Texas v. Southern Methodist (Women)
- February 5, 2021
- Texas Swim Center, Austin, TX
- Dual meet format
- SCY
- Full Results
- Score: Texas 188, SMU 104
The #8 Texas Longhorn women wrapped up their dual meet season by defeating the SMU Mustangs in Austin today. The times weren’t as fast as they were on the men’s side — and no, we’re not sure if anyone was suited up or not — but the Longhorn women walked away from the pool with a clean sweep, touching first in every single event, although several were officially exhibitioned.
The meet got underway a bit oddly, as both the Texas ‘B’ team and SMU’s ‘A’ team drew disqualifications, leading to an almost five-second margin of victory for the Texas ‘A’ team, which consisted of Julia Cook (24.67), Anna Elendt (27.67), Olivia Bray (23.88), and Grace Cooper (23.00) and combined for a 1:39.22. Those first three legs were the same as Texas had on the 1:35.78 relay it swam back in December, which puts it at #3 in the nation, with Cooper replacing Bridget Semenuk, who swam on the DQ’d ‘B’ relay.
Elendt and Miranda Heckman led the Longhorns with two individual victories each. Elendt swept the breaststrokes with times of 1:00.56 and 2:12.94. Heckman took a pair of 200-yard events, first wining the 200 free in 1:50.01, then taking the 200 back in 2:03.50, 0.11s over teammate Sydney Silver. Cook also added an individual win by taking the 100 back in 53.26, while Semenuk won the 50 free in 22.65.
Distance ace Evie Pfeifer had the most dominant race of the day, winning the 1000 free by over 30 seconds with a time of 9:52.64. Kyla Leibel came out on top in the closest finish of the day, winning the 100 free by just 0.10s over SMU’s Alex Stevens, 50.85 to 50.95.
The Longhorns’ event lineup looked different than it might usually, as Grace Ariola still hasn’t competed this season, Olivia Bray only swam the medley relay and the 100 free, and Kelly Pash opted for the 100 back and 200 IM instead of the 100/200 freestyles. However, Pash still got a win, touching first in the 200 IM with a 1:59.44, although Texas chose to exhibition that swim.
Emma Sticklen won the 200 fly in 1:58.32, Ella Tierney took the 500 free in 5:01.83, and Emily Reese won the 100 fly in 54.87. Cook (23.05), Cooper (22.71), Semenuk (22.59), Leibel (23.39) closed out the meet by touching first in the 200 free relay with a 1:31.74, although again, SMU won that in 1:35.15, as Texas swam exhibition.
Freshman Jenna Watson led the Mustangs with a pair of trio of top three finishes. First, she set a new lifetime best in the 200 free, taking 2nd behind Heckman with a time of 1:52.22, 0,.09s off of her previous best time from early last month. Next, she put up a 2:18.58 in the 200 breast, just over a second away from her lifetime best, to take 3rd. Finally, she closed out the day with an official victory in the 200 IM, although her time of 2:05.58 was actually the 3rd-fastest time of the day including Texas’ exhibitioned swims.
Stevens also came up big for the Mustangs, taking 2nd in both of the sprint freestyle events with times of 23.45 and 50.95. Olivia Grossklaus also had a pair of 2nd-place finishes, going 2:03.19 in the 200 fly and 5:03.81 in the 500 free.
SMU Release
AUSTIN, Texas (SMU) – The SMU women’s swimming and diving team fell to top-ranked Texas in Austin on Friday afternoon. The Mustangs collected a total of seven runner-up finishes at the event.
Alex Stevens earned back-to-back second place finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles, coming in at 23.45 and 50.95, respectively.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Jenna Watson registered a season-best time of 1:52.22 for second place, and Annabelle Corcoran (10:28.06) led two Mustangs in the top three of the 1,000 free, coming in ahead of Katie Jordan(10:35.10). Watson was also third in both the 200 breast and 200 IM.
Olivia Grossklaus, who holds an NCAA B cut in the 200 fly, was the Mustangs’ highest finisher in the event, placing second in a time of 2:03.19. She also placed second in the 500 free (5:03.81), with Jordan coming in third (5:06.53).
The Mustangs also picked up third placed finishes from Maddy Lewis in the 100 breast and Madison Kinsey in the 100 fly, as well as Gabi Grobler in the 200 back.
The event closed with a second placed finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay from Johanna Gudmundsdottir, Stevens, Indra Vandenbussche and Sam Smith. The team clocked in at 1:35.15.
Nicole Stambo and Taylor Ohlhauser each recorded third place finishes in diving events, with Stambo posting a career mark of 324.15 on 3 meter and Ohlhauser posting a 294.68 on 1 meter.
Texas topped the final team score, 188-104.
The Mustangs return to action to host the American Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 18-20 at The Nat. The event is closed to the public, but will stream live on ESPN+.
Texas Release
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