The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Auburn
No. 4 Women's Swimming & Diving suffers first loss at No. 7 Auburn
01.11.2012 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 11, 2012
AUBURN, Ala. -- Facing its second top 10 opponent in five days, the No. 4 Texas Women's Swimming and Diving team suffered its first dual meet loss of the year, 167-133, at No. 7 Auburn Wednesday.
"I am disappointed with the loss after coming off a really good meet against Georgia," said head coach Kim Brackin. "Inconsistency was our biggest thing tonight. Auburn has talented kids who were ready to face our team and they raced better than us today."
The Longhorns are now 4-1 on the season. Wednesday's meet was tightly contested throughout with UT holding a lead after seven events but the Tigers were able to finish first in several races down the stretch to pull away from Texas.
Texas trailed, 24-12, after the first two events but impressive performances in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke helped them take the lead for the first time. In the 200 freestyle, Karlee Bispo won the event and Samantha Tucker took second. Bispo has yet to lose in the 200 freestyle in five meets this season. Lily Moldenhauer then took first in the 100 back and Ellen Lobb finished third to bring the score to 40-34 in favor of the Longhorns.
The two teams alternated leads over the next two races with Auburn jumping ahead after the 100 breaststroke and then freshman Kaitlin Pawlowicz and senior Leah Gingrich snagging it back for UT in the 200 butterfly. Pawlowicz won for the second time in her career as she also claimed first place against Michigan and Indiana. Gingrich came in just behind her for second place.
"We have been waiting for that from Kaitlin," said Brackin. "She came off a strong 1,000 free and she did a really good job of turning around and having a really good 200 fly. That is an expectation that we have of her and it was fun to catch a glimpse of what she can do. She was the standout of the meet for us along with Ellen Lobb."
Auburn took the top two spots in the 50 freestyle to move to within one point of UT heading into the first diving break. The Tigers took back the lead during the 1-meter diving and stretched it out over the next two events although Texas gained a little ground when Laura Sogar swam a 2:13.51 to finish three tenths of a second faster than any other swimmer in the 200 breaststroke. Sogar has won the event four times this year.
The Longhorns had three swimmers finish in the top four of the 500 freestyle but the points equaled out as Auburn's Katie Gardocki came in just ahead of Leah Gingrich to win the race. The Tigers continued to build the lead with a win in the 100 butterfly despite Kelsey Amundsen recording her top dual meet time of the year at 54.88 for second place.
Texas performed better in the 3-meter diving competition with Shelby Cullinan placing second with a season-high 326.10 points. Diana Wilcox came in third with 292.50 points but the top spot went to Auburn's Vennie Dantin and clinched the victory for the Tigers.
Bispo dominated the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:01.29, four tenths of a second faster than any other swimmer. It was her second win of the season and fastest dual meet time in the event.
Auburn closed out strong by taking the top two spots in the 200 freestyle relay.
The Longhorns will return home on Thursday just in time to compete in the USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix event held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center Friday-Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m. each day for the preliminary rounds and 6 p.m. for the finals.
