The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Men's Swimming and Diving blasts school and American records at NCAA Championships
03.21.2018 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Longhorns rewrite own American record, take third place in the meet’s opening relay.
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MINNEAPOLIS – Texas smashed its own American record in the 800-yard freestyle relay and lowered its school mark for third place in the event Wednesday evening at the 2018 NCAA Championships.
The Longhorns' Townley Haas, Jeff Newkirk, Jonathan Roberts and Austin Katz took third place in the race's third and final heat and placed third overall in 6 minutes, 7.59 seconds. The relay eclipsed the American record of 6:08.61 set a year ago by Jack Conger, Newkirk, Clark Smith and Haas.
Wednesday's relay also eclipsed the school mark of 6:08.03 set by Conger, Haas, Smith and Joseph Schooling at the 2016 NCAA Championships.
Haas led off the relay in 1:30.41, which surpassed his school mark of 1:30.46 and would have lowered his own American record if not for the effort of Indiana's Blake Pieroni, who led off the Hoosiers' relay in 1:29.63 for a new U.S. mark. Newkirk picked up the relay's second leg in 1:32.58 before Roberts split 1:32.36 on the third leg.
Katz, one of six Texas freshmen competing at the NCAA Championships this week, anchored the relay in 1:32.24 to finish off the relay at 6:07.59. N.C. State won the relay in an NCAA record of 6:05.31 while Indiana took second at 6:06.01.
The relay gave Texas 32 points and third place in the team standings. The first full day of competition kicks off Thursday at 10 a.m. CT.
POST-MEET COMMENTS
Texas head coach Eddie Reese
This is the third year we've had that relay open the meet a day earlier, and we're all getting better at it. The N.C. State team and Indiana teams were really good. Those were phenomenal times they put up tonight. We were just about as good as we could be on that relay tonight.
NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Day 1
800 Freestyle Relay
3. Texas, 6:07.59 (school and American records)
Splits: Townley Haas (1:30.41, school record), Jeff Newkirk (1:32.58), Jonathan Roberts (1:32.36), Austin Katz (1:32.34)
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Players Mentioned
