ALABAMA VS TEXAS VS OHIO STATE
- January 13-14, 2023
- University of Alabama Natatorium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
- Dual meet scoring
- Full Results
- Final Scores
- Texas 213.50, Alabama 139.50
- Texas 196, Ohio State 157
- Ohio State 220, Alabama 133
In a battle of some of the top teams in the nation, the #2 Texas Longhorns and the #7 Ohio State Buckeyes headed to Tuscaloosa to take on the #5 Alabama Crimson Tide in a tri-meet format. The Longhorns defeated both of the other schools by wide margins in the dual meet scoring, while Ohio State actually had the widest margin of victory with an 87-point win over Alabama.
Friday Recap
The first race of the meet proved to be exhilarating, as all three schools’ A relays finished within 0.20s of each other. Rhyan White put Alabama in the lead early with a 24.62 leadoff leg. Texas closed the gap with a 27.03 breaststroke leg by freshman Lydia Jacoby, then pulled ahead with a 23.42 fly split from Emma Sticklen. OSU got back into the thick of things with a 23.62 fly split from Katherine Zenick.
The race came down to the anchor leg, where Kalia Antoniou dropped a 21.79, the fastest split in the field to touch the wall first and give Alabama a 1:38.06 victory. Texas took 2nd in 1:38.14, followed closely by OSU at 1:38.26. Fifth year Hannah Bach made her season debut for Ohio State in this race, splitting 27.83 on the breast leg. The Buckeyes’ B relay wasn’t far behind, taking 4th in 1:38.45.
For the first individual event, swim fans were treated to an event that’s not normally part of the college dual meet schedule, the 100 IM, which Longhorn Kelly Pash won in 54.28. In a bit of event length whiplash, the 1000 free followed, and Alabama’s Kensey McMahon outdueled Texas’ Erica Sullivan to win 9:44.97 to 9:47.89. Texas came right back, though, as Pash jumped back into the water and claimed her second individual victory with a 1:46.45 in the 200 free, winning by nearly a second.
The Longhorns kept rolling from there. Olivia Bray took the 100 back in 53.50, Jacob won the 100 breast in 59.21, the only woman in the field under a minute. Then, the Longhorns went 1-2 in the 200 fly, possibly their deepest event. Ohio State’s Felicia Pasadyn led at the 100, but Dakota Luther and Emma Sticklen both had strong back halves, touching in 1:56.05 and 1:56.31, respectively. That event also featured Alabama’s Rhyan White, more known as a backstroker, who took 4th in 2:00.76.
Texas’ winning streak came to an end in the final individual race of the day, the 50 free. Alabama’s Antoniou won in 22.39, followed by three Ohio State swimmers, the fastest of whom was Amy Fulmer at 22.53.
The Buckeyes’ individual 50 free results presaged the results of the 400 free relay. Texas jumped out to an early lead thanks to a 48.83 leadoff by Pash and a 49.06 2nd leg from Olivia Bray. But the Buckeyes got splits of 48.24 from Teresa Ivan and 48.09 from Fulmer, who stopped the clock at 3:15.70 for the win. Texas took 2nd in 3:16.37.
Alabama was already down a couple of big guns after Morgan Scott and Cora Dupre both revealed they would not be swimming this semester due to health-related reasons, and their ‘A’ relay ended up DQing.
Saturday Recap
Saturday morning got underway with a bit Longhorn win in the 400 medley relay. Olivia Bray led off in 53.76, followed by Lydia Jacoby with a 59.05 split. The Longhorns already had a solid lead by that point, but Emma Sticklen put Texas out of striking range with a 51.54 fly split, then Kelly Pash anchored in 48.50, touching in 3:32.85.
Ohio State took 2nd in 3:36.26, holding off a late charge from Alabama, who finished 3rd in 3:36.53.
Shortly thereafter Pash won her third individual event of the meet with a 48.37 win in the 100 free, followed by OSU’s Amy Fulmer at 48.81.
Alabama’s Rhyan White put a quick stop to Texas’ winning streak with a 1:54.03 in the 200 back, winning by over a second and a half.
Another US Olympian, Lydia Jacoby, had to battle a bit more to win the next event, the 200 breast. Jacoby and Ohio State’s Josie Panitz battled back and forth, but Jacoby posted the faster time on the final 50, 33.34 to 33.89, to win in 2:11.14 over Panitz’s 2:11.46.
Next, Alabama’s Kensey McMahon finished the distance sweep with a win in the 500 free. It was another great race, as Ohio State’s Felicia Pasadyn led early on. The race came down to the final strokes, with McMahon getting her hand on the wall first, 4:47.43 to 4:47.77.
Sticklen followed up relay fly split with a 52.10 win in the individual event, finishing over a second ahead of her teammate Olivia Bray (53.32). Pash then won her fourth individual title of the meet, going 1:58.24 in the 200 IM.
The meet wrapped with yet another great battle, this time in the 200 free relay. Katherine Zenick led off in 22.47 for the Buckeyes, and Teresa Ivan extended the lead with a 22.02 split on the 2nd leg. Grace Cooper closed the gap a bit for Texas with a 22.17 on the 3rd leg. Pash then dove into anchor for the Longhorns. She capped off her fast weekend with a 21.78 split, but it wasn’t quite enough to run down Amy Fulmer‘s 22.36 anchor, as the Buckeyes won, 1:29.22 to 1:29.34. Alabama finished 3rd in 1:31.09.
The Longhorn women dominated the diving boards. Hailey Hernandez won the 1m, leading a 1-3 Texas sweep while Bridget O’Neil won the 3m to lead a 1-5 Texas sweep of the scoring.
