Women's Swimming and Diving defeats No. 4 Stanford, 197-156, and No. 13 Southern California, 230-123
AUSTIN, Texas -- The sixth-ranked University of Texas women's swimming and diving team improved to 4-0 on the season by defeating No. 4 Stanford, 197-156, and No.13 Southern California, 230-123, after the second day of competition at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, on Saturday, Oct. 30. "I think this is something the team should be really proud of," said Texas co-head coach Jill Sterkel. "Although it is early in the season, I think they have raced really hard, and the swimmers should be proud of the results of the training and hard work they have invested." The Texas women led Stanford, 95-72, and USC, 109.5-57.5 after Friday's first day of competition. On Saturday, the women picked up right where they left off, winning the first event of the day, the 200-yard medley relay. The team, comprised of freshman Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas), sophomores Elizabeth Tinnon (Bowling Green, Ky.) and Connie Brown (Andover, Mass.) and senior Sarah Wanezek (Brookfield, Wis.) posted an NCAA provisional mark of 1:42.57. McGregory, who won the 100-yard backstroke and captured relay titles as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay as well as the 400-yard medley relay on Friday, would complete the sweep of the backstroke events, clocking an NCAA provisional time of 55.41 in the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday. With wins in each of three relays as well as the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, McGregory captured event titles in each of the five events in which she competed over the weekend. The Longhorns added a strong showing in the 200-yard freestyle as junior Kristy Siminski (Portage, Ind.) and sophomore Katie Robinson (Dillsboro, Ind.) finished second and third, respectively, behind USC freshman Rhi Jeffery. All three swimmers clocked NCAA provisional standards in that event. Other bright spots for the Longhorns were Wanezek, who finished second in the 50-yard freestyle as well as the 100-yard backstroke and senior Kaela Humphries (Chaska, Minn.). In the 200-yard individual medley, Humphries and sophomore Elizabeth Wycliffe (Kingston, Ontario) finished second and third, behind Stanford freshman Caroline Bruce. Bruce continued her winning ways for the Cardinal on day two. After posting one NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:12.28) on Friday, Bruce added her second such mark on Saturday, clocking 1:01.71 in the 100-yard breaststroke. In addition, Bruce captured her fourth title of the meet in the 200-yard individual medley, winning in a time of 2:02.28. Freshman Brook Bishop and sophomore Lauren Costello rounded out the winners for the Cardinal on the day. Bishop earned the win in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.46, while Costello captured the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16.38.83. Each mark stands as an NCAA provisional time. Southern California captured the win in the meet's final event - the 400-yard freestyle relay - as they defeated Texas' squad of Siminski, Brown, Robinson and Wanezek in come-from-behind fashion, finishing just nine-hundredths of a second faster than Texas. Meanwhile, in diving competition, after Cardinal divers Cassidy Krug and Ashlee Rosenthal posted first- and second-place finishes, respectively, in three-meter diving on Friday, Rosenthal claimed the title with Krug taking second in the one-meter event on Saturday. Stanford divers earned the top four postitions with Texas sophomore Ali Bunting (Grafton, Wis.) taking home fifth place with a score of 221.45, while senior Monica Maxwell (San Jose, Calif.) placed eighth with 214.05. "Both Monica and Ali had good warm-up dives, but were a little off during the meet," said Texas diving coach Matt Scoggin. "I was still really pleased that Ali was finished first against USC, but Stanford did a very good job this weekend." Texas women's swimming and diving is back in action this weekend. The Longhorns travel to West Lafayette, Ind., the Boilermaker Invitational hosted by Purdue University, Friday-Saturday, Nov. 5-6.
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