Texas Leads Field After Day Two in Columbia
The Texas men’s and women’s squads took the lead after day two at the 2009 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships. Five swimming meet records were broken, while history was also made in the men’s 50-yard freestyle event.
On the women’s side, a tandem of Texas freshman won their first individual Big 12 titles, while setting meet records along the way. In the 500-yard freestyle, Leah Gingrich clocked a 4:40.18 while teammate Kathleen Hersey swam a 1:55.29 in the 200-yard individual medley, both resulting in NCAA qualifying times. After setting a new conference record in the prelims earlier in the day (21.87), UT senior Hee-Jin Chang took her first Big 12 title in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.88.
The Longhorn men also swept the individual events as Jackson Wilcox (4:13.50) stalled teammate Michael Klueh’s attempt to sweep the 500-yard freestyle for the fourth straight year. UT’s Ricky Berens won his fifth individual championship and second straight in the 200-yard individual medley (1:43.84). Jimmy Feigen and David Walters set history in the 50-yard freestyle, as the duo touched the wall with a time of 19.27 to become the first Big 12 co-gold medalists in the history of the event.
On the one-meter springboard, senior Kathryn Kelly won her second-career championship after scoring 329.30 points. UT teammate Jessica Livingston followed with 315.30, while Missouri’s Kendra Melnychuck took the bronze after totaling a 300.60.
In the final event of the day, both Longhorn relays walked away with the 400-yard medley titles and marked two meet more records. The team of Hill Taylor, Agustin Magruder, Berens and Feigen put in a NCAA qualifying time of 3:06.40, while the women’s Hersey, Alexi Spann, Chang and Karlee Bispo clocked a 3:33.92.
The championships resume Friday with prelims at 10 a.m. The men’s three-meter diving finals begin at 5 p.m., and swimming finals kick off at 6 p.m.
TEAM STANDINGS
Men- 1. Texas (397); 2. Texas A&M (265); 3. Missouri (241)
Women- 1. Texas (307); 2. Texas A&M (281); 3. Missouri (209); 4. Kansas (173); 5. Iowa State (112); 6. Nebraska (108)
No. 3 Texas sweeps day two, takes the lead at Big 12 Championships
Trailing by one point heading after the opening day of action, No. 3 Texas seized all four events and took the lead on day two of the 2009 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday at the Mizzou Aquatics Center.
Texas leads the four-day event with 397 points, and Texas A&M sits in second with 265 points. Missouri is in third place with 241 points.
Freshman Jackson Wilcox opened the evening with a narrow win over teammate Michael Klueh in the 500-yard freestyle. Wilcox was victorious in 4:13.50 with Klueh following closely behind in 4:13.75. Sophomore Scott Jostes took third at 4:18.27, and sophomore Bryan Collins placed fourth at 4:19.29. Senior Sean Patton placed fifth at 4:22.51.
Junior Ricky Berens led a first-through-fourth Texas finish in the 200 individual medley. Berens trailed going into the freestyle leg and pulled away for the win in 1:43.84, well under the Big 12 meet record of 1:44.31 produced by Texas-Ex Nate Dusing in 2001. Sophomore Brian Wilson placed second at 1:44.35, and senior Agustin Magruder took third at 1:44.45. Freshman Hayes Johnson placed fourth at 1:47.09, and freshman Eric Friedland took sixth at 1:47.67.
The 50 freestyle featured a tie for the title with UT junior Dave Walters and UT freshman Jimmy Feigen. The duo tied for first in a NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 19.27. Junior Ben Van Roekel took fifth in 19.79, and sophomore Jonathan Jackson placed sixth at 19.88. Sophomore Matt Donch placed eighth at 20.06. Junior Peter Jameson claimed the consolation final in 20.02.
Texas finished off the evening with a win in the 400 medley relay in 3:06.40. Junior Hill Taylor led off in 46.03 before giving way to Magruder, who split 52.30 on the breaststroke leg. Berens picked up the butterfly in 45.49, and Feigen anchored in 42.58.
No. 3 Texas breaks three school records, extends lead at Big 12 Championships
No. 3 Texas swept all five events, broke three school records and extended its lead on day two of the 2009 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Texas continues to hold the lead after two days of action with 307 points, while Texas A&M sits in second with 281 points. Missouri sits in third with 209 points, and Kansas is fourth with 173. Iowa State holds fifth at 112, and Nebraska is sixth with 108 points.
Freshman Leah Gingrich kicked off the evening with a new meet record and a conference title in the 500 freestyle. Gingrich collected her first career Big 12 title in 4:40.18, well under the previous meet record of 4:42.79 set by Texas A&M’s Jenni Stratton a season ago. Junior Susana Escobar took second in 4:41.87.
The Longhorns added a bundle of points from the consolation final, where sophomore Ashleigh McCleery led a one-two-three Texas finish. McCleery’s winning time of 4:41.78 would have been good for second place in the championship final. Junior Traci Van Matre took second in 4:46.36, and sophomore Natalie Sacco placed third in 4:47.96. Senior Rebecca Orr placed fifth in 4:51.06.
Freshman Kathleen Hersey lowered her school record in the 200 individual medley and was victorious in 1:55.29. The mark topped the previous conference record of 1:55.45 set by Texas A&M’s Julia Wilkinson in 2008. Freshman Karlee Bispo took third in 1:58.24.
After setting new school and Big 12 Conference records in the morning preliminary rounds, senior Hee-Jin Chang claimed the 50 freestyle in 21.88 and knocked off three-time defending Big 12 champion Triin Aljand of Texas A&M. Chang had set new school and conference marks in the morning with a mark of 21.87.
Senior Kathryn Kelly celebrated her 22nd birthday by claiming her second career conference title in the one-meter diving event with 329.30 points. Senior Jessica Livingston placed second at 315.30, and freshman Shelby Cullinan took fifth with 287.35.
Texas ended the night by smashing the school record in the 400 medley relay. Hersey opened in 51.78, and junior Alexi Spann picked up the breaststroke in 1:01.94. Chang followed in 52.41 on the butterfly, and Bispo anchored in 47.79, as the relay finished in 3:33.92. That broke the previous school record of 3:35.92 set by Hayley McGregory, Elizabeth Tinnon, Sarah Wanezek and Kristin Siminski at the 2005 NCAA Championships.
Strange, Makany Shine in the 50-Yard Freestyle
Texas A&M’s pair of sub-20-second 50-yard freestylers highlighted the Aggie men’s second day at the 2009 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday at the University of Missouri Aquatic Center.
After two days of action, the Aggies are in second place with 265 points. Defending champion Texas leads with 397, while the host Tigers are in third with 241 points.
Junior All-American Casey Strange flew to career-best 19.63 clocking and third-place finish in the 50 freestyle, while two-time Hungarian Olympian Balazs Makany became the eighth Aggie under 20 seconds with a time of 19.97. Strange’s time is the second-fastest in school history behind only 2008 NCAA 50 free finalist Ozzie Gardner’s 19.49. Adding points in the 50 free consolation final were senior Brad Raiford (3rd, 20.36), junior Jason Bergstrom (4th, 20.62), freshman Sean O’Shea (5th, career-best 20.74) and senior John VanNatta (7th, career-best 21.14).
“Casey just continues to get better and better,” Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. “Last year at this time, Casey’s time would have set our school record. He works extremely hard every day, and that dedication is paying off for him. Both those guys showed good speed tonight.”
Another highlight for the Aggies was the 400-yard medley relay that placed second with the second-fastest time in school history. The A&M foursome of Bergstrom, sophomore Bryan Snowden, sophomore Boric Loncaric, and sophomore Balazs Makany hit the wall in an NCAA “B” cut time of 3:11.01.
“That was the second-fastest we’ve ever done in the 400 medley relay, but I think we’re a little better than that and wanted to go a little faster,” Holmes said. “Jason Bergstrom led us off with his best-ever backstroke leg (47.24), and that got us off to a great start.”
Junior Nikita Denisyako flirted with his own school record in the 200 IM, but fell .07 short with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:47.52 as he placed fifth in the race. Also in the Championship final, A&M junior Nathan Lavery took eighth with a season-best time of 1:50.87. In the consolation final, the Aggie trio of junior Tyler Welch (1:48.99), freshman Amini Fonua (1:51.96) and senior Kyle Holland (1:52.02) contributed valuable points with 2-3-4 place finishes. The times from Welch and Fonua were career bests, and Welch’s 1:48.99 puts him No. 5 in A&M’s record book.
Senior Ryan Loney took eighth in the Championship final of the 500 free in a time of 4:30.21. Earlier in the day, Loney swam a career-best 4:25.47 in the prelims, which ranks as the second-fastest 500 free in school history. Sophomore Boris Loncaric took first in the consolation final with a career-best time of 4:27.72 (No. 10 in school history).
No. 8 Aggies in Second at Big 12 Championships
The Texas A&M women’s swimming & diving team sits in second-place two days into the 2009 Big 12 Championships being held at the Mizzou Aquatic Center this week.
The eighth-ranked Aggies sit in second place with 281 points, just 26 points behind third-ranked Texas (307). Missouri leads Kansas, 209-173, in the race for third while Iowa State is fifth (112) and Nebraska is sixth (108).
“We had an outstanding day,” A&M head coach Steve Bultman said. “There were lots of lifetime-best times for us out there today. The girls just kept stepping up time after time. By swimming fast they have made the meet a lot of fun for everyone involved. There are lots of smiles on their faces.”
Senior Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) earned a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle in 22.05. Aljand, the three-time defending champion, finished .17 behind Texas senior Hee-Jin Chang despite swimming the second-fastest time of her career.
Sophomore Maria Sommer (Brenham) swam her way to second on the all-time A&M list in the 50 free with a fourth-place time of 22.43. Junior Sarah Woods (Birmingham, Ala.) also swam a lifetime-best time, finishing fifth in 22.64. Senior Marissa Jasek (San Antonio) grabbed seventh in 22.78 after setting a career best of 22.72 during morning prelims.
Sophomore Lindsey King (Beaverton, Ore.) turned in one of the biggest A&M highlights of the session in the 200-yard individual medley. King raced to a second-place finish in 1:58.19, a time more than five seconds faster than her previous career best.
“Lindsey’s 200 IM was a huge time drop and she more than likely will make NCAA’s,” Bultman said.
Fellow soph Melanie Dodds (Maple Ridge, B.C.) recorded a career-best of 2:00.08 to finish fourth while junior co-captain Melissa Hain (Kingwood) came in right behind her in a career-best of 2:00.33. Freshman Lauren Clifford (Pollock Pines, Calif.) was eighth in 2:01.59 after setting a career-best of 2:01.23 in the morning.
The Aggie 400-yard medley relay team of Lindsey King, Renee Iserman (Spring), Triin Aljand and Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.) finished second in 3:35.04, the second-fastest time in school history. King, who had already been having the meet of her life, kept on raising the bar by smoking her old 100 back lifetime-best of 55.37 in leading the relay off in 53.51, an NCAA consideration time.
U.S. Olympian Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.), swimming the 500-yard freestyle in a championship meet for the first time, clocked a lifetime-best and NCAA consideration time of 4:42.96. Marshall’s time ranks as the fourth-fastest in A&M history and earned her a third-place finish.
Eight-time All-American Codie Hansen (Arlington) swam the two fastest 500 freestyles of her life, ending with a 4:43.13 effort to grab fourth-place in the championship final. Sophomore Hannah Kinder (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) celebrated her return to her home state by earning the final spot to the 500 free final during preliminaries, recording a lifetime-best time of 4:48.83. Kinder finished eighth in the final in 4:50.61.
Sophomore Emily Watson (Frisco) earned a career-best Big 12 finish of ninth-place, totaling a score of 263.30. Junior Haley Haynes (The Woodlands) and freshman Lorena Lujan (San Antonio) finished directly behind Watson in 10th and 11th-place with scores of 258.80 and 249.00, respectively.
More School Records Fall, But Kansas Drops to Fourth
Kansas swimming and diving saw another relay record fall Thursday evening at the Mizzou Aquatics Center in Columbia, Mo. for the Big 12 Championships. The 400 yard medley relay team comprised of Iuliia Kuzhil, Danielle Herrmann, Maria Mayrovich and Abigail Anderson touched the wall in a time of 3:38.23, which gave Kansas 32 points and a third-place finish in the event.
With two days remaining, Kansas fell to fourth place with 173 points. Missouri surged to third with 209 points, while the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies are fighting for the top spot. Nebraska and Iowa State are separated by only four points for fifth place.
Emily Lanteigne earned Kansas' first individual points of the Big 12 Championships with her 15th place finish in the 500 yard freestyle. Her time of 4:56.16 tallied two points for the Jayhawks. Carrah Haley also earned a top-20 finish with her time of 4:54.70.
Two-time NCAA Qualifier, Herrmann, placed sixth in the 200 yard I.M. Her time of 2:01.23 earned Kansas 13 points. Joy Bunting had her best career-time of 2:01.22, which was fast enough to win the 'B' heat and score nine points for Kansas.
Three Jayhawks scored points in the 50 yard freestyle. Mayrovich topped her career-best time in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 22.37. She placed third, thus scoring 16 points for Kansas. Erin Goetz earned a top-10 finish with a time of 23.23 and tallied seven points for KU. Kuzhil finished just 0.15 seconds behind Goetz and earned four points for Kansas with her 13th place finish.
On the diving board, Kansas placed three divers in the top 12. Meghan Proehl and Erin Mertz placed seventh and eighth with 281.10 and 280.35 points, respectively. Hannah McMacken finished in 12th place with a score of 244.35.
Kuzhil led the 40 yard medley relay team off with a school-record split for the 100 yard backstroke of 53.45 seconds. Kansas' time of 3:38.23 may be fast enough to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships.
Cyclones Continue At Big 12 Championships
The Iowa State swimming and diving team continued competition Thursday in the Big 12 Championships at the Mizzou Aquatics Center. On a day that saw many performances worthy of the ISU record books, the Cyclones sit in fifth place with 112 points. Texas continues to set the pace with 307 points.
Junior diver Tien Tran became the first Cyclone to collect All-Big 12 honors at the championships with her fourth-place finish on the 1-meter with a score of 287.85. Tran earned a 273.85 in the preliminary session. Kali Fryklund also earned points for Iowa State with her 16th place finish on 1-meter (230.40).
“One word, ‘outstanding,’” said diving coach Jeff Warrick. “There is a lot of pressure in these meets and Tien handled it great. To perform like that in the Big 12 Championships means something. I thought that was the best list she has ever put together.”
The final event of the night was the 400 medley relay and the team of Lindsay Wegner, Marni Benson, Abby Glaser and Lindsey Behrens which last year set the school record did it again. Led off by Wegner’s career-best 100 back time of 55.59, the team shattered the previous school record by almost three seconds with a time of 3:40.98, a fifth-place finish and an NCAA ?B? time for the event.
“It was a fantastic way to end the session,” said head coach Duane Sorenson. ?”We had a school record and NCAA?B? time.”
The Iowa State swimmers saw success in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Megan Thompson finished 14th in the event (4:54.26) and now sits second in school history in the event with her time of 4:52.96 in the prelims. Jenny Vondenkamp joined her near the top of the all-time 500 free leaders with her time of 4:53.58 in the prelims, good enough for third all-time.
“We started off well, all of our 500 swimmers swam fantastic,” said Sorenson. “Megan and Jenny put some together and we are really proud of them.”
Behrens and Benson earned points for the Cyclones in the 200 IM. Behrens finished 12th (2:03.29) and Benson 16th (2:06.28). Behrens’? time is the third fastest in school history. In the bonus final, Jeli Nixt swam a 2:04.00 to rank fourth in Cyclone history. In the 50 free, Glaser swam to a 12th place finish (23.37).
“Jeli got us started doing her best time in the consolations,”? said Sorenson. “Then Lindsey Behrens came through and got her lifetime best.”
