The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
North Carolina
No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving overpowers No. 12 North Carolina, 160-132
11.13.2015 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Longhorns wrap weekend road swing Saturday at No. 5 N.C. State.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 1 Texas (5-0) won 13 of 16 events and smothered No. 12 North Carolina with its depth en route to a 160-132 win over the Tar Heels Friday evening at UNC's Koury Natatorium.
Texas yielded the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, to the Tar Heels, but the Longhorns soon showed off their range and took control of the meet. Freshman Townley Haas claimed the 1,000 freestyle in 9 minutes, 4.71 seconds, just off of his No. 6 national mark of 9:04.17 from last month. Sophomore Jonathan Roberts took second at 9:07.40 and senior Sam Lewis rounded out a one-two-three UT finish in 9:09.65.
NCAA champion Clark Smith led a one-two Texas showing in the 200 freestyle and was victorious in 1:37.08. Freshman Ryan Harty took second at 1:37.40. UNC captured the 100 backstroke before three-time NCAA champion junior Will Licon put another event in the Texas win column with his 54.59 in the 100 breaststroke.
American record holder Jack Conger put away a workmanlike win in the 200 butterfly at 1:44.12, the nation's top time of the season. Senior John Martens added a third-place mark of 1:46.53. Sophomore sprinter Brett Ringgold put away the first of his two wins and claimed the 50 freestyle in 20.24. Senior Matt Ellis added a third-place mark of 20.64. Ringgold completed the sprint sweep by winning the 100 freestyle in 44.18.
Three-time All-America senior diver Cory Bowersox edged teammate Sean O'Brien for the win and took the one-meter event with 386.85 points. O'Brien settled for second at 379.50. Bowersox later completed the springboard sweep and won the three-meter event with 417.68 points.
Harty, one of the centerpieces of Texas' top-ranked freshman class, won the 200 backstroke in 1:44.88. The Gardner, Massachusetts, native brought the nation's No. 6 mark in the 200 backstroke (1:43.87 last month) into this weekend's competitions. Conger added a second-place mark of 1:46.40.
Licon, the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 breaststroke, was victorious in the same event Friday evening in 1:58.83. Licon upset American record holder Kevin Cordes of Arizona and won the event's NCAA title last March.
With the team victory in hand, Texas elected to decline the remaining points and complete the final three events as exhibitions. Nevertheless, Smith won the 500 freestyle in 4:25.57. The son of a pair of former Longhorns swimmers, Smith is the reigning NCAA champion in the 500 freestyle.
Sophomore Joseph Schooling, the reigning NCAA champion in the 100 butterfly, claimed the same event Friday in 46.73. Martens put away the 400 individual medley for Texas in 3:54.90.
The top-ranked Longhorns wrap their weekend road swing with what promises to be a stiff challenge at No. 5 N.C. State. The meet gets underway Saturday at 11 a.m. ET in Raleigh.
Players Mentioned
