University of Texas, Texas A&M, and SMU Swimmers Pick Up Wins on Day 2 of Austin Sectionals

2024 AUSTIN SECTIONALS

• July 11-14
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center
  • Austin, Texas
• LCM (50 meters)
• Results on MeetMobile: “2024 ST TXLA SZ LC Sectional Champs”
• Day 1 Recap

Austin Sectionals continued on Friday night with more dominant performances from University of Texas, Texas A&M, and SMU swimmers who missed out on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team last month.

Rising Texas sophomore Emma Kern began the session with a personal-best 100 backstroke time of 1:00.41 to beat classmate Berit Berglund (1:02.39), the reigning Big 12 champion in the SCY version of the event. The 19-year-old Kern shaved just over a tenth off her previous-best 1:00.54 from prelims at last month’s Olympic Trials, where she ultimately placed 16th (1:00.98). Berglund has been as fast as 1:00.23 back in 2022.

Rising Texas sophomore Will Modglin cruised to victory in the men’s 100 backstroke at 54.02, within half a second of his lifetime best from last month’s Olympic Trials prelims (53.59). The reigning Big 12 champion touched more than a second ahead of recent Texas A&M graduate Thomas Shomper (55.07) and rising Texas sophomore Nate Germonprez (55.61). Modglin placed 6th at Olympic Trials in 53.69.

Chloe Stepanek was in a league of her own in the women’s 200 free with a win in 2:00.64, almost four seconds ahead of Streamline Aquatics 16-year-old Averie Hager (2:04.16). The 22-year-old Stepanek placed 16th in the 200 free semifinals at Olympic Trials last month (2:00.02), still more than a second off her personal-best 1:58.73 from last November. A recent Texas A&M graduate, Stepanek is currently in the NCAA transfer portal seeking a destination for her fifth year of collegiate eligibility. Hager dropped more than half a second off her previous-best 2:04.77 en route to the runner-up finish.

Rising SMU junior Jack Forrest captured the men’s 200 free crown in 1:50.85, not far off his best time from May (1:50.03). The 20-year-old held off Bucky Gettys (1:51.66), who dropped almost two seconds on his way to 2nd place. Forrest finished 53rd in the 400 free (3:58.58) at Olympic Trials last month while Gettys placed 28th in the 800 free (8:07.12) and 27th in the 1500 free (15:35.91).

The women’s 400 IM title went to 18-year-old Jillian Cox, who dropped almost 20 seconds to earn the victory in 4:51.64. Her best time before today stood at 5:11.06 from way back in 2019. With splits of 1:04.36 fly, 1:15.24 back, 1:29.04 breast, and 1:03.00 free, Cox’s new lifetime best would have placed 23rd at Trials last month. The 18-year-old redshirt freshman placed 3rd in both the 400 free (4:06.89) and 800 free (8:22.97) at Trials last month after placing 6th in the 800 free (8:19.73) at last year’s World Championships.

Amelia Bodenstab reached the wall more than 11 seconds behind Cox in the 800 at 5:02.81, an impressive performance for her first-ever LCM 400 IM. The 18-year-old is headed to Louisville this fall.

Rising Texas junior Sasha Lyubavskiy secured the men’s 400 IM win in 4:31.78, more than three seconds faster than the Russian’s previous-best 4:34.96 from 2021. The 20-year-old eked past Waterloo Swimming 18-year-old Andres Brooks (4:31.79) by the slimmest of margins. Brooks also dropped a few seconds off his previous-best 4:34.76 from April.