No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving adds 21 finals bids on day three of Big 12 Championships
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Texas freshman Hill Taylor recorded a NCAA automatic-qualifying swim in the 100-yard backstroke as the Longhorns landed an incredible 21 finals berths during the day three preliminary-round session Friday morning at the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships at Texas A&M's Student Recreation Center Natatorium. Taylor (Birmingham, Ala.), who entered the meet with only the fourth-fastest 100-yard backstroke time in the Big 12 Conference, took two seconds off of his previous season best and set a new personal best with a time of 47.41, falling just under the NCAA "A" cut standard of 47.43. Five Longhorns will join Taylor in the final, including junior Daniel Rohleder (Austin, Texas), who took second in 48.18. Senior Garrett Weber-Gale (Fox Point, Wis.) took third in 48.44, and senior Tommy Sacco (Dallas, Texas) took fourth in 49.13. Sophomore Sean Patton (Charlotte, N.C.) placed fifth in 49.47, and sophomore Scott Trompeter (San Antonio, Texas) was sixth in 49.48. Texas opened the day three preliminaries by taking the top three spots in the 400 individual medley. Sophomore Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) led the way in 3:53.21 and was followed by junior Caleb McDermott (Canyon Lake, Texas) in second at 3:54.11 and sophomore Agustin Magruder (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) in third at 3:56.17. Longhorns will comprise over half of the field in tonight's 100 butterfly finals, as Texas landed five in the finals. Leading the way were Rohleder in 47.78 and freshman Ricky Berens (Charlotte, N.C.) in 48.13. Junior Chris Seitz (Taylor Mill, Ky.) took third in 48.46, senior David Donaldson (San Antonio, Texas) placed fourth in 48.81, and Sacco took sixth in 49.06. Texas landed five more Longhorns in the 200 freestyle finals with junior Matt McGinnis (Raleigh, N.C.) leading the way in 1:37.21. Sophomore Ryan Verlatti (Tacoma, Wash.) took second in 1:37.30, and junior Jeremy Harris (St. Paul, Minn.) placed third in 1:37.67. Freshman Dave Walters (Yorktown, Va.) landed a fourth-place showing in 1:37.70 and freshman Peter Jameson (Indianapolis, Ind.) took fifth in 1:38.32. Junior Matt Lowe (Minot, N.D.) and senior Tyler O'Halloran (Boardman, Ohio) took second and fourth in the 100 breaststroke preliminary round in times of 55.48 and 56.63, respectively. The men's three-meter diving preliminary round will begin at 1:15 p.m. Central. Texas leads second-place Texas A&M, 362-277.
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