LSU’s Hribar Splits 18.30 Against Texas; Longhorn Women Break School Records in Season Opener

LSU vs TEXAS (MEN’S & WOMEN’S DUAL MEET)

• Friday, October 11, 2024
• LSU Natatorium, Baton Rouge, LA
• SCY (Yards)
• Full Meet Results (PDF)

TEAM SCORES

MEN

1. Texas – 198
2. LSU – 102

WOMEN

1. Texas – 184
2. LSU – 116

Texas and LSU put on a show this afternoon at the LSU Natatorium in Baton Rouge, marking the first dual meet for both teams this season. Though Texas would emerge victorious in both the men’s and women’s team standings, LSU had some extremely bright spots too.

The meet will go down as the Longhorns’ first SEC dual meet, and the results made it a debut to remember.

Full Meet Replay

Sticklen’s 200 fly is at the 1 hour, 21 minute mark.

MEN’S RECAP

The meet kicked off with a bang, seeing LSU take down Texas in the 200 medley relay. Stephan Goncharov (21.18), Mitch Mason (23.56), Pawel Uryniuk (21.30), and Jere Hribar (18.30) combined for a 1:24.34, beating Texas’ relay by 0.44 seconds. Hribar’s anchor was the determining factor in the race, coming in over a second faster than Texas’ Camden Taylor was on their relay (19.43). The split was an exceptional swim for Hribar, who holds a career best of 18.81 in the individual 50 free.

The relay for LSU also highlights that head coach Rick Bishop, who has a history of being an excellent sprint coach, is building the Tigers’ program up. On the flip of that, we can see that despite the recent headlines, sprinting is still an area in which the Texas men’s team is a bit thin. Texas saw Will Modglin (21.26), Nate Germonprez (23.74), and Hubert Kos (20.35) team up for the first 3 legs of their ‘A’ relay.

Texas has no such trouble in the distance department, though. After transferring from Stanford, Rex Maurer appears to be in peak form for the Longhorns. The 20-year-old kicked off his meet by throwing down a blistering 8:45.26 to win the 1000 free, marking a career best by 6 seconds. He was stellar the entire way through the race, splitting 4:22.53 on the opening 500, then coming home in 4:22.73 on the back half for an even-split. Maurer would then go on to win the 500 free as well, popping a 4:14.58. That swim comes within 3 seconds of his career best of 4:11.88, which he swam at the Texas Invite last fall.

Texas’ distance crew is looking phenomenal at the moment, as David Johnston put up an 8:50.32 for 2nd in the 1000. While that swim isn’t a personal best for Johnston, it’s still a highly encouraging October swim out of him. Johnston would go on to clock a 4:18.89 for 2nd in the 500 free, while he also swam the 200 fly, where he went 1:48.51.

Though he came in 3rd, LSU’s Silas Beth was also great in the 1000 free, clocking an 8:58.76. That swim comes in just off his career best of 8:56.50, which he swam last season in a dual meet with Texas A&M and stands as the program record for LSU.

Texas kept the train rolling, seeing Luke Hobson take the 200 free in 1:33.92, a very good swim out of him this early in the season. For context, Hobson went 1:35.48 last October, so he’s ahead of pace in that sense.

The addition of Hubert Kos is already paying off for the Longhorns. Kos won the 100 back in 45.54 this afternoon, just beating out teammate Will Modglin, who came in 2nd with a 45.87. Kos is one of the fastest backstrokers in the NCAA, holding a career best of 43.75 from last season’s Pac-12 Championship. With Modglin already going under :46 in the event, this is looking like a great backstroke duo for Texas.

Kos would go on to win the 100 fly in 45.89, beating the field by over a second.

LSU picked up a win in the 100 breast, where Mitch Mason clocked a 53.12. It was a fantastic performance for Mason, whose career best is 53.12 from the SEC Championship this past season.

The Tigers then made it a 1-2 punch, taking the next event, the 200 fly. Jacob Pichko swam a 1:43.55, marking a new career best in the event by nearly a half-second. Pishko’s previous personal best was a 1:43.98 from last season’s SECs.

Following his incredible anchor leg on the medley relay, Jere Hribar was back in action in the 100 free, which he won in 43.12. Though it wasn’t quite as exciting as his anchor, Hribar was 45.26 in his first dual last season (October 6th), meaning he is way faster at this point in the season than he was last year. Hobson took 2nd in the event with a 43.34.

After getting beaten out in the 100 breast, Texas displayed some dominance in the 200 breast, led by Will Scholtz, who won the race in 1:55.70. He was followed closely by Germonprez (1:56.01) and Brayden Taivassalo (1:56.67), earning a 1-2-3 finish for the Longhorns.

After finishing 2nd in the 100 breast and 200 breast, Germonprez came out on top in the 200 IM, swimming a 1:46.38. He swam a very well-balanced race, going 22.44 on fly, 27.02 on back, 31.29 on breast, and 25.63 on free.

The men’s meet concluded, as usual, with the 400 free, which turned out to be a heck of a race. Texas came out on top this time, seeing Modglin (43.89), Camden Taylor (42.89), Maurer (42.47), and Hobson (42.12) combine for a 2:51.37.

LSU was right there the whole time, as Andrew Garon (43.92), Hribar (41.98), Stephan Goncharov (42.43), and Griffin Curtis (43.25) put up a 2:51.58, setting a new school record, their third on the day. That broke a mark of 2:52.07 that was previously set in 2022 by a quartet that included Olympian Brooks Curry.

WOMEN’S RECAP

Jillian Cox is back for Texas after taking last season as a redshirt to train for the Olympic Trials, and it couldn’t be better news for the Longhorns. Cox kicked off her meet today by throwing down a head-turning 9:25.88 in the 1000 free. That performance stands as a career best for Cox, albeit by a thin margin, and marks a new program record for Texas. The previous record was held by Erica Sullivan at 9:27.99 from 2022. Cox was out fast, splitting 4:41.96 on the opening 500, then came home in 4:43.92.

Following the 1000, with only the men’s 1000 in between, Cox then went 1:48.20 in the 200 free. She finished her meet off with a 4:39.78 to win the 500 free, setting an phenomenal tone for the season in the process.

Texas’ distance crew is looking excellent at the moment, as freshman Kate Hurst came in 2nd in the 1000 free with a 9:35.77. Hurst then went on to swim a 4:41.74 in the 500, where she took 3rd. In a bright spot of their own, LSU’s Nicole Santuliana took 2nd in the 500 with a 4:40.85.

That was one of two school records on the day for Sauntalina. It broke the 500 free record of 4:41.01 that was set late last season by the now-graduated Megan Barnes. She also finished 3rd in the 1000 free in 9:39.52, which took almost 11 seconds off the old record of 9:50.51 that was set 22 years ago by Stephanie Smith.

This was Santuliana’s first meet for LSU.

In what may have been the best race of the day, Texas Fifth Year Emma Sticklen blasted a head-turning 1:49.77 in the 200 fly. That performance marks a new Texas program record, beating out the previous record, which Sticklen also held, of 1:49.95. Sticklen is the back-to-back defending NCAA champion in the 200 fly and her swim this afternoon was faster than both her winning times at NCAAs from the past two seasons.

The swim is also the 4th best performance in history:

Best 200 SCY Flys All-Time

1. Regan Smith – 1:48.33 (2023)
2. Alex Walsh – 1:49.16 (2024)
3. Ella Eastin – 1:49.51 (2018)
4. Emma Sticklen – 1:49.77 (2024)
5. Regan Smith – 1:49.78 (2021)
6. Elaine Breeden – 1:49.92 (2009)
7. Emma Sticklen – 1:49.95 (2023)

Sticklen then went on to win the 100 fly as well, swimming a 50.23. Sticklen’s fastest time in the 100 fly last October was 52.28, so she, like many others at this meet, is way ahead of last year’s pace.

Last season, then-freshman Emma Kern split backstroke medley relay duties at the NCAA Championships with her classmate Berit Berglund. This season, Kern may have taken full-control of that slot already. She swam 51.49 to win the 100 backstroke on Friday, which is just .04 seconds shy of what she went at NCAAs last year (her personal best) and is faster than what Berglund split leading off Texas’ runner-up medley relay at that meet (51.51).

LSU’s Zoe Carlos-Broc swam 52.93 for 2nd place, which moves her to 5th in the all-time LSU rankings. Broc, a freshman from France, made her debut in purple and gold at this meet. The aforementioned Berglund finished 3rd in 53.26.

Kern later won the 200 back in 1:54.20, which is again just .09 seconds shy of her personal best from last year’s NCAA Championship meet.

The big question mark this season for the Texas women is the breaststroke. The team lost Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby (turned pro) and school record holder Anna Elendt (graduated), but they bring in a pair of newcomers to fill that gap. Freshman Piper Enge got her first intercollegiate win, touching in 59.67.

Enge, who comes to Texas with international experience, has never broken a minute before outside of a Sectional or Junior National Championship meet.

Abby Arens, a transfer from NC State, finished 2nd in 1:00.68. Texas appears to be willing to ride Arens’ breaststroke shift from her last year at NC State – she was previously one of the best butterfliers in the NCAA, but in her last year at NC State, she focused more on breaststroke out of necessity for the Wolfpack, which is a stroke that she was very good at at in high school.

She also finished 3rd in the 100 fly on Friday in 52.64.

LSU got a late win in the women’s 200 breaststroke from Belgian newcomer Grace Palmer. She won the race in 2:09.12, leading the field by almost two seconds. She focused on breaststroke at this meet (3rd in the 100 in 1:01.37) but is also a very good distance freestyler, having raced the 800 free at the European Championships in recent years.

Not to be overlooked among the star names scaring their best times was Texas’ Angie Coe. She won the 200 IM in 1:55.93, which is just .02 seconds shy of her personal best done at the Texas Invite last year. After dropping almost five seconds in the 200 IM in long course in this calendar year alone, she seems due for a big season for the Longhorns.

In total, the Texas women set 10 LSU pool records at the meet.