

Mirroring the NCAA Championship schedule, the opening prelim session will feature heats in the 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free.

Key names in action include two of the NCAA’s top three swimmers in the women’s 500 free this season, USC’s Claire Tuggle and Stanford’s Aurora Roghair, while Texas’ Erica Sullivan is also in the field as the third seed.

The women’s 200 IM features the top-ranked swimmer in the nation in Stanford’s Lucy Bell, while the 50 free is headlined by Longhorn Grace Cooper, one of four women who have been sub-22 so far this season.

On the men’s side, defending NCAA champion Luke Hobson highlights the men’s 500 free field, with freshmen Krzysztof Chmielewski (USC) and Rex Maurer (Stanford) also in the mix.

Texas first-year Nate Germonprez is the top seed in the 200 IM, while the 50 free has eight swimmers within a half-second of one another at the top, led by USC’s Artem Selin.

Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle — Prelims

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06 — Katie Ledecky, Stanford (2017)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:37.89
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:41.09

Top 8:

1. Justina Kozan (USC), 4:39.22
2. Aurora Roghair (STAN), 4:39.47
3. Abby Carlson (WISC), 4:40.80
4. Natalie Mannion (STAN), 4:41.26
5. Claire Tuggle (USC), 4:43.33
6. Maddie Waggoner (WISC), 4:44.01
7. Macky Hodges (USC), 4:44.67
8. Erica Sullivan (TEX), 4:44.89

Justina Kozan kicked off Thursday morning’s session with a bang in the women’s 500 free, cracking 4:40 for the first time in 4:39.22 to lead the field into the final.

Currently in her sophomore year, Kozan set her previous personal best of 4:41.09 last October at the USC Invitational, and was a distant 66th in the event at the NCAA Championships. Her time from this morning would’ve qualified for the 2023 NCAA ‘A’ final.

Stanford junior Aurora Roghair also established a new best time to qualify 2nd overall, dropping three-tenths in 4:39.47.

2023 NCAA runner-up Abby Carlson of Wisconsin advanced 3rd in 4:39.47, while Texas’ Erica Sullivan, who was 4th at the 2023 NCAAs, snuck through in 8th as a sub-4:45 swim was required to advance to tonight’s big heat.

Stanford’s Natalie Mannion also had an impressive swim, coming within seven-tenths of her lifetime best in 4:41.26 to qualify 4th ahead of USC’s Claire Tuggle.

Tuggle, who set a new best time of 4:39.16 in October, clocked 4:43.33 for 5th overall.

Men’s 500-Yard Freestyle — Prelims

• NCAA Record: 4:06.32 — Kieran Smith, Florida (2020)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 4:10.74
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 4:14.36

Top 8:

1. Rex Maurer (STAN), 4:16.70
2. Krzysztof Chmielewski (USC), 4:16.71
3. Yiğit Aslan (WISC), 4:18.92
4. Henry McFadden (STAN), 4:19.25
5. Luke Hobson (TEX), 4:19.28
6. Coby Carrozza (TEX), 4:19.37
7. Luukas Vainio (WISC), 4:21.89
8. Zach Ward (WISC), 4:22.79

Freshmen standouts Rex Maurer and Krzysztof Chmielewski stole the show in the prelims of the men’s 500 free, having an incredible showdown in the fourth and final heat that was ultimately won by Maurer by .01.

Stanford’s Maurer clocked 4:16.70 to lead the field, hitting a new season-best after going 4:19.45 in mid-October against Pitt. Maurer closed in 24.64 to out-touch USC’s Chmielewski (4:16.71), who came into the day ranked 3rd in the nation wtih his 4:15.18 performance from the SMU Classic.

Wisconsin’s Yiğit Aslan was 4:18.92 for 3rd, with his best time sitting at 4:15.20 from the 2022 Big Tens.

Another Stanford freshman, Henry McFadden, moved through in 4th in 4:19.25, with defending NCAA champion Luke Hobson sitting 5th in 4:19.28, just ahead of teammate Coby Carrozza (4:19.37).

With Luukas Vainio and Zach Ward joining Aslan in the ‘A’ final, Wisconsin put more swimmers ‘up’ than Texas.

Women’s 200-Yard IM — Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37 — Kate Douglass, Virginia (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:53.66
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:56.90

Top 8:

1. Kelly Pash (TEX), 1:55.05
2. Emma Sticklen (TEX), 1:55.65
3. Caroline Bricker (STAN), 1:55.91
4. Phoebe Bacon (WISC), 1:56.56
5. Alicia Wilson (TEX), 1:56.58
6. Charlotte Hook (STAN), 1:57.79
7. Lucy Bell (STAN), 1:57.92
8. Macky Hodges (USC), 1:58.07

Texas’ Kelly Pash led a trio of swimmers in the 1:55s in the heats of the women’s 200 IM, as she used a quick 27.27 freestyle leg to touch in 1:55.05 to lead teammate Emma Sticklen and Stanford’s Caroline Bricker.

Pash, who owns a personal best of 1:53.31 from the 2022 NCAAs, was slightly faster than she was in the prelims of last year’s Minnesota Invite (1:55.76), where she ultimately clocked 1:54.26 in the final.

Sticklen was an NCAA ‘A’ finalist last season, placing 6th in 1:54.09, and goes 1:55.65 here to advance in 2nd, notably blazing through the first 100 faster than anyone in 52.62 (24.14/28.48).

Bricker, a freshman, shattered her lifetime best by well over a second in 1:55.91, having previously been 1:57.29 in February. She’s coming off a breakout showing against Arkansas in late October, where she hit a trio of NCAA-leading lifetime bests in the 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 IM.

Alicia Wilson, a former NCAA ‘A’ finalist, who transferred to Texas for this season, had a promising swim in 1:56.58 to qualify 5th, seven seconds under her previous season-best set on Oct. 28 (2:03.53).

Men’s 200-Yard IM — Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34 — Léon Marchand, Arizona State (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 1:41.03
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 1:43.14

Top 8:

1. Luke Maurer (STAN), 1:43.81
2. Ben Dillard (USC), 1:44.57
3. Nate Germonprez (TEX), 1:44.90
4. Rick Mihm (STAN), 1:45.11
5. Will Modglin (TEX), 1:45.33
6. Spencer Aurnou-Rhees (TEX), 1:45.49
7. Dominik Mark Torok (WISC), 1:45.52
8. Holden Smith (TEX), 1:45.53

Stanford’s Luke Maurer knocked a second and a half off his lifetime best to lead the prelims of the men’s 200 IM in a time of 1:43.81, out-splitting the field by a wide margin on the freestyle leg with a closing split of 24.12.

Maurer’s previous PB stood at 1:45.28 from last season’s NC State Invitational. He typically races the 50 free on Day 2 of championship events.

USC’s Ben Dillard also had a notable swim relative to his PB in 1:44.57, touching just shy of the 1:44.42 mark he established at the 2022 Pac-12s.

Texas freshman Nate Germonprez picked up a new season-best to move through to the final ranked 3rd, clocking 1:44.90 to lead a group three other teammates inside the top eight.

Women’s 50-Yard Freestyle — Prelims

• NCAA Record: 20.79 — Maggie MacNeil, Louisiana State (2023)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 21.63
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 22.15

Top 8:

1. Grace Cooper (TEX), 21.73
2. Vasilissa Buinaia (USC), 21.95
3. Ava Longi (TEX), 22.14
4. Hailey Tierney (WISC), 22.23
5. Emma Davidson (TEX), 22.34
6. Caroline Famous (USC), 22.40
7. Anicka Delgado (USC), 22.48
8. Kaitlyn Dobler (USC), 22.49

Texas senior Grace Cooper lowered her lifetime best for the second time this month with a blistering time of 21.73 in the women’s 50 free prelims, dipping under the 21.83 mark she established on Nov. 3 in the Longhorns’ tri-meet with TAMU and Georgia Tech.

Cooper came into the season with a best of 21.89 from the 2022 Minnesota Invite, and she finished last season off by placing 22nd at NCAAs in 22.10.

USC’s Vasilissa Buinaia, a Russian who is in her first season at USC but is listed as a graduate senior, advanced 2nd overall in a time of 21.95, marking her first sub-22 swim after clocking 22.08 at the USC Invite in October.

Half of tonight’s ‘A’ final will be made up of Trojans, with Buinaia joined by Caroline Famous, Anicka Delgado and Kaitlyn Dobler in 6th, 7th and 8th.

Texas’ advanced 3rd in 22.14, just shy of her newly-minted best time of 22.08.

Wisconsin freshman Hailey Tierney had her fastest swim of her young collegiate career in 22.23, with her best sitting at 21.84 from last November at the WIAA D1 State Championships.

Men’s 50-Yard Freestyle — Prelims

• NCAA Record: 17.63 — Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• 2024 NCAA ‘A’ Standard: 18.82
• 2023 NCAA Invited Time: 19.21

Top 8:

1. Jonathan Tan (STAN), 19.20
2. Rafael Gu (STAN), 19.44
3. Artem Selin (USC), 19.62
4. Bryson Huey (UNLV), 19.66
5. George Ratiu (UNLV) / Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (WISC), 19.70
6. –
7. Ben Wiegand (WISC), 19.80
8. Luke Maurer (STAN), 19.83

Stanford freshman Jonathan Tan highlighted the men’s 50 free prelims as he dropped a sizeable best time to lead the field by more than two-tenths in 19.20, getting well under his previous mark of 19.65 set against Pitt in October.

A Singapore native, Tan is a sub-22 50 freestyler in long course (21.91), indicating he should have a shot at cracking 19 seconds sooner than later, possibly in tonight’s final.

His Cardinal teammate Rafael Gu also set a new PB to advance in 2nd in 19.44, lowering the 19.53 mark he established last season at Pac-12s.

Top seed coming in Artem Selin of USC advanced 3rd in 19.62, while UNLV had two swimmers inside the top six as Bryson Huey (19.66) took 4th and George Ratiu tied with Wisconsin’s Taiko Torepe-Ormsby for 5th in 19.70.

Huey was the runner-up in the event at the WAC Championships last season in a PB of 19.37, while Ratiu was 4th.

Torepe-Ormsby was just shy of his lifetime best (19.66), as was his teammate Ben Wiegand, who qualified 7th in 19.80 with his PB standing at 19.57—both swimmers set their current best times at the 2023 Big Tens.

Shortly after his PB and top seed in the 200 IM, Stanford’s Luke Maurer was back in the water and managed to make the ‘A’ final in 19.83.