The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona
No. 6 Women's Swimming and Diving finishes off double-dual wins over Arizona and SMU
01.31.2015 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Longhorns wrap regular season next Friday with Senior Day against TCU.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 6 Texas held on to its leads over No. 11 Arizona and SMU and pulled away to victories over both teams Saturday afternoon at UT's Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Longhorns knocked off Arizona by a 213-159 margin and dealt SMU a 224-146 defeat. Arizona defeated SMU, 193.5-176.5.
Texas took second overall but notched a win over Arizona in the 200-yard medley relay, where sophomore Tasija Karosas, senior Gretchen Jaques and freshmen Mimi Schneider and Rebecca Millard finished in 1 minute, 39.96 seconds.
Senior Kaitlin Pawlowicz led the Horns in the 500 freestyle with her second-place mark of 4:48.98. Sophomore Madisyn Cox produced a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle and won the event Saturday in 1:46.37, good for a NCAA "B" cut. Karosas followed with an impressive mid-season time of 53.18 for a win and NCAA "B" cut in the 100 backstroke.
Jaques, the nation's No. 2 swimmer in the 100 breaststroke, maintained her dominance of the event and was victorious in 59.91. Senior Kelsey LeNeave led the Horns in the 200 butterfly with her second-place mark of 2:01.85.
Cox returned to finish off an impressive double with her winning time of 1:58.34 in the 200 individual medley. Karosas and senior Skylar Smith solidified a one-two-three Texas finish in 2:04.99 and 2:05.10, respectively.
All-America senior Emma Ivory-Ganja led a one-two Texas finish in platform diving with a winning score of 290.50 points. Sophomore Murphy Bromberg, a former U.S. national champion in the event, took second with 262.30 points.
Texas wraps the regular season next Friday (Feb. 6) when it hosts TCU on Senior Day.
POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas head coach Carol Capitani
On pulling away to victories over Arizona and SMU: We certainly have a lot of pride and we know we have another dual meet before the end of the season. I think it's always a boon to race in front of a home crowd. We came here with some specific goals of getting some more people to qualify for NCAAs (Championships). We were working on the little things and sometimes those specific goals don't line up really well with winning your dual meet. We had to come in today, be really tough and still go after those goals. That seemed to solve itself, which is awesome. I think we raced tough. A lot of people are in different phases of training and tiredness. Although Madisyn (Cox) swam really fast, we took a day-and-a-half of rest. That's really, really inspiring and I think it's going to bode well for the end of the season.
On Madisyn Cox's personal bests Friday and Saturday: As a coach, it's not surprising with the way I've seen Madisyn train day-in and day-out. She's just growing up and learning how to control her energy during a race. She's learning how to control her emotions and have a little bit more fun with it. I think with every kid that's as driven and perfectionistic, you run the risk of just getting too wound up before a race. Madisyn had a lot of fun with it and she had some confidence. It was fun to see her swim out there.
On standout performances: Gretchen Jaques is just so rock solid and I'm already know I'm going to miss her like crazy (when she graduates). She's fun and she throws out some friendly challenges with me about her times, like getting the team out of morning practice if she swims "x" time. To have her go 59 seconds in the 100 breast and end the afternoon with a 49 leading off the 400 free relay is really impressive. She's just grown up so much. She's what it means to be Texas tough. Kaitlin Pawlowicz had the second best 1000 in the country (Friday) all season. Watching her get more and more confident and have more and more fun in this sport, nothing could make me happier as a coach.
On the freshmen: Mimi (Schneider) had a heck of a meet. That was the best meet Mimi has swam all season. I think it's hard being a freshman. You have a lot to learn, a lot to take in and a lot of expectations to live up to. I think we're in a good spot on that learning curve and we're trying to smash in as much as we can before the end of the season. They all did very well. I think all of them as a group have done exceptionally well in terms of getting faster as we go along. I'm excited to see what they have at conference.
On the team as a whole: Our team is not real sharp right now. We didn't let them off the mat—we lifted (weights) twice this week. We lifted Thursday. Between lifting, the start of school, homework, being back in class, they weren't real fresh. I don't want them fresh right now. That's why we are excited about some of the swims right now. We are going to be even more excited when we do give them some rest.
Players Mentioned
