Lawrence, KS, November 1, 2014 – The Kansas Jayhawks played host to fellow Big 12 opponent Texas Christian University (TCU), as well as Big Sky Conference member University of North Dakota (UND) over the weekend. And, the meet served the Jayhawks well, as they beat the TCU Horned Frogs 172-124, and also earned a win over UND 217-79. For their part, the TCU women were able to overpower UND, winning in a huge differential of 213-68. On the men’s side, TCU also handed UND a defeat with a final score of 164-126.
Women’s Meet
The competition was virtually an “All Kansas” show, as the Lady Jayhawks won all but three swimming events. This included starting the meet off with a win in the women’s 200 medley relay, followed by wins in the next five individual events. Kansas sophomore Yulduz Kuchkarova swept the backstroke events, winning the 100 in 57.03 and the 200 in 2:03.91. Kansas breaststroker Bryce Hinde also won both her stroke’s distances, topping the 100 field in 1:05.30 and the touching the wall in the 200 in 2:21.62. Teammate Chelsie Miller logged three individual wins by earning top spots in the 200 butterfly (2:03.06), 500 freestyle (4:57.45), and 200 IM (2:06.04) events.
The first win for the Horned Frog women came from sophomore, Julia-Grace Sanders, who put up a 24.05 to earn top points for her team. TCU’s next individual win came from freshman Emily Gibson, earning a victory in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.17. The TCU “A” foursome of Julie-Grace Sanders, Mackenzie Shuler, Mikayla Winkler, and Alison Bleasdell closed out the meet by topping the field in the 400 free relay.
UND women struggled to put points on the board throughout the competition. For their highest individual event finishes, Erin Grabanski (senior) earned fourth in the 200 IM, (2:10.80) while Alexa Weyer also touched fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.41. The UND “A” 400 free relay team of Gracie DiMeo, Gabi Liedy, Danica Dutt, and Cassie Walth ended the meet on a relatively successful note, earning second place in the event, clocking a time of 3:38.17.
Men’s Meet
The men’s side was TCU-dominant, as the Horned Frogs earned victories in all but three individual swimming events, although UND sophomore Noah Lucas did manage to pull out wins for the Fighting Sioux in a couple of events. Lucas won the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:42.15, and he also got his hand on the wall first in the 500 freestyle in a 4:37.82, albeit by only by two one-hundredths of a second over TCU senior Thor Stenfjord. UND men Austin Smith, Bruce Nerheim, and Obi Obembe also tried to help their team’s cause by sweeping the 200 IM in 1:59.88, 2:01.19, and 2:03.94, respectively.
But, the Horned Frogs were just too deep and too dominant for UND to make a dent in the point deficit. The TCU trio of Cooper Robinson (50.40), Joshua Mangus (51.34), and Jake Powell (52.72) swept the 100 backstroke event, while sophomore teammate Garrett Hills earned victories in both sprint freestyle races (21.09 in the 50; 47.01 in the 100). The Horned Frogs continued on their tear with wins in the 100/200 breaststroke and the 100/200 fly.
Up next, the Kansas will host the University of Illinois on November 8th. The TCU women’s next meet is also at home, where they host Iowa State on November 7th, while the TCU men travel to Mansfield, TX on November 12th to take on SMU. University of North Dakota women welcome Minnesota State and Moorhead to their Hyslop Sports Center on November 7th; UND men travel to Stevens Point, WI on November 14th for the “Border Battle Invite”.