The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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No. 2 Women’s Swimming and Diving preview: SMU and Rice
02.03.2022 | Women's Swimming and Diving
The Longhorns will face SMU in Dallas before hosting Rice in The Sterkel Classic on Senior Day.
No. 2 Texas (4-1) at SMU (5-2)
Friday, February 4, 2022
Where: Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium, Dallas, Texas
Time: 4:30 p.m. CT
Watch: PonyUp TV
Results: Live Stats | DiveMeets | Meet Mobile
No. 2 Texas (4-1) vs. Rice (1-5)
The Sterkel Classic | Senior Day
Saturday, February 5, 2022
Where: Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
Live Stats: Available on Meet Mobile
Texas' Top Times: 2021-22 | All-Time
Meet Notes
The Matchups
Texas last squared off with SMU in head-to-head competition last February, defeating the Mustangs, 188-104, in Austin. The Longhorns won all 16 events, with Anna Elendt claiming victories in 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke, while Miranda Heckman earned wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke. Paola Pineda swept the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events.
The Longhorns will close out the regular-season slate on Saturday against Rice in The Sterkel Classic. The Classic honors Longhorn Legend and four-time Olympian Jill Sterkel, who was a 27-time All-American with Texas and served as UT's head coach from 1992-2006. The Longhorns will honor four seniors prior to the meet – Julia Cook, Morgan Menninger, Evie Pfeifer and Paola Pineda.
Texas and Rice will meet for the first time in a dual meet since the season-opener in 2013, when the Longhorns swept all 16 events on the way to a 149-99 victory.
A Look at the Longhorns
Texas is 4-1 in dual meets this season after collecting a pair of road wins at No. 5 NC State and North Carolina last weekend. The Longhorns opened the weekend winning 10 of 16 events against the fifth-ranked Wolfpack to post a 156.5-143.5 victory. The Longhorns were paced by sophomore Anna Elendt, who swept the breaststroke events with pool-record times in the 100 (59.25) and 200 (2:08.13), and fellow sophomore Kelly Pash, who picked up a pair of victories with wins in the 100-yard free (49.34) and 200-yard free (1:46.68). Texas also swept the springboard events, with freshman Hailey Hernandez posting a pool-record score of 344.95 points on the 1-meter springboard and sophomore Bridget O'Neil tallying 395.95 to set the venue record on the 3-meter springboard. Sophomore Olivia Bray set UT's fifth pool record of the night, winning the 100-yard fly in 52.12.
The Longhorns closed out the weekend with a 141-102 victory at North Carolina, winning nine of 13 events. Texas was led by sophomore Olivia Bray, who collected a pool record in the 100 fly with a time of 51.33 and added a second victory by clocking a 4:44.32 in the 500 free. Fellow sophomore Anna Elendt also tallied a pool record, winning the 100 breaststroke by more than three seconds with a time of 58.08. It marked the second-straight meet in which Bray and Elendt established pool records, after Bray netted one and Elendt two in Friday's meet at NC State. Bray and Elendt also helped the Longhorns post a victory in the meet-opening 200-yard medley relay, with senior Julia Cook, Elendt, Bray and junior Bridget Semenuk posting a UT season-best time of 1:35.68. Cook added another victory to her name with the top time in the 100 back, touching the wall in 52.65 to lead a sweep of the event, with sophomores Kelly Pash and Emma Sticklen placing second and third, respectively.
Top Times in the NCAA this season by Longhorns
800 free relay – Kelly Pash, Kyla Leibel, Olivia Bray, Julia Cook (6:56.94*)
* Denotes A Cut standard
Other A Cut times for the Longhorns
100 backstroke – Olivia Bray (50.93)
100 breaststroke – Anna Elendt (57.90)
200 breaststroke – Anna Elendt (2:06.21)
100 butterfly – Emma Sticklen (50.76)
200 butterfly – Emma Sticklen (1:52.47), Kelly Pash (1:52.69), Olivia Bray (1:52.98)
200 medley relay – Julia Cook, Anna Elendt, Olivia Bray, Bridget Semenuk (1:34.26)
400 medley relay – Olivia Bray, Anna Elendt, Emma Sticklen, Kelly Pash (3:27.53)
A Look at the Mustangs
SMU is 5-2 in dual meet action this season with victories over TCU, New Mexico State, Rice, UNT and Tulane. The Mustangs fell their last time out at No. 22 Texas A&M, 174-114, posting three second-place and four third-place results in the competition.
A Look at the Owls
Rice defeated North Texas, 174.5-118.5, on Jan. 22 to improve to 1-5 in dual meets this season. The Owls won 11 of 12 individual races and both relays to collect the victory on Senior Day.
Longhorns in the Rankings
Texas opened the 2021-22 campaign at No. 5 in the preseason rankings and moved up to No. 2 in the November poll, where they have held firm in each subsequent ranking.
Next Up
The Longhorns begin post-season competition when the head to West Virginia for the Big 12 Conference Championships, Feb. 23-26.
Players Mentioned
