The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Women’s Swimming and Diving finishes second at NCAA Championships
03.19.2022 | Women's Swimming and Diving
The Longhorns’ runner-up finish matched the program’s best finish since 1994.
ATLANTA – Texas Women's Swimming and Diving finished as the national runner-up at the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday evening at the McAuley Aquatic Center, equaling the Longhorns' best finish since 1994.
Texas concluded the four-day meet with 406 points, trailing only NCAA champion Virginia (551.5), while outscoring third-place Stanford (399.5) by 6.5 points.
The Longhorns entered Saturday night's final session in third, trailing then-second-place Stanford by 19 points through 14 events, and the programs traded positions throughout the night.
Erica Sullivan kicked things off for the Longhorns with a second-place finish in the 1650 free, taking almost four seconds off of her previous best and setting a new program record with a time of 15:45.94. The freshman clocked 9:27.99 at the 1000-yard mark for a second UT record in the same race. Fifth-year senior Evie Pfeifer, competing in her final race as a Longhorn, touched the wall at 15:48.34 to place fourth overall. Pfeifer also posted a personal-best with a 1000-yard split of 9:34.26, the second-fastest mark in Texas history. The pair top-four finishes moved the Longhorns ahead of the Cardinal, 289-278, but the lead was short-lived.
Stanford regained their advantage and opened up a 26-point lead in the 200 backstroke with three top-nine showings in the race, while senior Julia Cook collected three points for UT with a 14th-place finish (1:52.66).
The Longhorns' deficit increased to 35 points following the 100 free, but then Texas began to chip away at the Cardinal lead.
Sophomore Anna Elendt collected 17 points with a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:04.31), while Stanford added 13 points to their total to make the score, 340-309.
In the 200 fly, a trio of Longhorns raced in the championship final with junior Kelly Pash placing fifth (1:52.01), while sophomores Emma Sticklen (1:52.22) and Olivia Bray (1:52.31) placed seventh and eighth, respectively. Stanford had a swimmer tie for second and another place ninth, closing out the 19th event with a 365.5-346 lead.
Texas divers pushed the Longhorns ahead during the platform competition. Junior Jordan Skilken won bronze with 315.45 points and junior Janie Boyle placed fourth with 290.90 points, while senior Paola Pineda scored 267.05 points to finish eighth. The Longhorns added 42 points on the platform while the Cardinal did not have a diver reach either the championship or consolidation final, allowing Texas to move ahead, 388-365.5.
All told, Texas divers scored 90 points during the championship, topping Indiana's diving total of 84 points to finish as the number one diving team in the meet.
Texas closed out the national meet with the quartet of Pash, junior Kyla Leibel, sophomore Grace Cooper and junior Bridget Semenuk taking second in the third of four 400 relay heats with a time of 3:11.71. The Cardinal, needing to win the final 400 free relay heat and have the Longhorns finish 10th to regain the second overall position in the team competition, finished second to Virginia while UT ended up placing ninth, securing national runner-up honors for Texas and a third-place finish for Stanford.
TEXAS! FIGHT! 🤘 pic.twitter.com/VUU1taFaGA
— Texas Women's Swimming & Diving (@TexasWSD) March 20, 2022
2022 NCAA Championships – Final Team Standings (Top 10 teams listed)
1. Virginia – 551.5
2. TEXAS – 406
3. Stanford – 399.5
4. Alabama – 288
5. NC State – 279
6. Louisville – 196.5
7. Michigan – 184.5
8. California – 180
9. Ohio State – 165
10. Tennessee – 127
Texas Longhorns 2022 All-Americans
Janie Boyle: Platform
Olivia Bray: 100 back, 100 fly, 200 fly, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Julia Cook: 200 medley relay
Anna Elendt: 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Hailey Hernandez: 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard
Kyla Leibel: 800 free relay
Kelly Pash: 200 free, 200 fly, 200 IM, 800 free relay, 400 medley relay
Evie Pfeifer: 500 free, 1650 free, 800 free relay
Paola Pineda: 3-meter springboard, platform
Jordan Skilken: Platform
Emma Sticklen: 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Erica Sullivan: 500 free, 1650 free
Texas Longhorns 2022 Honorable Mention All-Americans
Julia Cook: 200 back
Grace Cooper: 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Kelly Pash: 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Paola Pineda: 1-meter springboard
Bridget Semenuk: 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Jordan Skilken: 3-meter springboard
Emma Sticklen: 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Texas Program Records set at 2022 NCAA Championships
200 free: Kelly Pash – 1:42.38
100 fly: Emma Sticklen – 50.29
100 breast: Anna Elendt – 56.88
1000 free: Erica Sullivan – 9:27.99
1650 free: Erica Sullivan – 15:45.94
Players Mentioned
