The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona
No. 3 Arizona holds slim lead over No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving after opening day of dual meet
01.29.2010 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 29, 2010
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Individual victories from seniors Ricky Berens and Hill Taylor, junior diver Matt Cooper and sophomores Jimmy Feigen and Jackson Wilcox highlighted day one for No. 1 Texas in its two-day dual against No. 3 Arizona at the Wildcats' Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. Arizona holds a 97-89 lead after the opening session with the second and final session to begin Saturday at 1 p.m. Central in Tucson.
Feigen edged Arizona's Jordan Smith in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 44.64 seconds that topped Smith's time of 44.67. Texas senior Dave Walters took third at 44.84. Berens upended the nation's first, fifth and ninth-ranked swimmers in the 200 backstroke, as he took first in a NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 1:45.55 and edged Arizona's top-ranked Cory Chitwood by 15 one-hundredths of a second.
Taylor tacked on the third individual win for the Horns, where he led a first-through-fourth Texas finish in 48.65. Berens took second by the slimmest of margins in 48.66, and sophomore Neil Caskey placed third in 49.02. Senior Andrew Wang took fourth with an exhibition performances of 49.03.
Wilcox led a one-two Texas showing in the 500 freestyle, and the two-time All-American was victorious in 4:30.06. Junior Jim Robertson took second in 4:32.67. Cooper led the Texas diving contingent with a winning score of 387.23 points in the three-meter diving event. Sophomore Drew Livingston took third in the event with 385.73 points.
Livingston led UT in the one-meter event with his second-place total of 371.03 points, just 2.7 points off of the winning score produced by Arizona's Ben Grado.
