2023 Virginia Vs. Texas Dual Meet: Day 2 Live Recap

VIRGINIA VS. TEXAS

• Oct. 27-28, 2023
• UVA Aquatic and Fitness Center
  • Charlottesville, Virginia
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results on MeetMobile: “UVA v Texas Dual”
• Day 1 Live Recap

Last night, Virginia and Texas squared off in a dual meet format that included several “super finals,” where a swimmer from each team went-to-head, with the winner taking all five points for that event.  Action continues this morning, but with an abbreviated schedule that includes events that were not contested last night, and with no super-finals.

Saturday Morning Dual Meet Lineup:

• 400 medley relay
• 1000 free
• 200 back
• 200 breast
• 100 free
• 200 fly
• 200 IM
• 400 free relay

While most of the times last night weren’t too notable, Gretchen Walsh put on a show, clocking an (unofficial) American Record in the 50 yard backstroke and becoming the 4th-fastest performer all-time in the 100 fly. She didn’t swim the 100 back, the event in which she’s the fastest woman ever, but she has a chance to swim that this morning if she’s lead off the Cavaliers’ 400 medley relay.

As a reminder, both teams are missing quite a few key swimmers, mostly due to participation in the Pan American Games. Longhorns absent included Coby Carrozza, Chris O’Connor, Brayden Taivassalo, Olivia Bray Kelly Pash, Erica Sullivan, Hailey Hernandez (diving), and Jordan Skilken (diving). Notable Cavaliers absent included Anna Keating, Emma Weber, Jack Aikins, Matt Brownstead, August Lamb, and Anthony Grimm.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay

1. UVA ‘A’ – 3:27.56
2. Texas ‘A’ – 3:32.60
3. UVA ‘B’ – 3:35.36

The result are still a bit wonky in Meet Mobile, but it appears that the Virginia women now have the fastest time in the country this season.

It appears that the results have the lineup for UVA’s ‘A’ and ‘B’ team switched. Working under that assumption, Gretchen Walsh led off in 49.17, which is one of the top ten fastest performances ever. That’s the fastest time in the NCAA this season, supplanting Walsh’s own 50.29 from the UVA-Florida dual meet. Walsh owns the all-time record with a 48.26 from the 2023 NCAA Championships. Jasmine Nocentini split 58.43 on breast, Alex Walsh swam a 50.99 fly split, and Aimee Canny anchored in 48.97, good for a combined time of 3:27.56.

Walsh’s split was nearly decisive in and of itself, as the Longhorns came close to matching the Cavaliers on the final three strokes. Berit Berglund led off in 53.06, followed by Anna Elendt (58.55), Emma Sticklen (52.07), and Grace Cooper (48.92), as the Longhorns finished five seconds behind at 3:32.60.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay

1. UVA ‘A’ – 3:11.05
2. Texas ‘A’ – 3:13.70
3. UVA ‘B’ – 3:14.57

According to the UVA instagram live feed commentary last night, Noah Nichols literally got off the plane from Pan American Games yesterday and headed straight to the meet to race for the Cavaliers. He had a strong meet yesterday, and continued that into this morning with a 51.45 split to help give UVA 2+ second win.

Will Cole led off for the Cavaliers with a 47.94, Tim Connery went 47.56 on the fly leg, and Connor Boyle anchored in 44.16 as the Cavaliers stopped the clock in 3:11.05.

Texas actually outsplit UVA on two of the legs, with Will Modglin leading off in 47.72 and Luke Hobson anchoring in 43.91. Will Scholtz split 54.04 on breast, and Nate Germonprez split 48.03 on fly.

Women’s 1000 Free

1. Cavan Gormsen, UVA – 9:46.92
2. Erin Gemmell, Texas – 9:52.12
3. Sophia Knapp, UVA – 9:54.50

UVA’s Cavan Gormsen came out on top in a battle between two of the recruits from the high school class of 2023. Longhorn Erin Gemmell kept it close early, but Gormsen continued to put up sub-60 100 splits for the entire race, eventually touching over five seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Men’s 1000 Free

1. Tanner Hering, UVA – 9:16.79
2. Alec Enyeart, Texas – 9:19.28
3. Sasha Lyubaviskiy – 9:21.95

The eventual top three finishers all flipped within a couple tenths of each other at the 200 mark, but it was UVA’s Tanner Hering who eventually pulled ahead and held on to win in 9:16.79. Alec Enyeart, Texas’ only returning NCAA 1650 swimmer, took 2nd in 9:19.28, followed by teammate Sasha Lyubaviskiy at 9:21.95.

Women’s 200 Back

1. Tess Howley, UVA – 1:53.73
2. Reilly Tiltmann, UVA – 1:56.20
3. Ella Bathurst, UVA – 1:56.21

Virginia freshman Tess Howley came within about half a second of her lifetime best en route to a victory in the 200 back. She now appears to be #2 in the nation this season, behind only Bella Sims and her 1:52.49 at the UVA-Florida dual meet. It was a Cavalier 1-3 sweep, as Reilly Tiltmann just touched out Ella Bathurst, 1:56.20 to 1:56.21.

Men’s 200 Back

1. Will Cole, UVA – 1:46.34
2. Will Thompson, UVA – 1:46.40
3. Will Modglin, Texas – 1:46.46

This proved to be one of the most exciting races of the meet so far, with four men in it at the touch. UVA’s Will Cole got his hand on the wall first at 1:46.34, with his teammate, freshman Will Thompson, just 0.06s. Texas freshman Will Modglin was just another 0.06s behind, and UVA’s Teddy Cross finished 4th at 1:46.55.

Women’s 200 Breast

1. Alex Walsh, UVA – 2:08.16
2. Ella Nelson, UVA – 2:08.86
3. Anna Elendt, Texas – 2:12.56

In a clash of some of the best swimmers in this discipline in the NCAA, UVA’s Alex Walsh touched first. Her time of 2:08.16 moves her to #2 in the country this season, behind only Stanford’s Caroline Bricker (2:07.15). Walsh’s teammate Ella Nelson touched 2nd at 2:08.86, with Longhorn Anna Elendt taking 3rd at 2:12.56.

Men’s 200 Breast

1. Noah Nichols, UVA – 1:56.12
2. Max Iida, UVA – 1:58.60
3. Will Scholtz, Texas – 2:01.09

Women’s 100 Free

1. Gretchen Walsh, UVA – 46.42
2. Jasmine Nocentini, UVA – 47.82
3. Erin Gemmell, Texas – 48.83

Gretchen Walsh just keeps throwing down impressive mid-season times in a practice suit. This morning she won the 100 free in 46.42, shaving almost half a second off of her season-leading time from the UVA-Florida dual meet. No other woman has been under 47.5 this season.

Teammate Jasmine Nocentini continues to prove to be one of those swimmers who can throw down fast breaststroke and fast freestyle times, taking 2nd in 47.82 after splitting 58.43 on the medley relay. Longhorn Erin Gemmell, meanwhile, showed off her freestyle range, taking 3rd in 48.83 after finishing 2nd in the 1000 earlier in the session.

Men’s 100 Free

1. Connor Boyle, UVA – 44.20
2. Luke Hobson, Texas – 44.39
3. Tim Connery, UVA – 44.52

The men’s times may not be as impressive as the women’s, in terms of national rankings, but there’s been some great races, including this one. UVA’s Connor Boyle went out on 20.94 and held off strong back halves from both Luke Hobson and Tim Connery. Boyle stopped the clock in 44.20, followed by Hobson at 44.39 and Connery at 44.52. UVA should be the favorite in the 400 free relay to close the session, although it’ll be interesting to see if the Longhorns can counter with any of their more versatile swimmers, like Modglin and Germonprez, who didn’t compete in the individual 100.

Women’s 200 Fly

1. Tess Howley, UVA – 1:55.06
2. Emma Sticklen, Texas – 1:58.83
3. Angie Coe, Texas – 1:59.03

Tess Howley was just off of her season-best time of 1:54.75, which puts her at #2 in the nation this season, but she still won by a decisive margin, finishing almost four seconds ahead of Texas’ Emma Sticklen (1:58.83) and Angie Coe (1:59.03).

Men’s 200 Fly

1. Sebastien Sergile, UVA – 1:46.91
2. Matt Styczen, UVA – 1:48.00
3. Colin Bitz, UVA – 1:49.10

Sebastien Sergile led at the halfway mark and didn’t look back, winning by over a second with a 1:46.91. The Cavaliers swept the top three spots, as the Longhorns didn’t have anyone under 1:50.24. Sam Artmann, who finished 12th at NCAAs in this event, finished 7th here today with a 1:53.18.

Women’s 200 IM

1. Alex Walsh, UVA – 1:57.26
2. Ella Nelson, UVA – 1:58.03
3. Campbell Stoll, Texas – 2:00.60

Alex Walsh earned he second individual win of the morning with a 1:57.26 in the 200 IM. That time puts her at #2 in the nation this season, behind only Stanford’s Lucy Bell (1:57.15). Ella Nelson took 2nd at 1:58.03, moving her up to #8 in the nation.

Men’s 200 IM

1. Nate Germonprez, Texas – 1:46.53
2. Kamal Muhammad, UVA – 1:47.01
3. Max Iida, UVA – 1:49.06

It took until the final individual race of the session, but, the Longhorns finally snapped the Cavaliers’ win streak as freshman Nate Germonprez came through with a 1:46.53 win. UVA’s Kamal Muhammad led heading into the freestyle leg, but Germonprez delivered with a strong 24.81 split to Muhammad’s 26.06 to win by nearly half a second.

While it’s obviously not an apples-to-apples comparison due to the difference in the opening 150, it’s worth noting that Germonprez’s final 50 was faster than over half of the freestyle legs in the finals of the 200 IM at the 2023 NCAA Championships

Women’s 400 Free Relay

1. UVA ‘A’ – 3:12.74
2. Texas ‘A’ – 3:16.34
3. Virginia ‘B’ – 3:20.41

Unsurprisingly, the UVA women soared to the top time in the nation, shaving nearly two seconds off of their Florida-UVA dual meet time to touch in 3:12.74. Aimee Canny led off in 49.34, Jasmine Nocentini split 47.84 on the second leg, Gretchen Walsh hit 46.46 on the third, and Maxine Parker anchored in 49.10.

Texas touched over three seconds behind at 3:16.34. Grace Cooper led off in 49.18, Erin Gemmell went 48.74 on the second leg, and Angie Coe and Emma Davidson both split 49-low. That time is still good enough to the move the Longhorns to #5 in the nation this season.

Men’s 400 Free Relay

1. UVA ‘A’ – 2:56.22
2. Texas ‘A’ – 2:57.23
3. UVA ‘B’ – 3:00.71

The Cavaliers closed off the day with a one second victory in the 400 free relay. Sebastien Sergile had the fastest split in the field with a 43.43 on UVA’s third leg, while Nate Germonprez followed up his notable 200 IM free leg with a 43.85 anchor for Texas.

Final Scores

Women: Virginia 119, Texas 48
Men: Virginia 96, Texas 54