Men's Swimming and Diving preview: Indiana, Michigan
Nov. 4, 2010
WHAT: Texas resumes the 2010-11 season with a double-dual meet against Indiana and Michigan. WHEN: Friday, Nov. 5 – 2 p.m. Central WHERE: Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center – Bloomington, Ind. LAST TIME OUT: The defending NCAA champion Longhorns opened the 2010 fall season with a victory in the two-team, five-day Southwest Collegiate Plunge (Oct. 29-30) in Mansfield, Texas. Texas took top honors with 996.5 points in the meet that featured Texas A&M, Missouri, TCU and SMU. LAST MEETINGS AGAINST INDIANA AND MICHIGAN: Texas defeated Indiana by a 179-149 count on Oct. 30, 2009 in Austin. Texas and Michigan last met in a double-dual meet with Indiana during the 2008-09 season. Texas defeated Michigan by a 221.5-166.5 count. UT defeated Indiana by a 209-153 margin in that meet. HORNS POSTING HIGH MARKS EARLY IN 2010 50 Freestyle
THE 2010-11 LONGHORNS: Texas returns 11 All-Americans from the 2009-10 squad that captured the program’s 10th NCAA team title last March. Head coach Eddie Reese became the first coach in NCAA Division I men’s swimming and diving history to win NCAA team titles in four separate decades. Now in his 33rd season, Reese has led Texas to all 10 of its NCAA titles plus eight NCAA runner-up finishes. His teams have finished in the top three at the NCAA Championships in 25 of his 32 seasons at Texas. Assistant coach Kris Kubik has been at Reese’s side for all 10 NCAA titles, and diving coach Matt Scoggin, a former Longhorn diver now in his 17th season as a coach, has helped Texas to five of those titles. Texas features two NCAA individual champions on its roster with sophomore swimmer Austin Surhoff and junior diver Drew Livingston. UT also returns a pair of swimmers in Neil Caskey and Scott Jostes who helped the Horns win the NCAA title last season in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Surhoff was UT’s top individual point scorer at the 2010 NCAA Championships with 40 points. His first appearance in a championship final at the NCAA meet resulted in a victory in the 200 individual medley, marking UT’s first NCAA win in that event since 2001, when Olympian Nate Dusing claimed the title. After tallying 20 points with his win in the 200 IM, Surhoff added seven points by placing 10th overall in the 400 IM and 13 points with his sixth-place finish in the 200 backstroke. Livingston, the 2009 NCAA champion in the one-meter diving event, teamed up with Matt Cooper to register significant points for the Longhorns in their match to the NCAA title. Livingston opened the 2010 NCAA meet by taking third in the one-meter event, and Cooper added a win in the one-meter consolation final to add nine valuable points to the Longhorns’ tally. Cooper added another point the following day in the three-meter event. On the meet’s final day, Cooper and Livingston nailed down top-eight finishes in the platform diving event – the next-to-last event of the meet – to help the Longhorns pull away from runner-up California on their way to the NCAA team crown. Beijing Olympian Scott Spann returns after enjoying a stellar 2010 NCAA meet with a pair of runner-up finishes in the breaststroke events. He also helped the 200 and 400 medley relays to a pair of top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships. Junior Jimmy Feigen returns as a two-time NCAA runner-up in the 100 freestyle. He added an additional top-five finish in the 50 freestyle at the 2010 NCAA meet and also competed in four relays that secured top-five finishes. Jostes returns as the lone Longhorn to compete on all three freestyle relays at the 2010 NCAA Championships. Jostes has helped UT win the 800 freestyle relay at the last two NCAA championship meets. Versatile senior Bryan Collins scored in all three of his individual events at the 2010 NCAA meet. In addition to helping the 800 freestyle relay to victory, Caskey scored in one individual event and nearly scored in two others. Junior Eric Friedland teams up with Spann to form one of the sport’s top one-two punches in the breaststroke events. Junior Jackson Wilcox returns as a two-time All-American in the 1,650 freestyle. Sophomore Michael McBroom, a transfer from Minnesota, joins the Horns after finishing just behind Wilcox in the 1,650 freestyle event at the 2010 NCAA Championships. Sophomore Cole Cragin scored in the 100 backstroke at the 2010 NCAA meet and is likely to contribute on the medley relays. Sophomore Dax Hill enjoyed a standout summer during which he placed fifth in the 100m freestyle consolation final and the 200m freestyle consolation final at the USA Swimming National Championships. Sophomore Nick D’Innocenzo was a consolation finalist in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events in addition to the 200m IM at the USA Swimming National Championships. Texas also welcomes a talented 14-member freshman class to the Forty Acres. FOLLOW THE HORNS ON TWITTER: For news and updates on the Texas men’s swimming and diving program, follow the Longhorns on Twitter at Twitter.com/TexasMSD. |
|
