2024 Texas Hall of Fame Invite: Day 1 Prelims Live Recap

2024 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
• Meet Info
• Live Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite”

A loaded field of teams headlined by the host Longhorns and Stanford kick off competition at the Texas Invite this morning in Austin, with three events on the schedule.

WOMEN’S 500 FREE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford) – 2017
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:37.89
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:41.19

1. Jillian Cox (TEX), 4:36.06
2. Aurora Roghair (STAN), 4:36.12
3. Kate Hurst (TEX), 4:40.31
4. Abby Carlson (WISC), 4:40.47
5. Campbell Stoll (TEX), 4:40.72
6. Erin Gemmell (TEX), 4:41.22
7. Kayla Wilson (STAN), 4:43.09
8. Blair Stoneburg (WISC), 4:43.33

Texas freshman Jillian Cox and Stanford senior Aurora Roghair posted near-identical times from different heats in the women’s 500 free, with Cox’s 4:36.06 clocking proving to be the fastest overall by six one-hundredths.

Cox, who was the fastest swimmer to the 200 by a wide margin at 1:47.92, already ranks 1st in the NCAA this season with her 4:34.41 clocking against Indiana.

Roghair split 2:17.60/2:18.52 en route to clocking 4:36.12 for the second seed into the final, moving her to #2 in the NCAA this season as she lops four seconds off her season-best time of 4:40.47. She set a best time of 4:34.26 at the 2024 NCAAs.

Texas first-year Kate Hurst led a trio of swimmers who posted 4:40s in the prelims, with Hurst touching in 4:40.31 to qualify 3rd overall after she went 4:38.18 against Indiana three weeks ago.

Wisconsin’s Abby Carlson hit a big season-best for 4th in 4:40.47, while Texas’ Campbell Stoll swam the event for the first time in five years and dropped 40 seconds to clock 4:40.72.

Erin Gemmell‘s 6th-place time of 4:41.22 was just over a second back of her personal best 4:40.09 set in February at the Big 12 Championships.

USC’s Claire Tuggle was notably a DFS as the 5th seed coming in.

MEN’S 500 FREE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:10.74
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:14.90

1. Rex Maurer (TEX), 4:09.49
2. Coby Carrozza (TEX), 4:11.23
3. David Johnston (TEX), 4:13.90
4. Luke Hobson (TEX), 4:14.14
5. Cooper Lucas (TEX), 4:15.59
6. Jackson Huckabay (TEX), 4:15.61
7. Oliver Sogaard-Andersen (USC), 4:17.21
8. Krzysztof Chmielewski (USC), 4:18.03

Texas sophomore Rex Maurer rattled off a personal best and nation-leading time of 4:09.49 in the 500 free, eclipsing his previous PB of 4:11.20 set less than three weeks ago that previously sat atop the national rankings.

Maurer split the race fairly evenly, turning in 1:38.64 at the 200 and recording 250 splits of 2:04.10/2:05.39. His time puts him under the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 4:10.74 and would’ve finished 4th in last year’s NCAA final.

The Longhorns claimed the top six spots in the prelims, with Coby Carrozza coming within half a second of his personal best (4:10.74) with a time of 4:11.23, ranking him #2 in the nation this season.

David Johnston, who returned to Texas this season after taking an Olympic redshirt year in 2023-24, clocked 4:13.90 to advance 3rd, while 2024 NCAA runner-up Luke Hobson was close behind in 4:14.14.

The next two Longhorns were freshman Cooper Lucas, who was just over a second shy of his PBA in 4:15.59, and Jackson Huckabay, who set a personal best of 4:15.61 in 6th.

USC freshman Oliver Sogaard-Andersen. a Danish native, dropped 13 seconds from his month-old best time in 4:17.21 to advance in 7th, while his sophomore teammate Krzysztof Chmielewski rounded out the finalists in 4:18.03. Chmielewski set his personal best time of 4:13.84 at this meet last year.

Four of the eight finalist spots came out of the final heat, with Wisconsin’s Luukas Vainio (4:18.79) and Yigit Aslan (4:19.55), along with the Texas duo of Logan Walker (4:18.83) and Manning Haskal (4:18.88) all getting bumped out after they were in position through the first four heats.

Notably well off his lifetime best was Texas’ Aaron Shackell, a U.S. Olympian this past summer in the men’s 400 free. Shackell missed out on earning a second swim altogether, clocking 4:30.94 for 30th place. His PB sits at 4:15.35 from February 2023.

WOMEN’S 200 IM – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:48.37, Kate Douglass (Virginia) – 2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.66
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:57.03

1. Emma Sticklen (TEX), 1:53.40
2. Torri Huske (STAN), 1:54.62
3. Campbell Chase (TEX), 1:54.83
4. Lucy Bell (STAN), 1:55.13
5. Caroline Bricker (STAN), 1:55.41
6. Phoebe Bacon (WISC), 1:55.53
7. Lillie Nordmann (STAN), 1:55.75
8. Campbell Stoll (TEX), 1:55.94

Leah Hayes‘ time atop the NCAA rankings in the 200 IM was short-lived, as after the Virginia freshman clocked 1:54.29 at the Tennessee Invite earlier this morning, overtaking Texas’ Angie Coe (1:54.33) for the top spot, another Longhorn, Emma Sticklen, took it right back just over an hour later.

Sticklen put up a time of 1:53.40, improving on her previous best time of 1:54.09 set n route to finishing 6th at NCAAs in 2023.

Stanford’s Torri Huske and Texas freshman Campbell Chase went toe to toe in the penultimate heat, with Huske holding off Chase in 1:54.62, with Chase close behind in 1:54.83 to mark a seismic best time.

Huske’s swim was a season-best, having gone 1:54.90 against ASU and Cal earlier this month, while Chase’s performance took more than a second off her best time of 1:56.15 set against Indiana.

Stanford’s Lucy Bell (1:55.13) edged out teammate Caroline Bricker (1:55.41) in the eighth and final heat, with sub-1:56 ending up being the requirement to make it back to the ‘A’ final. Coming into the day, only four women in the NCAA had broken 1:56.

Wisconsin fifth-year Phoebe Bacon had a strong showing to advance 6th into the final in 1:55.53, a three-second season-best time. She was 5th in the NCAA final last season, hitting a best time of 1:53.16.

Coe, who clocked a PB of 1:54.33 against Indiana, ended up on the outside looking in, posting a time of 1:56.94 to place 11th and a spot in the ‘B’ final.

MEN’S 200 IM – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:36.34, Leon Marchand (ASU) – 2023
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.03
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 1:43.05

1. Will Modglin (TEX), 1:42.20
2. Ben Sampson (TEX), 1:42.54
3. Luke Maurer (USC), 1:42.57
4. Nate Germonprez (TEX), 1:43.04
5. Hubert Kos (TEX), 1:43.25
6. Jeremy Kelly (TEX), 1:43.55
7. Sanberk Yigit Oktar (USC), 1:44.01
8. Ben Dillard (USC), 1:44.35

The final of the men’s 200 IM will feature five Longhorns and three Trojans, with Texas claiming five of the top six spots this morning.

Leading the way was sophomore Will Modglin, who split 22.13/25.88/29.67/24.52 en route to a time of 1:42.20 in what was his first time racing the event this season, ranking him 3rd in the NCAA this season. He set a PB of 1:41.01 last season at Big 12s.

Newcomer Ben Sampson, who transferred to Texas from Colorado Mesa, clocked 1:42.54, just over half a second shy of his lifetime best 1:41.92 set at D2 NCAAs last season.

USC’s Luke Maurer, Rex’s older brother who transferred over from Stanford in the offseason, nearly surpassed his PB to qualify 3rd in 1:42.57, having been 1:42.38 last year at NCAAs.

Texas sophomore Nate Germonprez was next up in 1:43.04, while the #1 swimmer in the NCAA this season, Hubert Kos, qualified 5th in 1:43.25. Kos went 1:40.51 in the Longhorns’ dual with Indiana, making him the lone swimmer sub-1:41 so far in 2024-25. Germonprez set his PB of 1:40.89 at his debut NCAAs in March.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 20.37, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) – 2024
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 21.63
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 22.11

1. Emma Sticklen (TEX), 21.64
2. Torri Huske (STAN), 21.86
3. Grace Cooper (TEX), 21.89
4. Ava Longi (TEX), 21.95
5. Vasilissa Buinaia (USC), 22.05
6. Caroline Famous (USC), 22.12
7. Hailey Tierney (WISC), 22.18
8. Minna Abraham (USC), 22.19

Fresh out of the 200 IM, Emma Sticklen and Torri Huske qualified 1-2 in a second event this morning in the 50 free, with Sticklen breaking 22 seconds for the first time to lead the way.

Sticklen clocked 21.64, obliterating her lifetime best of 22.24 set at the 2021 Minnesota Invite. She has, however, reeled off numerous 21-point relay splits over the last few seasons.

Huske touched in 21.86 to qualify 2nd, just shy of her season-best 21.71 set two weeks ago.

Texas’ Grace Cooper (21.89) and Ava Longi (21.95) also went sub-22, with Longi coming within six one-hundredths of her lifetime best set at the 2024 NCAAs.

MEN’S 50 FREE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.82
• 2024 NCAA Cutline: 19.13

1. Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (WISC), 19.36
2. Garrett Gould (TEX), 19.43
3. Julian Koch (PITT), 19.53
4. Camden Taylor (TEX), 19.63
5. Luke Maurer (USC), 19.68
6. Ben Wiegand (WISC), 19.71
7. Nathaniel Eliason (BYU), 19.72
8. Alec Filipovic (TEX), 19.73

Wisconsin junior Taiko Torepe-Ormsby paced the prelims of the men’s 50 free in 19.36, setting a new season-best time after clocking 19.49 at the beginning of November against Minnesota.

Torepe-Ormsby, a New Zealand native, owns a best time of 18.76 and clocked the exact same time as this morning, 19.36, in the final at this meet last year.

Texas freshman Garrett Gould set his second best time in this event in less than three weeks, following up his 19.53 clocking against Indiana with a 19.43 showing this morning to qualify 2nd.

Pitt first-year Julian Koch, a German native, broke 20 seconds for the first time to advance 3rd overall in 19.53, with Texas’ Camden Taylor 4th in a season-best of 19.63 and USC’s Luke Maurer back in the pool shortly after his 200 IM to qualify 5th in 19.68. Taylor was also just .05 off his PB of 19.58 from the 2024 Big 12s.