The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Invitational
No. 9 Men's Swimming posts three wins on night three at Texas Invitational
12.01.2017 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Olympic gold medalists Joseph Schooling and Townley Haas notch individual victories to go with UT’s 200 medley relay win.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 9 Texas picked up individual wins from Olympic gold medalists Townley Haas and Joseph Schooling and added a relay victory Friday night at the Texas Invitational.
Junior Sam Stewart opened night three for Texas with an impressive second-place swim in the 400-yard individual medley. Stewart, in his second year with the Longhorns after transferring in from Auburn, took second at 3:43.44, good for the fourth fastest time in the nation this season. Sophomore Ryan Harty placed sixth at 3:46.71. Senior Jonathan Roberts, an All-American in the event for the Longhorns, won the consolation final at 3:44.20.
The 100 butterfly championship final matched up UT senior and Olympic gold medalist Joseph Schooling against his former college teammate, former Longhorn Jack Conger. Schooling took the win in 44.78, good for the top time in the country this season, while Conger placed second at 45.32. Former Longhorn Tripp Cooper took second in the consolation final at 46.18 while freshman Sam Pomajevich finished behind him in third at 46.31. Senior Brett Ringgold took fifth in the consolation final at 46.69, and junior Max Holter placed seventh at 47.03.
Junior Townley Haas led from wire-to-wire in the 200 freestyle, where he held off a talented field of challengers. Haas, the silver medalist in the same event last summer at the FINA World Championships, was victorious at 1:32.40. His classmate and fellow Virginia native Jeff Newkirk took sixth at 1:34.15. Sophomore Jacob Huerta took second in the consolation final at 1:35.45.
Junior Safa Anya led the contingent of current Horns in the 100 breaststroke "B" final, where he took the win in 53.63, good for a personal best. Senior Austin Temple finished a fingernail behind in 53.65, and junior Casey Melzer was right behind him in 53.67. Senior Jared Butler took fourth at 54.11.
Freshman Austin Katz posted the top finish for Texas in the 100 backstroke with his 45.48 for third place in the championship final.
Texas closed the night with an explosive showing from its 200 medley relay. The Longhorns' quartet of junior John Shebat, Schooling, junior Tate Jackson and Ringgold took the win in 1:24.28, good for the No. 2 time in the nation this season. Shebat led off in 21.78 before Schooling, who typically swims butterfly on the medley relays, split a meet-best 23.54 seconds on breaststroke. Jackson picked up the butterfly in 20.53 before Ringgold anchored in 18.43.
The Longhorns open the fourth and final day of the Texas Invitational on Saturday with the preliminary round at 10 a.m. CT. Finals are set for 6 p.m.
