Triple Cox Wins Power Texas Women Past Texas A&M In Road Battle

The Texas Longhorn women stayed red-hot this season, beating in-state rivals Texas A&M on the road to remain undefeated for the year.

Full results

Texas junior Madisyn Cox was dominant in three individual wins, helping Texas win 10 of 16 events total and take the meet 166-134.

Maybe the swim of the night was Cox’s first event, the 200 free. Cox blew out the field in 1:46.52, jumping to #4 in the NCAA this year and just under half a second out of the national lead. Longhorn freshman Nora McCullagh was second in 1:48.72.

Cox returned to win a huge 200 breast showdown with Texas A&M star Bethany Galat later in the night. Cox jumped out to an early lead, but Galat made up ground over the final 50 in a thrilling finish. Cox ultimately got her hand on the wall first, going 2:11.21 to Galat’s 2:11.51.

That same duo would clash again in the 200 IM, but Cox powered away in 1:58.22 to Galat’s 1:59.69.

For her part, though, Galat would win the 100 breast in 1:01.31, beating Texas freshman Olivia Anderson by about a half-second.

The Texas programs split the relays, with A&M winning the 200 medley and UT winning the 400 free relay.

The medley came down to butterfly, where A&M’s Beryl Gastaldello, one of the best sprint flyers in the nation, split 23.97 to give her team a big lead heading into freestyle. Though Texas’s Rebecca Millard anchored valiantly in 22.09, it wasn’t quite enough to run down A&M freshman Lexie Lupton, and the Aggies won 1:40.47 to 1:40.58.

Gastaldello would go on to win the 100 fly in 53.93, beating highly-touted Texas freshman Remedy Rule (54.73). Millard, meanwhile, would win twice for Texas, sweeping the 50 free (22.77) and 100 free (49.69) and beating Gastaldello in both.

Millard’s speed helped Texas take the 400 free relay in 3:20.07. She anchored the team in a blazing 48.38 to cap a come-from-behind win for the Longhorns.

Other notable events:

• The teams traded blows in the distance free races. Texas freshman Joanna Evans had a big 1000 free win in 9:47.61, but runner-up Sarah Gibson came back to win the 500 free for Texas A&M in 4:47.75.
• Longhorn rookie Rule would pace the 200 fly, dipping under the two-minute barrier at 1:59.99.
• Texas would also sweep the backstrokes, with Tasija Karosas going 53.74 for the 100 back win and freshman Quinn Carrozza winning the 200 in 1:54.82.
• Texas A&M’s Madison Hudkins won both diving events for the home team.