The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Bispo breaks school record to lead UT on day two of NCAA Championships
03.16.2012 | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 16, 2012
AUBURN, Ala. - The Texas Women's Swimming & Diving team posted a great finish to the second day of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Auburn, Ala. as senior Karlee Bispo broke the school record in the 200 freestyle.
"It was great being able to win our heat in both relays and both Karlee (Bispo) and Laura (Sogar) did great jobs of competing," said head coach Kim Brackin. "
The Longhorns scored 72 points on the second day to give them 146 overall points. UT stands at ninth overall heading into the final day of the championships.
Bispo broke her own school record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.78 to finish second in the event. She surpassed her previous record of 1:42.81 to finish one second behind Georgia's Megan Romano who broke the NCAA record with a 1:41.21. Both swimmers started to pull away from the field in the third set of 50 yards with splits under 26.00.
"While there is a little disappoint in me, I am happy that I went a best time and with how I swam," said Bispo. "
With her second place finish, Bispo gained 17 team points for the Longhorns. She has finished in the top four of two individual events thus far this weekend.
"I am really proud of her (Bispo) as she gave it everything she had," said Brackin. "It is her favorite event and she has been swimming great. She has done a great job of keeping composure in her other events leading up to this one. She has been a staple for our program's success in that we can always count on her."
Junior Laura Sogar posted her fastest time of the season in the 100 breaststroke to come away with fourth place. She clocked a 59.34 for her third swim in 2011-12 that went under 1:00.00 and the fourth fastest time in UT history. Her finish added 15 points to the team points total.
"I was really happy with it," said Sogar. "I raced well strategically and moved up a lot of places from where I was seeded coming in at 15th. I was really happy to make the A final and to finish fourth overall. I just wanted to have fun with it really since the 200 breaststroke is my best event."
To end the day, the Longhorns swam the fastest time in the No. 2 heat of the 800 freestyle relay. Bispo and Katie Riefenstahl set the table while freshman Kelsey LeNeave pulled away from the pack and Samantha Tucker finished it off for a time of 7:02.22 that would place them eighth overall. It is the fifth fastest time in school history.
"We always want to have really strong relays to show you have talented people and are versatile," said LeNeave. "I did pretty well and tried to strategize before I got on the blocks. I went out to fast in the morning and died at the end but I wanted to finish strong and give us as big of lead as possible."
Texas won the consolation B final of the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:37.70. Moldenhauer, Sogar, Lobb and Amundsen combined to finish first in the race and give the Longhorns 18 team points.
"It is always fun to win your race," said Sogar. "We wanted to be in the A Final but we were seeded 12th coming in so we did move up from that. It was a pretty good time and I was happy with my split time. It was great to win and throw up the horns at the end."
The Longhorns were neck-and-neck with Georgia going into the final touch with Amundsen able to beat UGA's Madeline Locus to the wall by three-hundredths of a second for the victory. Amundsen swam her leg of the relay in 21.97 to hold on to the lead that the other three had built up.
With their performances in the finals on Friday, several Longhorns earned All-America honors. Karlee Bispo earned her fourth and fifth All-America awards of the weekend while Laura Sogar received her second and third. Riefenstahl, LeNeave and Tucker also picked up All-America honors from the 800 freestyle relay. The four members of the 200 medley relay team, Lily Moldenhauer, Sogar, Ellen Lobb and Kelsey Amundsen all earned honorable mention All-America status by winning the consolation final.
Saturday's action starts at 11 a.m. for the prelims and 7 p.m. for the finals. The events taking place on the final day of competition include the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 400 freestyle relay, 1,650 freestyle and platform diving.
