2024 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

Texas Hall of Fame Invite

• November 20-22, 2024
• Where: Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center — Austin, TX
• When: 10 am CT prelims/6 pm CT finals
• Participating Teams: Pitt, Stanford, Texas (host), USC, Wisconsin, BYU, Cal Poly
• Meet Info
• Live Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite”
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

It is the first finals session of the week in Austin, and the teams are already off to a fast start. The prelims session saw nation-leading times in the men’s 500 free and the women’s 200 IM from Texas swimmers Rex Maurer and Emma Sticklen.

Sticklen also clocked the top time in the 50 free prelims, but Stanford Olympian Torri Huske is hot on her heels in both events.

Texas swimmers had a quick morning, with freshman Jillian Cox earning the top seed in the women’s 500 freestyle, and sophomore Will Modglin coming in first in the men’s 200 IM.

Wisconsin junior Taiko Torepe-Ormsby was the only non-Texas swimmer to win an event this morning with his 19.36 in the men’s 50 freestyle.

We also have two relays this evening with the 200 freestyle relay leading off the meet, and the 400 medley relay finishing it off.

Women’s 200 Free Relay

• NCAA Record: 1:23.63, Virginia-2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:28.42
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:29.00

1. Texas A- 1:25.92 A
2. Stanford A- 1:27.44 A
3. USC A- 1:27.65 A
4. Texas B- 1:28.47
5. Wisconsin A- 1:28.67 B
6. Pittsburgh A- 1:29.07
7. Texas C- 1:29.30
8. Stanford B- 1:29.96

The Texas women had four near identical times to win. Emma Sticklen led off with a 21.50. Grace Cooper went second with a 21.47. Abigail Arens went 3rd with another 21.47, and Ava Longi anchored with a 21.48. All 4 women were within .03 seconds of one another.

Stanford was out faster than Texas as Torri Huske led off at 21.38. Her and Sticklen will face off again in the 50 free final later this evening. The rest of the Stanford relay held on nicely to beat USC. Gigi Johnson went second at 21.86. Lucy Thomas swam 3rd and went a 21.99, and Anna Shaw brought them home at 22.21

Men’s 200 Free Relay

• NCAA Record: 1:13.35, Florida-2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:16.51
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:17.13

1. Texas A- 1:16.73 B
2. USC A- 1:17.06 B
3. Wisconsin A- 1:17.43
4. Pittsburgh A- 1:18.74
5. Texas B- 1:18.78
6. BYU A- 1:19.17
7. USC B- 1:20.02
8. Cal Poly A- 1:20.77

None of the relays in this final made the NCAA A cut. Texas was just over two tenths off with their 1:16.73. Garrett Gould led off for the Longhorns in 19.55 to put Texas in 3rd going into the second leg. Camden Taylor went second at 19:04, which was good enough to launch the Texas team into 1st. Alec Filipovic went 19.10, and Kyle Peck was 19.04 to finish off the relay. The 19.04s were the fastest splits in the field

USC’s Artem Selin led off in 19.73. Luke Maurer went second at 19.10, Diggory Dillingham was 19.07, and Oliver Sogaard-Andersen went 19.16 at 4th.

Women’s 500 Free Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford)-2017
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:36.89
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:47.20
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:41.19

1. Jillian Cox (Texas)- 4:30.68 A
2. Aurora Roghair (Stanford)- 4:31.63 A
3. Kate Hurst (Texas)- 4:37.59 B
4. Abby Carlson (Wisconsin)- 4:37.62 B
5. Erin Gemmell (Texas)- 4:38.28 B
6. Kayla Wilson (Stanford)- 4:38.82 B
7. Blair Stoneburg (Wisconsin)- 4:42.10 B
8. Maddie Waggoner (Wisconsin)- 4:45.39 B

Texas freshman Jillian Cox had a huge best time to go 4:30.68 in the 500. This time would have won last year’s NCAA Championships. It also would have won every NCAA Championships since Katie Ledecky’s last year in 2018. It is also about half a second faster than Bella Sims went earlier this evening to give her the number 1 time in the country. Cox’s best time coming into today was a 4:34.41 from earlier this month in the Texas dual meet vs Indiana.

Stanford Senior Aurora Roghair also had a significant drop, going from a 4:34.26 to a 4:31.63. This time is also faster than last year’s NCAA Championship winning time of 4:32.47.

Men’s 500 Free Finals

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU)-2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:10.64
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:21.28
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:14.90

1. Rex Maurer (Texas)- 4:04.45 A
2. David Johnston (Texas)- 4:09.41 A
3. Coby Carrozza (Texas)- 4:11.54 B
4. Luke Hobson (Texas)- 4:12.92 B
5. Oliver Sogaard-Andersen (USC)- 4:15.96 B
6. Krzysztof Chmielewski (USC)- 4:16.03 B
7. Cooper Lucas (Texas)- 4:16.31 B
8. Jackson Huckabay (Texas)- 4:19.48 B

Texas had a huge evening in the 500s with sophomore Rex Maurer blasting a new American record of 4:04.45, mere hours after Carson Foster set it at 4:05.81. Maurer practically even split the race going 2:02.08/2:02.37. Maurer now has the #2 swim in history, just behind Leon Marchand’s NCAA record.

David Johnston, Coby Carrozza, and Luke Hobson all bested their prelims swims to round out a Texas top 4. All 3 men were off their lifetime best times, but are the fastest they have been at this point in the season.

Women’s 200 IM Finals

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37, Kate Douglass (Virginia)-2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.66
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:59.35
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:57.05

1. Emma Sticklen (Texas)- 1:52.75 A
2. Torri Huske (Stanford)- 1:52.89 A
3. Caroline Bricker (Stanford)- 1:54.17 B
4. Lucy Bell (Stanford)- 1:55.24 B
5. Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin)- 1:55.37 B
6. Campbell Chase (Texas)- 1:55.48 B
7. Lillie Nordmann (Stanford)- 1:56.36 B
8. Campbell Stoll (Texas)- 1:56.63 B

The women’s 200 IM final was a race between Stanford Junior Torri Huske and Texas 5th year Emma Sticklen, with Sticklen dropping over half a second from her prelims drop to win. The two girls traded the lead every 50, starting with Huske leading after the fly 23.95 to Sticklen’s 24.17. The lead flipped during the backstroke though when the Texas 5th year went a 27.72 backstroke split over Huske’s 28.35. Huske regained the lead during the breaststroke with a 33.48 to ticklen’s 34.33. The race truly came down to the wire, but Sticklen’s 26.53 was enough better than Huske’s 27.11 to give her the win by 14 on hundredths.

Stanford’s Caroline Bricker, and Lucy Bell took 3rd and 4th, Bell in a very close race with Phoebe Bacon, to give Stanford the 2-3-4 finish.

Men’s 200 IM finals

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34, Leon Marchand (ASU)-2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:40.75
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:45.68
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:43.05

1. Will Modglin (Texas)- 1:40.97 B
2. Hubert Kos (Texas)- 1:41.17 B
3. Ben Sampson (Texas)- 1:42.43 B
4. Luke Maurer (USC)- 1:43.48 B
5. Ben Dillard (USC)- 1:;43.55 B
6. Nate Germonprez (Texas)- 1:43.56 B
7. Sanberk Yigit (USC)- 1:43.75 B
8. Jeremy Kelly (Texas)- 1:44.21 B

Texas swept the podium in the men’s 200 IM. Sophomore Will Modglin won with a new best time of 1:40.97. This is a slight drop from his previous best time of 1:41.01, but got him into that 1:40 zone. He also beat his teammate and ASU transfer Hubert Kos who was 3rd at last year’s NCAA’s. Kos added a few seconds from his best time of 1:38.77. Fellow Longhorn Ben Sampson was also off his personal best of 1:41.92 by half a second.

The only other swimmer in the final to drop time was Texas Freshman Jeremy Kelly who went from 1:44.69 to 1:44.21

Women’s 50 Free Finals

• NCAA Record: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia)-2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 21.58
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut:22.58
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 22.11

1. Grace Cooper (Texas)/Torri Huske (Stanford- 21.81 B
2. —
3. Vasilissa Buinaia (USC)- 21.88 B
4. Ava Longi (Texas)- 21.90 B
5. Caroline Famous (USC)- 22.12 B
6. Hailey Tierney (Wisconsin)- 22.15 B
7. Minna Abraham (USC)- 22.31 B
8. Gigi Johnson (Stanford)-22.51 B

We thought the race would be a race between Texas and Stanford with Emma Sticklen and Torri Huske, but with Sticklen’s scratch, what we got instead was a race between Texas and Stanford with Grace Cooper and Torri Huske, and it did not disappoint. Cooper was ahead by 0.4 at the 25 mark with a 10.40 to Huske’s 10.44, but Huske came back stronger leading to a perfect tie at 21.81. Both Huske and Cooper added a little bit from their best times with Huske’s standing at 21.39 and Cooper’s being a 21.66 from this meet last year.

USC’s Vasilissa Buinaia went the only personal best time in the field with  a time of 21.88, dropping from her 21.95 at this meet last year to place 3rd.

Men’s 50 Free Finals

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida)-2018
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.72
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 19.69
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 19.13

1. Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (Wisconsin)- 19.28 B
2. Garrett Gould (Texas)/Julian Koch (Pittsburgh)- 19.51 B
3. —
4. Donat Fabian (Pittsburgh)- 19.52 B
5. Camden Taylor (Texas)- 19.54 B
6. Ben Wiegand (Wisconsin)- 19.87
7. Alec Filipovic (Texas)- 19.88
8. Nathaniel Eliason (BYU)- 20.06

Wisconsin swimmer Taiko Torepe-Ormsby won the men’s 50 free with a half second add from his best time of 18.76. Ormsby was 19.36 in the finals of this event last year, so he is almost a tenth faster than he’s been at midseason.

Freshmen Garrett Gould from Texas and Julian Koch from Pittsburgh tied for second with personal best times for both of them at 19.51.

Pittsburgh transfer Donat Fabian also had a best time of 19.52, dropping from his 19.64 from the Summit League Championships last year.

Texas sophomore Camden Taylor dropped from his previous best of 19.58, and BYU freshman also dropped almost half a second from his 20.51 from earlier this month.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 3:21.80, Virginia-2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:30.89
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:32.88

1. Texas A- 3:27.12 A
2. Texas B- 3:27.91
3. Stanford A- 3:29.39 A
4. Wisconsin A- 3:30.19 A
5. Stanford B- 3:32.49
6. USC A- 3:32.78 B
7. Pittsburgh A- 3:33.07
8. Wisconsin B- 3:34.10

The Texas A and B relays were a close race for each other with the B actually being ahead of the A after the backstroke leg. A backstroker Emma Kern was just under half a second off her best time of 51.45 on her leadoff leg at 52.04. The B relay leadoff Berit Berglund also added from her 50.70 best time with a leg of 51.84, but was just faster than Kern

Abigail Arens on the A and Piper Enge on the B had similar splits on the breaststroke legs at 58.38 and 58.57 respectively.

On the fly, Emma Sticklen swam for the Texas A and Campbell Stoll swam on the B. Sticklen went a 49.44, which is the 9th fastest 100 fly split in history to beat Campbell Stoll‘s 50.48.

Freestyle swimmers Erin Gemmell went 47.26 on the A and Ava Longi was actually faster at 47.02 on the B. Both the women’s A and B relay would have placed in the top 8 at last year’s NCAA championships.

The Stanford women also put together a good relay with Levenia Sim going 52.93 on backstroke, Lucy Thomas going 57.94 on breaststroke, Torri Huske at 50.59 on fly, and Lillie Nordmann with 48.24 to bring the Cardinal home underneath the NCAA A cut.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay Timed Final

• NCAA Record: 2:57.32, ASU-2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:o4.96
• 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:06.37

1. Texas A- 3:02.18 A
2. Texas B- 3:03.19
3. Texas C- 3:05.12
4. USC A- 3:07.62
5. Wisconsin A- 3:09.17
6. Cal Poly A- 3:10.53
7. BYU A- 3:10.79
8. USC C- 3:11.33

Just like the women, the Texas men were racing themselves. The A beat the B on every split except the final one where Camden Taylor went 41.64 on the B to beat Luke Hobson‘s 42.17 on the A. Coby Carrozza went 41.71 on the C to also beat Hobson.

The backstrokers led off with Will Modglin going 44.41 for the A, Rex Maurer on the B going 45,35, and Kyle Peck on the C, going 45.77.

Breaststroke was a similar story with Nate Germonprez going the fastest split on the A of 50.25. Will Scholtz swam a split of 50.71 for the B, and Brayden Taivassalo went 52.32 on the C.

Holden Smith threw a wrench in the status quo on his fly leg for the C relay. Smith went the fastest 100 fly leg in the field at 45.32. Hubert Kos was second on the A with a split of 45.35, and Ryan Branon Jr. was 45.48 for the B.

The Texas Invite will pick back up tomorrow morning at 10 am CT