2018 Texas Invite Day 4 Finals Live Recap

TEXAS HALL OF FAME INVITE

• Nov 28-Dec 1, 2018
• Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, TX
• Prelims 10am CT, Finals 6pm CT
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Schedule
• Prelims Recap

We’ve had four fast days of swimming at the 2018 Texas Hall of Fame Invite, as we’ve seen several nation-leading times, and quite a bit of fast swimming in general. Tonight we’ll see the fastest heats of the 1650s, the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 fly, as well as timed finals of the 400 free relays.

On the women’s side, the top seed in the 200 back is Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson, who’s had an outstanding meet, registering a personal best in the 200 IM, and an American record in the 100 free. Texas’s Claire Adams had the top time this morning in the 100 free, although the rest of the field is close behind her, setting up an exercise race. Four USC women took the top four prelims spots in the 200 breast, led by Maggie Aroesty. Her teammate Louisee Hansson had the fastest time this morning in the 200 fly by about a second and a half, and she’s probably the favorite to win tonight.

This morning, Texas’s Tate Jackson swam the fastest time this season in the 100 free with a 41.69. USC’s Patrick Mulcare had the top time in the 200 back, but defending NCAA champ Austin Katz leads a strong Texas trio with NCAA A-final experience that includes John Shebat and Ryan Harty. The Longhorns will be pretty familiar with lane 4 tonight. Freshman Charlie Scheinfeld led will be in the 200 breast, although fellow freshman Daniel Roy of Stanford could give Scheinfeld a really good battle. Meanwhile, Sam Pomajevich had the fastest time this morning in the 200 fly by almost a second, and he’ll be looking to drop a few more tenths tonight to sure up his NCAA invite.

Women’s 1650

1. Hannah Cox, Arizona, 15:57.89
2. Kirsten Jacobsen, Arizona, 16:06.28
3. Evie Pfeifer, Texas, 16:11.49

Hannah Cox got her first win of the week after making three A-finals; she dropped over six seconds from her personal best time to take the win in 15:57.89. She placed 29th at last season’s NCAAs, although her previous personal best of 16:04.28, which she recorded at this meet last year, would’ve placed her just outside of scoring, at 17th, at NCAAs. Her time tonight, meanwhile, would’ve earned her 11th place there.

Cox’s teammate Kirsten Jacobsen took 2nd in 16:06.28; she was about three seconds faster at last season’s NCAAs, earning 16th place. Evie Pfeifer (12th place at 2018 NCAAs), rounded out the top three with a 16:11.49.

Arizona and Texas put one more each into the top eight, with the Wildcats’ Ayumi Macias finishing 4th in 16:11.88, and the Longhorns’ Joanna Evans taking 5th in 16:18.12.

Elizabeth Stinson of USC (16:21.52), Grace Tierney of USC (16:31.73), and Helena Moreno of Harvard (16:38.29) rounded out the top eight.

Men’s 1650

1. Chris Yeager, Texas, 14:32.13
2. Brooks Fail, Arizona, 14:43.90
3. True Sweetser, 14:46.43

Texas sophomore Chris Yeager knocked a whopping 16 seconds off his personal best time, won by over 11 seconds, and set a new standard for the fastest time in the NCAA this season with his time of 14:32.13. We ranked Yeager #10 in the high school boys class of 2017, and while he qualified for NCAAs last season, he didn’t score, swimming a 15:05.42 after going 14:48.01 at Big 12s. His time tonight would’ve put him 4th at NCAAs, and a similar performance in March would give Texas a significant boost in the title hunt.

Arizona’s Brooks Fail continued his strong meet by dropping roughly three seconds off his personal best, taking 2nd in 14:43.90.

The Stanford d-crew took the next three spots, with True Sweetser finishing 3rd in 14:46.43, Johannes Calloni taking 4th in 14:49.64, and James Murphy taking 5th in 14:53.83.  Sweetser and Calloni were well under last year’s NCAA qualifying time of 14:53.34. Another Cardinal, Matthew Hirschberger, took 7th in 14:56.48, his best time since 2014 when he was still 16.

Texas’s Jack Collins finished 6th in 14:55.71, and Brennan Novack of Harvard finished 8th in 15:02.72.

Women’s 200 Back Final

1. Beata Nelson, Wisconsin, 1:49.10
2. Quinn Carrozza, Texas, 1:53.64
3. Daniela Georges, Arizona, 1:55.66

Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson just continues to win this week. Tonight, she won the 200 back by over four seconds and setting a new personal best with a time of 1:49.10. That moves her ahead of Kentucky’s Asia Seidt for the fastest time this season.

Nelson’s teammates Katie Coughlin (1:55.88), Margaret Guanci (1:57.32), and Jess Unicomb (1:57.85), finished in 4th, 6th, and 8th, respectively.

Quinn Carrozza of Texas was the only woman besides Nelson under last year’s invite time of 1:53.64, touching in 1:53.30.  She was over three seconds ahead of the 3rd-place finisher, Daniela Georges of Arizona, who touched in 1:55.66.

Samantha Shelton of Harvard finished 5th in 1:57.23, and Texas’s Maxine Wolters took 8th in 1:58.87.

Longhorn Kendall Shields won the B-final with a time of 1:56.57, a NCAA ‘B’ cut the would’ve placed 5th in the A-final.

Men’s 200 Back Final

1. Patrick Mulcare, USC, 1:38.91
2. Ryan Harty, Texas, 1:39.54
3. Dean Farris, Harvard, 1:40.92

Patrick Mulcare of USC swam over a second faster than he did this morning to take the win with a 1:38.91, making him the first man under 1:39 this season.

Texas’s Ryan Harty took 2nd in 1:39.54. That’s well under last year’s NCAA invite time of 1:41.18, although Harty probably already had his invited locked down with his times in the 100 back earlier this week. Harty’s teammates Jeff Newkirk and Josh Artmann, both of whom swam this event at last season’s NCAAs, took 4th and 5th with times of 1:41.32 and 1:41.46.

Dean Farris was the 3rd-place finisher, touching in 1:40.92.

Wisconsin’s Cam Tyson took 6th in 1:42.20, while Stanford men placed 7th and 8th, with Patrick Conaton touching in 1:43.11 and Alex Boratto touching in 1:43.22.

Jason Park of Texas went 1:42.30 out of the C-final, almost a four second improvement on his prelims time of 1:46.10.

Neither Austin Katz, last year’s NCAA champion, nor John Shebat, the 2017 NCAA runner-up swam tonight after placing 2nd and 5th in prelims. Shebat has his NCAA invite secured thanks to his 200 IM time trial Wednesday night. Katz’t time of 1:40.55 from this morning is over half a second faster than last season’s invite time, but with the way we’ve seen those invited times get faster and faster over the past few years, shaving a few more tenths off of that time from this morning would probably be a good idea.

Women’s 100 Free Final

1. Claire Adams, Texas, 47.48
2. Marta Ciesla, USC, 47.89
3. Grace Ariola, Texas, 48.09

Just as in prelims, the Texas women took four of the top five spots. Leading the way was Claire Adams, whose winning time of 47.48 was just off of her lifetime best. Teammates Grace Ariola (48.09), Julia Cook (48.33), and Anielise Diener (48.52), swept 3rd-5th. Meanwhile, Brooke Hansen finished 10th in 48.94, giving the Longhorns five women under 49 seconds. The combined times of the four Longhorns in the A-final is 3:13.42, which would give them the 3rd-fastest 400 free relay this season, behind only Stanford and Cal.

USC’s Marta Ciesla held on to her #2 spot from this morning, touching in 47.89 and joining Adams as the only women under 48.

Katrina Konopka and Tatum Wade of USC each shaved a tenth or two off their time from this morning, touching in 48.58 and 48.65. Wisconsin’s Emmy Sehmann took 8th in 49.15.

Men’s 100 Free Final

1. Tate Jackson, Texas, 41.06
2. Drew Kibler, Texas, 42.15
3. Townley Haas, Texas, 42.27

Tate Jackson lowered his personal best by .21s, moving from #10 to #6 all-time and displacing Nathan Adrian in the process. Jackson now has the fastest time in the NCAA this season by almost nine-tenths of a second.

Fellow Longhorn Drew Kibler knocked .18 off his personal best time from this morning, touching in 42.15 for 2nd.

Townley Haas took 3rd in 42.27, about six-tenths off his personal best time, and arguably his best swim of the week, as he was roughly four seconds off his time record time in the 200 free yesterday.

Texas also had top-eight performances from Jake Sannem (43.08) and Matthew Willenbring (43.42), who finished 5th and 8th.

USC’s Nikola Miljenic was the only non-Longhorn under 43, touching in 42.91, almost four-tenths faster than his time from this morning.

Arizona’s Jorge Ida (43.20) and Stanford’s Cole Cogswell (43.32) finished 6th and 7th.

Women 200 Breast Final

1. Maggie Aroesty, USC, 2:08.93
2. Riley Scott, USC, 2:09.01
3. Isa Odgers, USC, 2:11.71

Although Kirsten Vose‘s scratch meant that the Trojan couldn’t replicate their feat of taking the top four times like they did this morning, they came as close as they could, sweeping the top three spots this evening.

Maggie Aroesty got the win with a time of 2:08.93, thanks to a strong final 50 that saw her move past teammate Riley Scott, who ended up in 2:09.01; both times were over a second faster than last season’s NCAA invite time. Isa Odgers took 3rd in 2:11.71.

Again like this morning, there was a big gap between USC and everyone else. Texas’s Kennedy Lohman took 4th in 2:13.04, while Harvard’s Jaycee Yegher was nearly a second behind in 2:13.91.

Wisconsin’s Kelsi Artim (2:14.24), Arizona’s Mallory Korenwinder (2:14.41), and Harvard’s Meagan Popp (2:16.85) rounded out the top eight.

Men’s 200 Breast Final

1. Charlie Scheinfeld, Texas, 1:52.78
2. Matt Anderson, Stanford, 1:54.09
3. Daniel Roy, Stanford, 1:54.62

Texas freshman Charlie Scheinfeld got his first win of the meet, touching in 1:52.78 for another NCAA ‘A’ cut and the 4th-fastest time in the nation this season. That time would’ve placed 7th at NCAAs last season, and if Scheinfeld can repeat these times at NCAAs, he’s only track to become only the second Longhorn since 2012 to score any points in the 200 breast, much less make the A-final.

Stanford had four men in this A-final, and they were led by Matt Anderson, who finished 2nd in a time 1:54.09, well under last year’s NCAA invite time of 1:54.49. Fellow Cardinal Daniel Roy took 3rd in 1:54.62, while Hank Poppe (1:55.57) and Brennan Pastorek (1:57.15) placed 6th and 8th.

Roy has a lifetime best of 1:51.69, and while it’s typical for freshmen to take a while to adjust to college training, he could still show up big come NCAAs.

MJ Mao of Wisconsin earned 4th with 1:55.14, almost a two-second drop off his prelims time. Longhorn Braden Vines had a similar drop, taking 5th in 1:55.22, and USC’s Mario Koenigsperger took 7th in 1:56.36.

Women’s 200 Fly Final

1. Louise Hansson, USC, 1:51.52
2. Maddie Wright, USC, 1:52.48
3. Remedy Rule, Texas, 1:53.65

USC’s Louise Hansson completed her sweep of the butterfly events this meet, winning with a time of 1:51.52 that moves her past Ella Eastin for the fastest time in the NCAA this season. Her time tonight would’ve placed 2nd at NCAAs last season.

Hansson’s teammate Maddie Wright took 2nd in 1:52.48, also a NCAA ‘A’ cut, and a time that would’ve placed solidly in the middle of the NCAA A-final last season, where Wright placed 6th with a time of 1:53.40.

Remedy Rule of Texas swam a new personal best time of 1:53.65, which would’ve placed her just out of the A-final at NCAAs last season, and is a new personal best for her by roughly three-tenths of a second.

Trojans Caitlin Tycz and Catherine Sanchez took 4th and 5th, touching in 1:55.35 and 1:55.47.

Texas’s Lauren Case placed 6th in 1:56.00, followed by Megan Doty of Wisconsin (1:56.49) and Mackenzie Rumrill of Arizona (1:57.96).

Men’s 200 Fly Final

1. Andrew Koustik, Texas, 1:42.39
2. Alex Liang, Stanford, 1:43.32
3. Brendan Meyer, Arizona, 1:43.39

The Texas men completed their near-sweep of tonight’s individual events with a 1:42.39 win by freshman Andrew Koustik. Most years that time would be considered safe for a NCAA invite, but the qualifying time for the 200 fly has gone from a 1:43.65 in 2016 to a 1:43.09 in 2017 to a 1:42.52 in 2018, meaning that Koustik would probably need a few more tenths to feel safe. That puts him in the same boat as teammate Sam Pomajevich, who was the fastest qualifier this morning with a time of 1:42.33, but faded to 4th tonight with a time of 1:43.45.

Alex Liang of Stanford moved up from 7th in prelims to take 2nd tonight, finishing in 1:43.32. He and Arizona’s Brendan Meyers swam virtually the same race, with none of their splits being more than 0.13 different, and Meyers touched just behind Liang in 1:43.39.

Stanford’s Jack LeVant went out strong and was behind only Koustik at the 100 mark, but faded a bit on the back half to take 5th in 1:43.46.

Max Holter of Texas had the fastest final 50 in the field, splitting 26.83 en route to taking 6th in 1:43.70.

Trojans Alex Valente and Walker Bell placed 7th and 8th, touching in 1:44.48 and 1:47.93.

Women’s 400 Free Relay – Timed Final

1. Texas, 3:09.56
2. USC, 3:11.96
3. Arizona, 3:15.42

The Longhorn women moved past Cal for the fastest time in this event this seasons, thanks to all four women splitting under 48, with three of the four at 47.3 or better. Claire Adams led off in 47.32, faster than her winning time in the individual 100 free earlier this session. Freshmen Grace Ariola and Julia Cook had the fastest two flying splits of the field, going 47.17 and 47.25, while Anelise Diener brought things home in 47.67.

USC got a 47.88 leadoff from Louise Hansson and a a 47.67 2nd leg from Tatum Wade, propelling them to to a 3:11.96 2nd-place finish that was under the NCAA ‘A’ standard.

Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson had the fastest split of any non-Longhorn, going 47.38 with a .42s reaction time, as the Badgers couldn’t quite match the Wildcats, who beat them for 3rd, 3:15.42 to 3:15.51.

Men’s 400 Free Relay – Timed Final

1. Texas, 2:48.96
2. Stanford, 2:51.96
3. Arizona, 2:52.02

The Texas men wrapped up a dominant meet with a three-second win in the 400 free relay, as their time of 2:48.96 puts them only behind Cal in the season rankings. Drew Kibler led off in 42.37, about two-tenths off his personal best time from earlier in the evening. Tate Jackson split 41.57 after going 41.0 individually tonight. Jake Sannem split a 42.67 that’s right in line with his individual time of 43.08, and Townley Haas brought things home with a 42.39, just a tad slower than his time earlier in the session.

Stanford took 2nd in 2:51.96, with sub-43 splits by Abrahm DeVine (42.47) and Jack LeVant (42.95) leading the way.

Arizona got a solid leadoff leg by Chatham Dobbs (42.88), and Jorge Iga also split sub-42 on a .43 reaction time, as the Wildcats finished 3rd in 2:52.02, also under the NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Dean Farris led off for Harvard with a 42.50.