Fresh off of a dominant performance Saturday against visiting SMU, Texas looks to continue its winning ways at the University of Houston’s CRWC Natatorium tonight.
The Longhorns head into Wednesday’s Sprint for the Cure meet looking to extend their winning streak, which extends back to a win against Arizona on Jan. 29.
Their consecutive victories have moved them up two spots to No. 4 in the latest College Swimming Coaches of America poll. The team shares the spot with California while Stanford remains top dog.
Not only have the Longhorns been able to win as a group, but they have also received some of solid individual performances of late.
A week ago, junior swimmer Karlee Bispo became just the second Longhorn women’s swimmer to be named “National Swimmer of the Week.” She won seven events in one meet during the team’s victory over Arizona. More recently, freshman Ellen Lobb was able to win both the 50-yard freestyle and the 200 butterfly in the SMU meet.
But a change in the format of some races could create problems for the fourth-ranked Longhorns.
The annual Sprint for the Cure event features many events at non-traditional distances, such as the 300-yard freestyle and the 75-yard breaststroke.
The two programs last met on Feb. 10, 2010, in last year’s edition of the tournament. Texas was able to come away with the 18-point win by a score of 80-62.
Tonight’s meet is the last of the regular season for Texas and will be the final chance for the UT women to improve their national ranking heading into the Big 12 Championships, which begins on Feb. 23.
A win would ensure Texas the highest ranking in the conference and make it the favorite to win the championship. The only other Top 25 program in the conference is Texas A&M.