The Texas men hosted Texas A&M and put on an absolute clinic with a 1-2-3 sweep in six out of nine events, every one of which was won by a Texas swimmer, before the meet was capped and the last few events counted only as exhibition swims for Texas to keep the score closer.
After the exhibition swims were decided, the score was 155-113.
100 Back
In the first event, the 100 backstroke, Will Licon took home the win with a time of 48.44 for a fairly good in-season swim. Second behind Licon was teammate Will Glass followed by Aaron Gustafson to give the Longhorns their first 1-2-3 sweep of the night.
100 Breast
Imri Ganiel solidified another Longhorns win and the second 1-2-3 Longhorns sweep with a 56.81 100 breaststroke win. Ganiel won easily over Liam Lockwood and Austin Temple who finished in 57.26 and 57.32 respectively.
100 Fly
Jack Conger won the 100 fly demonstrating absolute speed in his sophomore year with a 47.71. Second behind Conger was Texas flyer Tripp Cooper who clocked in at over a second behind Conger in 48.83.
The two were able to hold on for a sweep, however sneaking in for the bronze medal was Luke Shaw of Texas A&M to give them their first top three finish of the evening. Shaw finished the race in 49.87.
1000 Free
After Shaw ruined Texas’ perfect 1-2-3 sweep in every event, the Longhorns tried to get back into the swing of it by doing just that in the 1000 free. Jonathan Roberts was the eventual winner, clocking in at 9:12.47 to obliterate the other two swimmers.
Nic Munoz held on for second at 9:25.67 despite a close finish with John Martens who was third in 9:26.16.
200 Free
Freshman standout Joseph Schooling grabbed a win in his first swim of the evening with a 1:38.43 in the 200 freestyle. Schooling is an all-around standout and expected to bring success to the Texas relays and produce many individual points throughout his collegiate career with the Longhorns.
That 1:38 was a best time for Schooling, showing his progression as a college athlete.
Behind Schooling was PJ Dunne who was over two seconds back in 1:40.89. Third was Jake Ritter to round out the Texas top-three finish with a 1:41.65.
50 Free
The 50 free was a true battle as it had many star-sprinters facing off. The race came down to a win by Texas’ Brett Ringgold in 20.03, coming the closest to cracking 20 seconds out of anyone in the field.
Second was Cory Bolleter of Texas A&M who was able to throw down the best finish for an Aggie all night with a 20.53 second place finish. Behind him was teammate Jacob Gonzales in 20.62 who kept Longhorns John Murray and Kip Darmody out of the top three.
The two Longhorns finished fourth and fifth respectively in 20.71 and 20.72.
200 IM
Will Licon got the chance to add another gold to an impressive night which included a 48.44 100 back, and he did just that by winning the 200 IM. The Longhorn swimmer won the event smoothly in 1:48.18, beating Jared Butler and Gonzalo Carazo Barbero.
Butler, his teammate, finished the race well behind in 1:51.98. He was followed by Barbero of Texas A&M who clocked in at 1:52.26 for third.
200 Fly
Clark Smith of Texas took the 200 fly win in 1:47.18. John Martens was second in 1:50.40 followed by Chris Scheaffer to round out the Texas 1-2-3 finish with a 1:51.29.
100 Free
Brett Ringgold claimed the title of sprint king at this dual meet as he took home the 100 free title after winning the 50 earlier on. The winning time for Ringgold was a 44.62, being the only swimmer under 45 seconds.
Behind Ringgold was recent Pan Pac team member Matt Ellis, who swims for the Longhorns, touching the wall in 45.07. Texas sprinter John Murray finished behind him in third with a 45.94.
200 Back
At this point in the meet, it seemed as though Texas had all but wiped the floor with the Aggies, and the remainder of the meet was capped leaving the remainder of the competition as an exhibition for Longhorn swimmers.
Due to this, the 200 backstroke was won by Texas A&Ms Brock Bonetti in 1:50.98 despite Jack Conger swimming a 1:45.84 and Will Licon posting a 1:46.66.
Alexandros Thoecharidis ended up claiming second behind Bonetti in 1:51.07 followed by Cameron Kerr in 1:54.02.
500 Free
The fastest time of the night in the 500 free went to Jake Ritter in 4:35.76. The event however, went to Gonzalo Carazo Barbero who made it extremely close with a 4:35.83 although he took the win due to the exhibition decision.
PJ Dunne of Texas would have finished behind him in 4:26.20. The sulver went to Miha Bernat in 4:42.94 followed by Mitch Glander in 4:45.90.
200 Breast
Mauro Castillo Luna won the 200 breast in 2:05.53 folowed by Jonathan Tybur in 2:10.84 and Hayden Duplechain in 2:10.84.
The Longhorn swimmers were faster however, with Imri Ganiel touching the wall in 2:04.58 followed by his teammate, Matt Korman, in 2:05.13.
400 Free Relay
The last event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay, would have been an absolute demolition as the Longhorns through together a great relay that finished in 2:58.96. Brett Ringgold led-off the relay in 43.90 to swim a significantly faster 100 freestyle than he did to win the event earlier.
John Murray split a 45.57, Matt Ellis a 44.84, and Joseph Schooling a 44.65.
The Texas A&M team made up of Cory Bolleter, Jacob Gonzales, Turker Ayar, and Gonzalo Carazo Barbero put together a time of 3:05.83.
For full meet results click here.
Jack Conger is so incredibly talented. I saw an interview with Eddie Reese after 2014 NCAA’s in which he very manfully accepted responsibility for Conger’s disappointing swims. Reese claimed that Conger simply over trained, and Coach Reese did not have him ready. I appreciated that from Coach Reese – he is a class act. But as fan I hope to see Conger compete for NCAA titles in the backstrokes, and possibly 500 free.
I really think Austin Temple is just a hidden gem:)
The performance of the meet has to be Ringgold leading off the relay. That is nasty for the first meet of the year and near his LTB if I am have done my research correctly. Does he taper well? They will have a decent 400 free relay this year if so.
Lay off the writer… I’ve seen far worse.
There is a full write-up on divedove.com 😉
The divers did very well but I guess not good enough to get into the article…..
I am surprised by Clark Smith. If I’m correct, he’s about 6’9″ tall, right? That is very tall for a 200 flyer. Getting those long arms and torso out of the water must take a lot of energy. Tyler Clary and Chad LeClos are just a hair over 6′, I believe.
Sometimes freshman come into college having over-trained from high school, and look studly the first few months while the vets are breaking themselves down. Still, whatever Brett Ringgold is doing seems to be working. His intrasquad was no fluke!
Bobo, I hope and expect big things from Conger this year. He is very talented and Eddie is too good of a coach to miss great results. Last year I noticed how skinny Conger was and doubted he was big into weights which is a material part of US college programs. I think his body had too much initial trauma and was broken down too much last year. He will adjust and do great.
I love your vast technical knowledge criticizing the stroke of a 5’10, 52.8 100 Breastroker. The strength of that kid is his stroke. You aren’t the 2nd fastest HS Breastroker ever at his size with a bad stroke. Stay in the stands and leave the coaching to the experts buddy.