Georgia women, Texas men victorious in first marquee matchup of 2015

Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle, coming off a suspension of over a year, returned to the deck in Athens to coach the Bulldog women to a victory over the Texas women. The Texas mean, meanwhile, showed how deep they were as two A relay disqualifications did not give Georgia enough opportunity to pull off the upset.

Final scores:

Women: Georgia 163.5 – 135.5 Texas

Men: Texas 158 – 142 Georgia

Full results are available here.

Women’s meet: 

Texas opened up the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. Tasija Karosas, Gretchen Jaques, Mimi Schneider, and Rebecca Millard were able to withstand a late charge from Georgia anchor  Chantal Van Landeghem, who split a 22.26 to millards 22..75, for a 1:39.93 victory. Olivia Smoliga, Annie Zhu, Lauren Harrington, and Van Landeghem took second for Georgia in 1:40.32. The Georgia B relay took second in 1:41.10.

Texas won again thanks to Kaitlin Pawlowicz and her 9:43.82, in the 1000 freestyle. Pawlowicz beat Georgia’s Amber McDermott and Brittany MacLean, who were 9:46.65 and 9:46.93 respectively. Pawlowicz swam the fourth fastest 1000 in the nation this year.

Jordan Mattern secured Georgia’s first win of the day in the 200 freestyle with a 1:47.15 outdueling of Texas’ Madison Cox. Cox was second in 1:47.16. Cox led through the 150, 1:19.48 to 1:19.97. Mattern closed in 27.18, while cox faded with a 27.68. Anna Kolanowski took third in 1:48.74 for Georgia.

Sarah Denninghoff and Karosas helped the Texas cause with a one-two finish in the 100 backstroke in 53.50 and 53.79, respectively. Kylie Stewart took third for Georgia in 54.11.

Texas scored another win from Jaques in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.33 but Georgia took second third and fourth from Emily Cameron, Zhu, and Shannon O’Malley in 1:02.70, 1:03.07, and 1:03.58, respectively.

Jaques would later double up with a victory in the 200 breaststroke in 2:12.58. Georgia showed its depth again, however, as Bulldog swimmers took second and third again. Zhu and Cameron finished in 2:13.62 and 2:14.34, respectively.

Hali Flickinger posted the first of her three wins for the Bulldogs in the 200 butterfly.Flickinger (1:55.46) and her teammates Lauren Harrington (1:55.99) and Megan Kingsley (1:58.05) swept the event for Georgia.

Madeline Locus and Van Landeghem scored a one-two finish in the 50 freestyle. Locus and Van Landeghem were 22.80 and 22.86, respectively. They were the only two swimmers under 23 seconds, as Texas’ Brynne Wong was third in 23.28.

Texas swept the Women’s 3 meter diving, with Emma Ivory-Ganja winning with a score of 364.05.

The same pair who one-twoed the 50 were also the top two in the 100 freestyle, although it was Van Landeghem taking the top spot in 50.28, with Locus following in 50.60. Millard finished third in 50.85.

Flickinger posted a 1:53.71 to win the 200 backstroke. Her Dawgs teammate Stewart took third in 1:56.14. It was a blowout for Flickinger, however, who beat Texas’ Sam Denninghoff by over a second. Denninghoff finished in 1:55.06.

Flickinger would add a third victory in the 400 IM, posting a 4:12.36. McDermott took second with a 4:14.50. Cox was third for Texas with a 4:15.70.

McDermott and MacLean would not be denied in the 500 freestyle. The Dawgs distance duo contributed the top two spots of a Georgia sweep. McDermott touched in 4:46.08, MacLean in 4:47.75. Mattern completed the sweep with a 4:48.35.

Harrington kept Georgia rolling with a win in the 100 fly. She hit the wall at 53.26, well ahead of Texas’ Kelsey Leneave and Wong, who were 54.14 and 54.36, respectively.

Meghan Houston won the 1 meter diving for Texas with a 309.23.

Texas won the final event of the day, the 400 free relay, with a 3:19.80 from Jaques (50.16), Denninghoff (50.09), Karosas (49.80), and Leneave (49.75). Locus, Mattern, Harrington, and Smoliga finished second in 3:21.17. Harrington had the fastest split in 49.41. Texas’ B relay was third in 3:23.26.

Men’s meet: 

Taylor Dale, Nicolas Fink, Tynan Stewart, and Michael Trice put together a 1:27.06 medley relay, including a 24.10 breaststroke leg from Fink, good for almost a two and half second victory over the Texas Longhorn B relay of Jack Conger, Austin Temple, Tripp Cooper, and John Murray. Texas finished in 1:29.40. The Longhorn A relay disqualified, but their splits added up to a 1:27.23. The Texas C relay finished third in 1:30.23.

After dropping a 9:01.09 in the 1000 against Auburn on Thursday, Clark Smith returned with an even more impressive 9:00.73 to win the 1000. Kevin and Jay Litherland were not far behind for the Dawgs, however, touching in 9:02.28 and 9:04.68, respectively.

Gunnar Bentz and Matias Koski added to an early Georgia lead with a one-two finish in the 200 freestyle. Bentz finished in 1:35.55, Koski in 1:35.84. Jonathan Roberts finished four tenths back in 1:36.24  for Texas. Clay Youngquist, ranked number three in the nation in the 200, finished fourth in 1:36.52.

Conger and Kip Darmody got Texas back on track in the 100 backstroke with a one-two finish of their own. A 47.78 was good for the win for Conger, with Darmody following him in 48.17. Dale finished third for Georgia in 48.24.

Fink bested Texas’ Will Licon in the 100 breast, taking Licon down 53.58 to 53.74. Austin Temple took third for Texas in 55.53.

Tynan Stewart and Chase Kalisz each took down Texas butterflier Joseph Schooling in the 200 fly. Stewart went 1:44.09 for the victory, with Kalisz finishing behind him in 1:44.25. Schooling’s 1:44.44 was good for third.

Trice and Koski then took another Georgia one-two finish in the 50 freestyle. Trice won with a 19.83, while Koski only beat Texas’ Brett Ringgold by a hundredth of a second, 20.00 to 20.01.

Texas scored the top three finishes in the men’s 1 meter diving for a huge points boost, led by Mark Anderson’s 398.25.

Ringgold returned to win the 100 to beat Trice and Bentz. His 43.78 was good for the victory. Trice and Bentz finished in 44.07 and 44.31, respectively. Ringgold opened up with a 21.00, a quarter second faster than Trice and half a second faster than Bentz. Following the 100.

Conger won his second event of the day in the 200 back with a 1:43.34, over a second and a half faster than anyone else in the field. He opened up with a 50.95 over his first 100, building a lead of about a second over Georgia’s Stewart, who touched at 1:45.01. Will Glass finished third for the Longhorns in 1:45.87.

Fink and Licon dueled out the 200 breaststroke, but it was Fink who took the victory in 1:55.19. Licon led over the first 100 by over a second, but faded over the second half to finish in 1:55.50. Kalisz was third in 2:00.40.

Smith won again in the 500 freestyle with a 4:19.94, topping Koski, but not by much. Koski was 4:20.10, and was leading through the 450 yard mark, but Smith closed in a 23.74 to Koski’s 24.11. Sam Lewis touched third for Texas in 4:23.44.

Schooling and Cooper finished one-two in the 100 fly to give the Longhorns a points cushion heading into the 400 IM. Schooling finished in 46.61, while Cooper was 47.48. Stewart took third for Georgia with a 47.71.

The 400 IM was won by Kalisz without much challenge in 3:46.65. Jay Litherland took home second place with a  3:48.55. Licon finished third in 3:51.57.

Texas A relay again disqualified, although it would not cost the Longhorns thanks to another sweep of diving, this time on the 3 meter, led by Will Chandler with a 444.68.

The Texas A relay splits added up to a 2:55.50, but it was the Georgia A relay who won. Bentz (44.55), Koski (43.39), Trice (44.14), and Fink (44.11). The Texas B relay of Smith, Darmody, Cooper, and Schooling finished second in 2:57.83. Texas C relay took third in 3:03.50.