The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Championships
No. 9 Women's Swimming and Diving adds six victories at Big 12 Championships
03.01.2013 | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 1, 2013
AUSTIN, Texas - No. 9 Texas won six of seven events and stretched its lead on day three of the Big 12 Championships at UT's Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
With one day remaining, Texas leads the competition with 732 points. West Virginia sits in second with 375 points, and TCU is in third with 369 points. Iowa State is in fourth with 341.5 points, and Kansas sits in fifth with 326.5 points.
Sophomore Kaitlin Pawlowicz kicked off the night by winning UT's first Big 12 title in the 400 individual medley since 2010. Pawlowicz took the win in 4:11.80 and defeated her nearest competitor by over three seconds. Sophomore Victoria Cassidy took third place in 4:15.04.
Senior Kelsey Amundsen nailed down her second Big 12 100 butterfly crown in the last three seasons and took the win in 52.57. Amundsen also is a former Big 12 champion in the 50 freestyle. Sophomore Gretchen Jaques placed third in 52.79, while junior Ellen Lobb placed fourth in 52.87.
Junior Sarah Denninghoff became the second-fastest Longhorn all-time in the 100 backstroke and captured her first Big 12 title in 52.10, good for a NCAA automatic-qualifying mark. The feat was all the more impressive given her 200 freestyle swim earlier in the evening. Junior Lily Moldenhauer placed second in 52.62, and senior Jessica Guro took third in 54.03.
Senior Laura Sogar, the school record holder in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events, secured her second Big 12 title in the 100 breast in 58.67. Jaques finished her challenging double and took second in 59.64.
Denninghoff led the way for Texas in the 200 freestyle and took second overall in 1:45.55. Sophomore Kelsey LeNeave and junior Samantha Tucker tied for third place at 1:45.85. Junior Alex Hooper placed fifth in 1:46.39.
Freshman Meghan Houston emerged from a tightly-contested three-meter event with the victory, as she edged teammate Maren Taylor with 338.65 points. Taylor took second with 330.60 points, and senior Diana Wilcox placed third with 329.45 points. Senior Shelby Cullinan placed fourth with 321.10 points, and senior Samantha Holland took sixth with 289.50 points.
Texas capped the night with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay, as Bethany Adams, Jaques, Amundsen and Lobb posted a NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 1:29.71.
The final day of the Big 12 Championships begins Saturday at 10 a.m. Central.
POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas head coach Carol Capitani
On Friday's finals
I am excited about today's performances. We had a team goal coming into tonight that we wanted all of swims to be a little faster than they were this morning. We weren't perfect but we did a pretty nice job.
We had some great 200 frees. We had some personal best times in the 400 IM. We had a lot of people doing doubles tonight, like Gretchen Jaques, who had a double with a 100 fly and 100 breast. Laura Sogar went 58 (seconds) in the 100 breast, and Lily Moldenhauer made NCAAs with a great backstroke. Having four people at 52 (seconds) in the 100 fly is really good. Everyone stood up tonight and did their job.
We have a tough team. We have the NCAA Championships coming up, and that's a three-day meet where you have to be tough every session. Tomorrow is the hardest day. The third morning of the meet is always the worst, but you have to stand up and race tough.
