December 5, 2014, Austin, TX – Tonight’s finals session at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite saw a few fierce battles, as the men and women competed in the 200y medley relay, 400y IM, 200y freestyle, 100y breaststroke, 100y backstroke, and 800y freestyle medley relay events. There were a few “A” cuts sprinkled throughout tonight’s competition, as well as some movement on the overall NCAA rankings across the events.
Women’s Events
200y Medley Relay
The top 3 women’s 200y medley relays finished in the same order as they did in the 400y medley relays last night – USC “A” once again placed first, followed by Texas “A”, then Texas “B”. The USC “A” team was comprised of the same line-up of their winning 400y medley, with freshman Hannah Weiss (24.85), senior Andrea Kropp (27.30), junior Kendyl Stewart (23.11), and junior Katarzyna Wilk 21.85) combining to earn another NCAA “A” cut, this one in a time of 1:37.11. This time now stands as second in the country behind Stanford women’s swift 1:35.99 set in November.
Texas seems to be fine-tuning its relay member compositions, as tonight’s “A” team differed from their previous two outings in the event. Against both Texas A & M and Stanford, the Texas “A” 200y medley relay squad was comprised of Tasija Karosas, Gretchen Jaques, Brynne Wong, and Rebecca Millard; their times were 1:40.24 and 1:40.92 against those two competitors, respectively. With tonight, however, the Texas “A” relay was led off by Sarah Denninghoff as the only change, but it seemed to turn be the missing link, as the foursome’s time of 1:37.68 tonight cleared the NCAA “A” mark. Denninghoff had the second fastest lead-off in the field with 24.89 (second only to USC’s Weiss), followed by Jaques’ 27.15, Wong’s 23.68, and Millard’s 21.96 Texas “B” finished in third, with its relay members of Tasija Karosas (23.68), Jordan Surhoff (21.96), Mimi Schneider (25.29), and Kelsey Leneave (22.32) in a total time of 1:39.99
400y IM
This morning’s 400y IM prelims saw five women earn their NCAA “B” cuts, led by Texas’ Kaitlin Pawlowicz. Tonight was a different story, however, as Haley Anderson (Trojan Swim Club) surged to the wall in the top finals time of 4:10.44. This was over a 4-second drop from her 4:14.61 time this morning, but it was not earned without a head-to-head throw-down with Pawlowicz. Pawlowicz led Anderson through the butterfly and backstroke portions, but just could not hang with the 35.73 and 35.75 splits that Anderson threw down on the breaststroke legs of the grueling race (Pawlowicz split in the 37-low range). For her effort, Pawlowicz did end up in the number two spot tonight with her time of 4:10.8 followed by Arizona Wildcat Tjasa Oder in third with 4:13.84.
200y freestyle
This event saw nine women earn their NCAA “B” cuts in the morning prelim session, led by Arizona junior Bonnie Brandon. She once again led the field tonight, earning the win in a time of 1:44.11. Brandon was ahead of the field wire-to-wire with a swift 24.36 starting 50, followed by evenly split legs of 26.53/26.86/26.36 for the win. Brandon’s time tonight trampled her previous best so far this season, 1:47.32 earned against USC in November. Margo Geer (unattached, Zona) touched the wall just half a second behind, in a time of 1:44.67 to collect second place. This time matches where Geer was right about this point in the season last year, where she swam a 1:44.74 at the UT Invite in December 2013. Post-grad, pro-swimmer, Megan Romano, representing New York Athletic Club, clocked the field’s third-fastest time tonight in 1:45.93.
100y breaststroke
The powerhouse breaststroker from Texas that is Senior Gretchen Jaques further lowered her already-obtained “A” cut from prelims (58.94), finishing tonight in a swift 58.42. This time now sits as the second fastest time in the country, just behind the 58.42 Molly Hannis clocked to win the 100y breast finals at Winter Nationals in Greensboro. Jaques time also bodes well in the light of the fact that she was 59.39 at the UT Invite at this time last year. Tonight’s next closest finisher was Sara Borendame from Arizona whose time of 59.97 nabbed second place. Third went to USC’s Andrea Kropp, as she clocked 1:00.01, just .05 faster than her prelim swim from this morning.
100y backstroke
The women’s 100y backstroke was void of an “A” cut tonight, even with 21 women earning “B” NCAA times during prelims this morning. Top finisher, Sarah Denninghoff (Texas) did improve upon her prelims time by just over a second tonight, finishing in 52.06. This time also shows a significant time drop from her previous best time so far this season, a 54.68 clocked at the Michigan Quad Meet in October. Hannah Weiss from USC clocked a 52.23 to claim second place, while Danielle Lee placed third in 52.96. Megan Romano coasted into fourth with her time of 53.08.
800y freestyle relay
The women from Arizona ran away with the 800y freestyle relay race tonight, as the foursome of Taylor Schick, Bonnie Brandon, Elizabeth Pepper, and Cameron McHugh touched the wall almost three seconds ahead of the next squad. The Wildcat women clocked a time of 7:08.08 (“B” cut), powered by a monster 1:45.30 second-leg split by Bonnie Brandon. The second place finish tonight came from Texas “A” in a time of 7:11.41, while USC “A” finished in third with a time of 7:14.81.
Men’s Events
200y Medley Relay
The top team in the men’s 200y medley relay tonight was the Texas “A” relay, comprised of Kip Darmody (21.37), John Murray (23.58), Jack Conger (20.04), and Brett Ringgold (18.89). Their collective time of 1:23.88 was not only well clear of the NCAA “A” standard of 1:25.63, it crushed the previous top NCAA time in the country of 1:25.36 set by Louisville just two days ago in Greensboro. The 18.89 from Ringgold was searing, but Brad Tandy’s split of 18.48 from the fourth-place-finishing Arizona team earned the top split bragging rights on the free leg tonight.
Second place tonight went to the Texas “B” foursome of Joseph Schooling (21.90), Austin Temple (24.24), Tripp Cooper (20.91), and Matt Ellis (19.04), as they finished in a time of 1:26.09. The third place time of 1:26.12 was earned by USC’s “A” squad of Luca Spinazzola (21.81), Morten Klarskov (24.56), Dylan Carter (20.25), and Ralf Tribuntsov (19.50).
400y IM
This morning saw an extraordinary 18 swimmers earn NCAA “B” cuts, so it just seemed likely – from a numbers perspective – that at an “A” cut would be achieved in the finals session. Painstakingly close was Texas’ Will Licon who earned the finals win in a scorching 3:42.48….just .08 off of the actual “A” cut. However, this does now lead the NCAA as the top time, as Licon overtakes Stanford’s Max Williamson’s previous top time of 3:43.36.
Arizona Wildcat, Michael Meyer, knocked off over a second from his prelims time to clock a 3:42.90 for a solid second place, although his time is slower than what Meyer threw down at last year’s UT Invite (3:41.73). Texas swimmer, John Martens finished in third with his time of 3:45.31, well ahead of his previous season mark from the Michigan Quad Meet set at 3:57.61.
200y freestyle
This event similarly saw a massive number of “B” cuts secured, as 19 swimmers cleared the 1:33.62 mark. Tonight’s final saw the entire field swim just about a second faster than the morning heats, with the top time going to Trojan Swim Club’s Nikita Lobintse (1:33.79), just .17 off of the 1:37.99 “A” mark. This lands Lobintse third in the country according to the NCAA rankings prior to this week. The Trojan the started tonight’s race strong and stayed out in front for the entire distance, but he must have sensed, Clay Youngquist was right on his heels. Youngquist ended up finishing less than three tenths behind, a time that is positioned 6th in the country at this time. Third place went to post-grad Dax Hill in 1:34.16.
100y breaststroke
Mr. Breaststroke, Kevin Cordes, from Arizona narrowly won the 100y breast event tonight in Texas, as his 52.04 winning time was just .02 ahead of second place finisher, Marcus Titus (unattached, Zona). Cordes’ time cleared the NCAA “A” mark of 52.29, but he has some work to do in order to catch up to Missouri’s Sam Tierney, the man who currently leads the NCAA with his phenomenal 51.68. His is the only time in the country under 52 at this point in the season. Third place finisher in the finals race, Will Licon (Texas), got some brief rest after his 400IM win tonight and ended up clocking the exact same 100y breast time from prelims to finals: 52.90 for third.
100y backstroke
BYU’s Jake Taylor (junior) topped the field tonight in a time just .3 off of the NCAA “A” cut. Taylor’s 45.95 first place finish tonight rockets him to the top of the NCAA 100y backstroke list, knocking off his earlier first-place position time of 46.07 in prelims. Taylor is not only the first swimmer to dip under the 46-point mark this season, but he is leading some prestigious company with his impressive times, holding his own against the likes of Louisville’s Grigory Tarasevich (2nd time in the nation 46.09, prior to tonight), Stanford’s David Nolan (3rd time in nation of 46.22) and Jack Conger (4th time in nation of 46.32)
Texas’ Kip Darmody finished in second place tonight in his time of 46.20, smashing his previous mark of 48.36 posted at the Quad Meet in Ann Arbor back in October of this year. The time of 46.20 now ranks as second in the country behind Jack Taylor. Ralf Tribuntsov from USC rounded out the top three of tonight’s final, as he touched the wall in 46.44 a time well ahead of his mark of 47.17 he posted on 11/20 at the California Performance Invite. Jack Conger finished in fourth tonight, in a time of 46.68 bettering his prelims time of 47.00.
800y freestyle relay
The fastest men’s 800y freestyle relay of the night came out of Wisconsin, as the team of Matthew Hutchins (1:36.86), Cannon Clifton (1:36.15), Nicholas Caldwell (1:33.97), and Brett Pinfold (1:36.14) combined to win the event in a time of 6:23.12. That time is good enough to land them second in the nation behind the Louisville Cardinal men’s time of 6:22.31. Caldwell’s 1:33.97 split was the fastest among the field tonight by almost a second (next closest was Utah’s Bence Kiraly at 1:34.78. The Utah “A” team picked up second place in a time of 6:25.28, while Arizona “A” came in third with a time of 6:28.19. NOTE: Texas Men did not swim this event.
In terms of team scoring, the Texas women are in the lead with 582 points, followed by USC with 413, then Arizona at 352. Texas men are also in the lead with 611 points, with Arizona in second with 436, followed by USC with 269. Competition continues in Austin tomorrow, with prelims of the 200y backstroke, 100y freestyle, 200y breaststroke, 200y butterfly, and 1650 freestyle finals set to commence at 10am central.
Live Results can be found here
I don’t know who noticed during the busy swimming week, but UT’s Brett Ringgold (freshman), anchored UT’s 200 free relay in 18.18. Yes you read that correctly. Frankly I can hardly believe that – a freshman going that fast in December. WOW. Young man has all the talent.
mikeh – the time was confirmed by multiple sources as a touchpad error.
Hi Bobo,
Conger has posted a 46 2x this season. I don’t think he’s really lost anything. Still as versatile as ever.
He was slow on backstroke last summer in long course. Very slow. Very far from his best level.
55.26 in the 100 back/1.59.90 in the 200 back
His best performances came from freestyle.
And in his first college season he was “only” in 46.63 and 1.40.27.
His best times
LCM 54.04 and 1.55.47 in July 2013
SCY 45.32 and 1.38.75 in December 2012
Some swimswam readers talked about the effects of the freshman season and sometimes the difficulties to deal with the training at Texas during the first college season.
Anyway, I continue to believe his future is in the 100 and 200 free at the international level. Give him a few pounds of… Read more »
You don’t really know what he’s done at Texas so far as far as his training goes. Eddie Reese admitted at NCAA’s that he didn’t get Conger’s taper right, but in the long run (Trials 2016), it will only benefit him. Texas doesn’t rest at this December meet. They might shave, and they put on suits, but they always swim faster at NCAAs.
They do not shave. They have suits on and everybody got a little bit of rest. Some got more than others but not nearly the rest they will get for ncaas. And Conger had a good 200 back this morning. Look for him to dip under 1:40 tonight for the first time in a while. He is already looking faster in that event and in fly than last year. He has adjusted to the training and lookout this year for him at NCAAs. His fly split in the 2medley was 20.04 almost matching his 19.9 from ncaas last year.
Very quiet Kevin Cordes in 52.04.
He usually swims very very fast in December.
Probably a different training approach this year.
And perhaps I’m wrong but Mr Conger doesn’t seem to be the same on backstroke anymore since last year.