Texas Men Earn 1st Win of the Season; Women Keep Rolling Against UNC

TEXAS VS. UNC

  • Results
  • Hosted by UNC
  • Saturday, November 11th
  • 25 Yards
  • Dual Meet Format

Final Scores

The Texas men and women continued their tour of central North Carolina on Saturday, tackling the University of North Carolina after visiting NC State on Friday.  The Longhorn women continued their winning ways, while the reigning NCAA champion men earned their first dual meet victory of the season after a string of tough losses.

  • WOMEN: Texas 172, UNC 125
  • MEN: Texas 162, UNC 137

Jonathan Roberts and Brett Ringgold each rallied for a winning double in the Horns’ victory. In the 1000 free, Roberts held a steady lead over freshman teammate Chris Yeager to lead a 1-2 finish for Texas, winning in 9:17.84 to Yeager’s 9:25.98. Next, he blew away the field in the 400 IM, posting the only sub-4:00 time to win in 3:53.63.

Ringgold swept his signature sprint races, starting with a 19.93 to beat teammate Joseph Schooling (20.13) to the wall in the 50 free. He followed that up with a 44.46 in the 100 free, using his front half speed to take the edge over teammate Townley Haas (44.89). Reigning NCAA champion Haas won his signature 200 free earlier in the session with a 1:37.38. Olympic champion Schooling continued his 100 fly winning streak for the Horns, rolling to a 47.18 for the win. Schooling came up big on Texas’ 200 medley relay as well, putting up a 20.39 fly split to bring them from behind as they took down UNC.

After winning both breaststrokes against NC State, Olivia Anderson swept the breaststrokes races in back-to-back meets with her wins against UNC. She led the 100 breast from start to finish with a 1:02.09. In the 200 breast, she came from behind, outpacing UNC’s Caroline Hauder on the back half to out-touch Hauder 2:15.06 to 2:15.15 at the finish. Teammate Claire Adams also swept her stroke specialty, winning the backstrokes with a 53.48 in the 100 back ahead of Hauder (54.90) and a 1:57.39 to out-touch teammate Kaitlin Harty (1:57.51) in the 200 back.

Freshman Evie Pfeifer has been a staple of the Texas distance crew this season. In today’s meet, she came up with a 9:55.54 in the 1000 free, pulling ahead of UNC’s Robyn Dryer (9:59.70) after the 700-yard mark. Pfeifer returned to win the 200 IM, using her breaststroke leg to pull ahead of the field en route to a 2:00.49.

UNC’s Caroline Baldwin, a U.S. National Teamer, was the top performer for the Tarheels as she swept the women’s sprints. Baldwin ripped a 22.13 to dominate the 50 free ahead of Texas sprint standout Rebecca Millard (22.89). She was even more dominant in the 100 free, posting a 48.24 to touch nearly 2 seconds ahead of Millard (49.92).

PRESS RELEASE – TEXAS MEN:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 9 Texas won 10 of 16 events and posted a 162-137 victory over host No. 22 North Carolina Saturday afternoon at UNC’s Koury Natatorium.

The Longhorns opened the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, where junior John Shebat, sophomore Ryan Harty and seniors Joseph Schooling and Brett Ringgold were victorious in 1 minute, 27.65 seconds.

Texas stretched its lead behind a one-two finish from senior Jonathan Roberts and freshman Chris Yeager in the 1,000 freestyle. Roberts took the win in 9:17.84 while Yeager followed in 9:25.98. Junior Townley Haas, the silver medalist in the 200m freestyle at the 2017 FINA World Championships, claimed the same event Saturday in 1:37.38.

Freshman Sam Pomajevich registered his first win as a Longhorn, as he claimed the 200 butterfly in 1:48.52. Ringgold notched the first of his two individual wins in the 50 freestyle, where he topped out at 19.93. Schooling followed in second at 20.13. Ringgold completed the sprint sweep with his winning mark of 44.46 in the 100 freestyle.

Freshman Austin Katz led a Longhorns trio atop the 200 backstroke in 1:45.92. Junior Jeff Newkirk took second at 1:47.17 and sophomore Josh Artmann followed in third at 1:48.22. Schooling finished off a Texas sweep of the butterfly events with his 47.18 at 100 yards. Roberts led from start-to-finish in the 400 IM and won by nearly seven seconds in 3:53.63.

The Longhorns put the finishing touches on their dual-meet win with a  victory in the 200 freestyle relay, where Ringgold, Shebat, junior Tate Jackson and Schooling finished in 1:20.46. Texas collected two more points from its third-place relay, which finished in 1:22.01.

Freshman Jordan Windle led the UT diving contingent with his second-place finishes on one-meter (384.90) and three-meter (412.13).

The Texas divers host the UT Diving Invitational next week (Nov. 16-18) at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The swimmers host the Texas Invitational from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2.

PRESS RELEASE – TEXAS WOMEN:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 2 Texas (5-0) captured 12 of 16 events and finished off a sweep of its weekend road trip, as the Longhorns defeated No. 21 North Carolina, 172-125 Saturday afternoon at UNC’s Koury Natatorium.

North Carolina won the meet’s first event, the 200-yard medley relay, before the Longhorns took control of the meet. Freshman Evie Pfeifer registered the first of two individual wins on the day in the 1,000 freestyle, where she was victorious in 9:55.54. Junior Joanna Evans helped solidify a one-two Texas finish in the 200 freestyle with her winning time of 1:47.03. Her classmate Quinn Carrozza followed in 1:49.49.

Sophomore Claire Adams gave Texas its third straight win behind her 53.48 in the 100 backstroke. Junior Olivia Anderson swept the breaststroke events and took home the win at 100 yards in 1:02.09.

Junior Remedy Rule helped deliver the Longhorns a sweep of the butterfly events. She claimed the 200 butterfly in 1:58.74, while sophomore Lauren Case followed in second at 1:59.50. Sophomore Alison Gibson, the 2017 NCAA one-meter diving champion, was victorious in the same event Saturday with 334.28 points.

Adams completed a sweep of the backstroke events with her 1:57.39 at 200 yards. Sophomore Kaitlin Harty followed closely behind in second at 1:57.51 while Pfeifer added three more points for Texas with her third-place mark of 1:59.56.

Anderson stormed home in the final 50 yards of the 200 breaststroke and rallied past UNC’s Caroline Hauder at the touch in 2:15.06.

Carrozza won the 500 freestyle with plenty of room to spare at 4:50.64. Freshman Emily Reese led a one-two-three Texas finish in the 100 butterfly at 54.22. Rule placed second at 54.40 while freshman Victoria Edwards took third at 55.80.

The Tar Heels claimed the three-meter diving event, but UT’s Meghan O’Brien and Gibson helped to limit UNC’s point gain with their second- and third-place finishes.  With the team victory well in hand, Texas elected to exhibition the 200 IM, but Pfeifer came away with the top time nonetheless in 2:00.49.

The Longhorns finished off the dual-meet win by edging the Tar Heels in the 400 freestyle relay. Adams, senior Rebecca Millard, Evans and Rule teamed up to finish in 3:19.08, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of the Tar Heels.

The Texas divers host the UT Diving Invitational next week (Nov. 16-18) at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. The swimmers host the Texas Invitational from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2.

PRESS RELEASE – UNC:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of North Carolina men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams fell to the University of Texas Longhorns Saturday afternoon at Koury Natatorium. The second-ranked Longhorn women topped the 21st-ranked Tar Heel women by a score of 172 to 125. The ninth-ranked Longhorn men defeated the 22nd-ranked Tar Heels with a score of 162 to 137.

“They [Texas] did a great job,” said UNC head coach Rich DeSelm. “I felt like we gave away a few things. Last week we got the lead and when we got ahead it felt really good. This week we never really got the lead and I think we let that affect how we conducted ourselves and we have got to learn from that.”

Caroline Baldwin continued her strong senior season with two individual wins. Baldwin placed first in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle in times of 22.13 seconds and 48.24 seconds, respectively. Both times were her season bests this year.

“We were able to see Caroline Baldwin in one or two different events. She swam a 50 freestyle in that was lightning fast,” exclaimed DeSelm. “She actually broke the pool record in 100-free which is pretty remarkable because there has been some pretty awesome competitions in this pool.”

Baldwin also led the Tar Heels to a relay victory. Baldwin, Caroline Hauder, Emma Cole and Maddie Smith placed first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:39.07. The Tar Heels have been 4-0 in that event this season in dual meets. Sydney Baker also sported an individual win in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:03.96.

The Tar Heel men’s breaststroke swimmers looked strong today taking first, second and third in both the 100-yard and 200-yard events. Valdas Abaliksta placed first in the 100-yard with a time of 55.42 seconds followed by Michael McBryan at 55.67 seconds and Austin Sellers at 56.89. In the 200-yard breaststroke, McBryan placed first, Abaliksta second and Sellers third with times of 2:00.56, 2:01.73 and 2:03.05 respectively.

“We came in with a goal to go 1-2-3 in both of those events,” said McBryan.

Other Tar Heel first place finishes came from Alvin Jiang and Henry Campbell. Jiang placed first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 47.35. Campbell placed first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:27.00.

On the diving side, the Tar Heels placed first in three of the four events. Diving coach Abel Sanchez was thrilled with his team’s performance today.

“I’m really proud of our men and women,” claimed Sanchez. “They’ve done a fabulous job. I’m a little speechless which is unusual.”

Greg Duncan and Sean Burston had outstanding performances on the boards today. Duncan placed first in the one-meter, scoring 384.90 points.  Burston scored 413.85 points to finish at the top of the leaderboard in the three-meter.

“That was huge for me,” said Burston. “I was speechless when I saw the scores go up. That just shows me personally how much I’ve come along since freshman year and how much more I can improve.”

Elissa Dawson finished first in the three-meter event and second in the one-meter competition. Dawson’s score of 363.75 on the three-meter board was her personal best so far this year.

“Trying to beat myself this week is usually what I focus on,” claimed Dawson.

The Tar Heel women fall to 2-2 and the men to 1-3. The diving contingent travels to Purdue next week for the Purdue Invitational from November 16-18. The swimming team has a few weeks off before they head to the Tennessee Invitational from November 30-December 2.

MEN’S TEAM SCORE: #22 NORTH CAROLINA 137, #9 TEXAS 162
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—MEN
200-Yard Medley Relay: North Carolina (Alvin JiangValdas AbalikstaNick Loomis, J. T. Casey), 2nd place, 1:28.78
1000-Yard Freestyle: Nick Palmer, 3rd place, 9:30.22
200-Yard Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 2nd place, 1:38.40
100-Yard Backstroke: Alvin Jiang, 1st place, 47.35
100-Yard Breaststroke: Valdas Abaliksta, 1st place, 55.42
200-Yard Butterfly: Thomas Bilden, 2nd place, 1:50.44
50-Yard Freestyle: Jack Messenger, 4th place, 20.75
One-Meter Diving: Greg Duncan, 1st place, 384.90 points
100-Yard Freestyle: Jack Messenger & J.T. Casey, 3rd place, 45.71
200-Yard Backstroke:  Chris Thames, 4th place, 1:49.31
200-Yard Breaststroke: Michael McBryan, 1st place, 2:00.56
500-Yard Freestyle: Henry Campbell, 1st place, 4:27.00
100-Yard Butterfly: Alvin Jiang, 2nd place, 48.22
Three-Meter Diving: Sean Burston, 1st place, 413.85 points
400-Yard Individual Medley: Noah Cairns, 2nd place, 4:00.51
200-Yard Freestyle Relay: North Carolina (Valdas AbalikstaJ.T. Casey, Jack Messenger, Alvin Jiang), 2nd place, 1:21.08
Records:  North Carolina 1-3, Texas 1-4

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORE:  #21 NORTH CAROLINA 125, #2 TEXAS 172
TOP CAROLINA FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT—WOMEN
200-Yard Medley Relay: North Carolina (Caroline BaldwinCaroline Hauder, Emma Cole, Maddie Smith), 1st place, 1:39.07
1000-Yard Freestyle: Robyn Dryer, 2nd place, 9:59.70
200-Yard Freestyle: Emma Cole, 3rd place, 1:49.55
100-Yard Backstroke: Caroline Hauder, 2nd place, 54.90
100-Yard Breaststroke:  Brooke Perrotta, 2nd place, 1:02.71
200-Yard Butterfly: Bryanna Cameron, 3rd place, 1:59.52
50-Yard Freestyle: Caroline Baldwin, 1st place, 22.13
Three-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson, 1st place, 363.75 points
100-Yard Freestyle: Caroline Baldwin, 1st place, 48.24
200-Yard Backstroke: Emily Slabe, 4th place, 2:01.16
200-Yard Breaststroke: Caroline Hauder, 2nd place, 2:15.15
500-Yard Freestyle: Bryanna Cameron, 2nd place, 4:54.42
100-Yard Butterfly: Zhada Fields, 4th place, 56.01
One-Meter Diving: Elissa Dawson, 2nd place, 321.75 points
200-Yard Individual Medley: Sydney Baker, 1st place, 2:03.96
400-Yard Freestyle Relay: North Carolina (Caroline BaldwinEmma ColeZhada Fields, Maddie Smith), 2nd place, 3:19.21
Records:  North Carolina 2-2, Texas 5-0

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Right Dude Here
6 years ago

Count us out. We love it.

Drop us in the power rankings.
Beat us in our home pool in the last session of NCs. We think about it every day.
(Real talk, Chuck Katis is a marvelous, kind person, and he came through so clutch for the bears that year)

Tell us we’re slower than last year.
Comment that our guys won’t put up the times.

Give us more fuel.

Hook ’em.

GreenGoggles
Reply to  Right Dude Here
6 years ago

I don’t think anyone is counting the three-time defending NCAA champions out. Most people are smart enough know there is a difference between a dual meet and a taper meet. They were also unanimously voted #1 in the most recent power rankings on this site. Best of luck to the guys looking for a 4peat this season!

Right Dude Here
Reply to  GreenGoggles
6 years ago

The power rankings that will come out next week I would assume will have Texas much lower than #1.

GreenGoggles
Reply to  Right Dude Here
6 years ago

Hmmm… I suppose they could drop some since it may not be ENTIRELY based on NCAAs only. I’m a little unclear on what their power rankings are based on. Still I doubt they’ll totally write texas off. They haven’t done that. We have to wait and see how they vote but it’s pretty clear the Horns aren’t being counted out at all this season by the writers. They do things differently than, say, the CSCAA rankings which might overlook how tired Texas is.

Other good teams like Cal haven’t had some of their big scorers doing too hot either. Just doesn’t grab as much attention cause they have an easier schedule and haven’t had any attention grabbing losses yet. It’s… Read more »

Swimmer
6 years ago

Texas over UNC shows you how far UNC has fallen because Texas is swimming super slow right now and can’t beat anybody

Nah
6 years ago

Plot twist, I know it sounds crazy but

The Texas women win all their dual meets and lose NCAAs

The Texas men continue a poor dual meet streak and win NCAAs

Nah
Reply to  Nah
6 years ago

Oh wait this happens every freaking year

Facts
Reply to  Nah
6 years ago

Let’s see, this is not “every freaking year” but the most recent: from 2017-2013, Texas Men’s record 6-3, 10-0, 8-1, 5-1 and Women’s 11-1, 9-2, 9-2, 6-3. Not sure what you mean by “win all dual meets” and “poor dual meet streak”. Look it up. Seems like your memory only recalls what supports your insufficient fact checking.

crooked donald
Reply to  Nah
6 years ago

The men should be worried about making their A times at this point. They’re slower than last year at this time, almost across the board. Eddie said they weren’t rested enough for the first day at NCAAs last year. He better start resting them soon.

korn
Reply to  crooked donald
6 years ago

Eddie ALWAYS says his swimmers aren’t rested enough. ALWAYS. And always says the pool isn’t fast. This isn’t a knock….just have to take it with a grain of salt.

samuel huntington
Reply to  crooked donald
6 years ago

I hope you’re not suggesting that people like Haas, Shebat, Roberts, and Schooling will struggle to get A times..

mikeh
Reply to  samuel huntington
6 years ago

That’s exactly what he’s suggesting. It just makes no sense.

Caleb
Reply to  samuel huntington
6 years ago

he trolls every Texas article but keeps getting fed…

j pine
Reply to  crooked donald
6 years ago

They did show their potential to swim fast this season (Case in point: Orange-White meet) It may not have been an official meet & they might have suited-up, but the Texas guys still posted crazy fast times, particularly Schooling’s 50 free and 200fly, as well as his best time in the 100back. Tate Jackson had a pretty impressive 100fly as well!

jelly
6 years ago

They’re really missing Will

Sir Swimsalot
Reply to  jelly
6 years ago

Will was a very good person and asset for the team, and they will lose points at NCAA’s because of his absence, but it probably won’t be enough to lose. Hey, but if Cal gives me a fight and wins that would be super cool too. I’m a happy camper either way.

About Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh

Lauren Neidigh is a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Arizona (2013-2015) and the University of Florida (2011-2013). While her college swimming career left a bit to be desired, her Snapchat chin selfies and hot takes on Twitter do not disappoint. She's also a high school graduate of The …

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