The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arizona
No. 1 Women’s Swimming and Diving Preview: No. 17 Arizona
01.23.2017 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Top-ranked Longhorns welcome Wildcats for Senior Day meet.
WHAT: Nine-time national champion Texas (9-1) plays host to its first home dual meet since early November, as the newly-minted No. 1 Longhorns welcome Arizona to Austin. Friday's competition will be scored like other dual meets, though Saturday's competition will be unscored.
The Texas senior class will be recognized prior to Saturday's competition at approximately 9:30 a.m. CT.
WHEN/WHERE:
No. 17 Arizona at No. 1 Texas
Friday, Jan. 27 – 4 p.m. CT
Saturday, Jan. 28 – 10 a.m. CT (unscored meet)
Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center – Austin, Texas
SWIMMING RESULTS: http://sidearmstats.com/texas/swim/index.htm
DIVING RESULTS: www.divemeets.com
TELEVISION: Longhorn Network will air live swimming coverage at both meets. Diving will air tape-delayed Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Brendan Hansen (analyst) will call the swimming action while Tyler Denning (play-by-play) and Cynthia Potter (analyst) will handle diving.
Longhorn Network subscribers may view the telecasts live at ESPN3.com and on the WatchESPN mobile application.
LAST MEETING
Texas defeated Arizona by a 154-146 count on Jan. 29, 2016 in Tucson, Arizona.
TEXAS CLIMBS TO NO. 1 IN CSCAA TEAM POLL
Impressive road victories over No. 14 Auburn and No. 2 Georgia have vaulted Texas into the No. 1 slot atop the CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) team poll released Jan. 18. It marks the first No. 1 national ranking for the nine-time national champion Longhorns under fifth-year head coach Carol Capitani.
The bi-weekly CSCAA team poll reflects the recognized teams' strength in dual-meet competition, and Texas arguably boasts the most impressive collection of dual-meet wins this season.
Led by All-America seniors Madisyn Cox and Tasija Karosas, Texas boasts dual-meet wins over five of the nation's top-11 teams. The Longhorns' only defeat came at the home pool of No. 2 Stanford, which features Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel.
HORNS HAND GEORGIA FIRST HOME LOSS IN 22 YEARS
Texas snapped then-No. 2 Georgia's 103-meet home winning streak and dealt the defending NCAA champion Lady Bulldogs their first home loss since 1995, as the Longhorns posted a 171-124 win (Jan. 14) at UGA's Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The win was the first for fifth-year Texas head coach Carol Capitani over Georgia and her mentor, UGA head coach Jack Bauerle, for whom she served 14 years as an assistant coach over two stints. Capitani left Georgia in 2012 to take over the Longhorns' women's swimming and diving program.
COX EARNS FOURTH CAREER SELECTION AS NATIONAL SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
CollegeSwimming.com selected Texas All-America senior Madisyn Cox as its National Division I Women's Swimmer of the Week (Jan. 17) for a second straight week, the third time this season and the fourth time in her decorated Longhorns career.
On Saturday (Jan. 14), Cox and the Longhorns ended Georgia's 103-meet home winning streak and handed the Lady Bulldogs their first home loss since 1995, as UT posted a convincing 171-124 victory.
Cox remained true to her dominant form in UT's win over the second-ranked Bulldogs its victory at No. 15 Auburn. The Lubbock native claimed the 200-yard freestyle in 1:45.28, the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.56 and the 200 individual medley 1:57.26 in the Horns' win at Georgia. She also helped the Horns to victory in the meet-opening 200 medley relay.
Cox swept her three individual events two days earlier at Auburn, where she claimed the 100 breaststroke (1:00.35), the 200 backstroke (1:55.99) and the 200 individual medley (1:56.07).
Cox was first selected this season as a National Swimmer of the week on Nov. 8 and picked up her second honor on Dec. 6 following the Texas Invitational. She joined Team USA the following week at the FINA Short Course World Championships and won silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 200m and 400m individual medleys.
MILLARD, O'BRIEN EARN BIG 12 HONORS
The Big 12 Conference announced Wednesday (Jan. 18) the selections of Texas junior swimmer Rebecca Millard as the league's Women's Swimmer of the Week and UT sophomore diver Meghan O'Brien as its Women's Diver of the Week. Millard picks up her first Big 12 weekly honor of the season while O'Brien earns her fourth.
Millard's individual and relay swims helped Texas hand No. 2 Georgia its first home loss in 22 years. She anchored UT's 200 medley relay to victory in 21.88 seconds. Millard defeated Canadian Olympian Chantal Van Landeghem in the 50 freestyle and held off both Van Landeghem and U.S. Olympian Olivia Smoliga in the 100 freestyle, winning in 49.56.
Millard capped the meet with her 48.80 anchor on UT's victorious 400 free relay.
She was a force on relays in UT's win at Auburn, as the Californian anchored the 200 medley relay to victory in 22.10 and the 400 medley relay to victory in 49.01.
O'Brien posted valuable points in UT's wins at No. 15 Auburn and No. 2 Georgia. She swept the one-meter (288.98) and three-meter (332.18) boards at Auburn and took second behind teammate Alison Gibson on one- and three-meter at Georgia.
GIBSON QUALIFIES FOR 2017 FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Texas freshman diver Alison Gibson fell just short of the one-meter title but earned a berth for next summer's World Championships at the 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championships.
The Austinite led all qualifiers through the one-meter preliminary round with 267.80 points, which carried over to the final. Gibson placed second in the final with a cumulative score of 513.70 points, just six tenths of a point shy of the top finisher. However, she earned a qualifying berth on one-meter for next summer's FINA World Championships by surpassing the meet's qualifying standard of 486 points.
Gibson also earned a berth to compete at the 2017 World University Games by landing the top finish for a collegiate diver in the one-meter final.
KAROSAS LOWERS SCHOOL MARK TWICE AT TEXAS INVITE
Texas senior Tasija Karosas lowered her school record in the 100 backstroke not once but twice last month during the four-day Texas Invitational.
Karosas entered the meet with school and Big 12 records in the 100 backstroke at 51.40. She lowered the marks to 51.08 while leading off the 400 medley relay, and she took the record even lower the following night, as she became the first Longhorn to clear 51 seconds in the event. The All-American clocked 50.86, good for the No. 2 time in the country this season.
Below is a complete listing of the Longhorns' top-25 national rankings midway through the season:
TOP-25 NATIONAL RANKINGS
50 Freestyle
9. Rebecca Millard, 21.95
16. Remedy Rule, 22.18
100 Freestyle
T7. Rebecca Millard, 47.84
200 Freestyle
8. Madisyn Cox, 1:43.62
18. Joanna Evans, 1:45.07
500 Freestyle
14. Joanna Evans, 4:39.51
1000 Freestyle
9. Joanna Evans, 9:43.43
1,650 Freestyle
15. Joanna Evans, 16:08.50
100 Backstroke
2. Tasija Karosas, 50.86
12. Claire Adams, 51.88
200 Backstroke
5. Tasija Karosas, 1:51.65
10. Claire Adams, 1:52.43
100 Breaststroke
16. Olivia Anderson, 1:00.14
19. Madisyn Cox, 1:00.35
200 Breaststroke
5. Madisyn Cox, 2:07.21
100 Butterfly
14. Remedy Rule, 52.03
200 Butterfly
6. Remedy Rule, 1:53.97
9. Lauren Case, 1:54.69
200 IM
1 Madisyn Cox, 1:52.83
25. Nora McCullagh, 1:57.51
400 IM
3. Madisyn Cox, 4:02.60
MORE ON THE LONGHORNS
- Fifth-year head coach Carol Capitani returns 22 swimmers and divers, including 10 All-Americans, from the 2015-16 squad that swept the Big 12 Championship and placed 15th at the NCAA Championships.
- The Longhorns return a talented senior class headed by Madisyn Cox and Tasija Karosas. Cox, a member of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 USA Swimming National Teams, placed fourth in the 200m and 400m individual medley events at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The Lubbock native is a two-time All-American in the 200-yard individual medley and boasts 10 All-America certificates overall. She was selected as CollegeSwimming.com's National Swimmer of the Week earlier this month after posting five wins in UT's dual-meet victories over N.C. State and Texas A&M.
- Karosas, a 10-time All-American and 13-time Big 12 champion, reached the semifinals of the 100m and 200m backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She holds school and Big 12 records in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events.
- Millard returns as the leader of the Longhorns' sprint group. The U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier is a nine-time All-American who won the 100 freestyle consolation final last March at the NCAA Championships.
- Sophomore Joanna Evans represented The Bahamas over the summer at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She placed 13th in the 400m freestyle, 23rd in the 800m freestyle and 37th in the 200m freestyle in Rio. The 2016 Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year, Evans returns as the Big 12 champion in the 500 and 1,650 freestyle events.
- Senior Jordan Surhoff picked up her first individual All-America honor last season in the 100 breaststroke. She added a second All-America recognition in the 200 medley relay alongside Karosas and juniors Rebecca Millard and Mimi Schneider.
- Olivia Anderson brings momentum into her sophomore campaign after reaching the semifinals of the 100m and 200m breaststroke events at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The Minnesotan qualified for the 2016 NCAA Championships and won the Big 12 title in the 100 breaststroke.
- Senior Brynne Wong returns as a four-time All-American and two-time NCAA Championships qualifier.
- All-American Quinn Carrozza put together a productive summer during which she reached the semifinals of the 200m backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The Austin native won the 200 freestyle as a freshman at the 2016 Big 12 Championships.
- Sophomore Nora McCullagh earned All-America honors in the 400 and 800 freestyle relays for Texas at the NCAA Championships.
- Texas welcomes one of the nation's premier freshman classes. Claire Adams, Lauren Case and Kaitlin Harty all are current or former members of the USA Swimming National Junior Team. Adams is a former world junior record holder in the 100m backstroke.
Players Mentioned
