The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona
No. 2 Arizona leads No. 3 Women's Swimming and Diving, 107-79 after opening day of dual meet
01.29.2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 29, 2010
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Texas freshman diver Maren Taylor notched two victories and UT collected additional individual wins from sophomore Kathleen Hersey and freshman Laura Sogar on day one of its dual meet against No. 2 Arizona Friday afternoon at the Wildcats' Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. The Wildcats lead Texas by a 107-79 margin. The meet's second and final session gets underway Saturday at 1 p.m. Central.
Taylor led a first-through-third Texas finish in the one-meter diving event with 299.33 points, and sophomore Lauren Caldwell took a close second with 293.70 points. Freshman Diana Wilcox rounded out the Longhorns' triumvirate with 279.23 points. Taylor and Caldwell took first and second once more in the three-meter event, where Taylor was victorious with 314.78 points. Caldwell took second with 303.90 points, and freshman Samantha Holland placed fourth with 278.78 points.
Texas opened the meet's swimming events by taking second in the 200-yard freestyle relay, though the Horns clocked a NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 1 minute, 32.26 seconds. Notably, freshman Bethany Adams' split of 22.54 was the fastest among the event's 20 relay legs swum. Hersey scored the first swimming victory for Texas in the 400 individual medley, where the five-time All-American was victorious in 4:12.63. Sophomore Leah Gingrich took third in 4:15.38.
Sogar continued her rapid ascent among the national breaststroke ranks by toppling Arizona's Annie Chandler at the 200-yard distance in 2:13.28. The 100 butterfly featured Texas' top-ranked Hersey and Arizona's second-ranked Ana Agy, and it was Agy who came away with the victory in 52.87, edging Hersey's mark of 52.92. Hersey's mark of 52.32 registered at last month's Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame Invitational remains as the top performance in that event this season.
In the 500 freestyle, Gingrich nearly toppled Arizona's Anderson, the nation's fifth-ranked performer in the event, but Anderson prevailed by four one-hundredths of a second and edged Gingrich's effort of 4:48.65.
POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas head women's swimming and diving coach Kim Brackin
"We had a bit of a rough start. Unfortunately, we were more affected by the elements (outdoor facility) than I thought we'd be. We had a mixed bag with some really close finishes (500 free, 100 fly, 100 free) and some areas where we were totally off (200 back and 400 medley relay). We'll regroup tonight and work on bringing a good fight tomorrow. The divers did a great job, particularly Maren Taylor. It is great to see her gaining confidence.
"Laura Sogar and Kathleen Hersey also contributed to keeping us in the meet, and we'll depend heavily on them again tomorrow. I expected Arizona would bring it, coming off of those losses last weekend. This is UA's senior meet, and Arizona is very motivated to race us. It has been a great test. We will try to be a bit more prepared tomorrow and control the things we can."
