Men's golf preview

Coming in hot after a top-five finish at the Nike Invitational on Oct. 7, the men’s golf team looks to continue its strong fall showing at the Golf Club of Georgia this weekend.  

No. 16 Texas will tee off at the United States Collegiate Championship in Alpharetta, Georgia, at 9 a.m. Friday with a seasoned starting five.

Seniors Kramer Hickok and Brax McCarthy will lead the Longhorns alongside All-American sophomore Beau Hossler. Sophomore Gavin Hall and freshman Scottie Scheffler round out the lineup. 

“I am really happy with our team as we go through the growing process,” head coach John Fields said.

The tournament will have fierce competition for the Longhorns, who are seeking their first win there. The team will take the course against nine other ranked teams, including No. 2 Georgia Tech and No. 3 Stanford. 

The 54-hole tournament concludes Sunday.

Men's swimming and diving: Eddie Reese begins 37th year with Texas

While football head coach Charlie Strong is getting plenty of press for starting his first season at Texas, men’s swimming and diving head coach Eddie Reese is kicking off his 37th year with the Longhorns.

In Reese’s nearly 40 years at Texas, the Longhorns have won 10 NCAA titles, secured 11 NCAA runner-up finishes and recorded top-three finishes at 28 of 36 NCAA Championship meets. This season, Reese expects to add to his achievements.

“This year started better than any year I can remember,” said Reese, a powerful statement considering Texas’s list of accomplishments.

Reese and the team will open the season at home against Texas A&M. Texas hasn’t singularly faced A&M since late in the 2010-2011 season, when the Longhorns won the meet by a 43-point margin. Texas was ranked No. 4 and A&M was ranked No. 19. 

But this team is much different than the team four years ago. This season Texas has 32 returning swimmers and divers, including 14 All-Americans from the 2013-2014 team that took second at the NCAA Championships and won the program’s 35th consecutive conference title.

Seniors Kip Darmody and Will Chandler will lead the Longhorns at the meet Friday at 6 p.m. at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center.

Men’s tennis heads to Texas regionals

After a week off, the men’s tennis team will return to action this weekend at the USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championship in College Station.

Competing for No. 8 Texas are seniors Søren Hess-Olesen, Adrien Berkowicz and Jacoby Lewis, along with junior Michael Riechmann. Freshmen John Mee and William Jou will also make their Texas regional debut.

Mee, a Highland Park native, enters this weekend with a 4-2 singles record, including a win over a ranked opponent. Jou, a redshirt from Houston, looks to improve on a 1-1 singles record.

Berkowicz, who picked up two wins over a ranked opponent in Tulsa, Oklahoma, looks to carry that momentum into this weekend, but neither he nor Lewis advanced past the round of 32 in last year’s regionals.

Two-time All-American Hess-Olesen advanced to the semifinals of last year’s Texas regionals and he and fellow senior Lloyd Glasspool were crowned doubles champions of the 2013 event.

Lewis, who hasn’t played in official competition in over a month, enters this weekend with a 1-1 singles and doubles record.

The championship will be held at the Mitchell Tennis Center and will run from Oct. 18 through Oct. 21.

Women’s tennis prepares for USTA/ITA Regional Championships

The women's tennis team are visiting Waco for the USTA/ITA Texas Regional Championships for a five-day tournament.

Freshman singles player Danielle Wagland claimed the first victory for the Longhorns on the weekend, defeating SHSU sophomore Bailey Van Dyke (6-1, 6-3) on Thursday. Wagland then went on to win her second match of the day against Texas State senior Monica Pieratt (6-0, 6-3). Wagland will play Baylor junior Kiah Generette in the third round Friday. 

Freshman Ryann Foster won against Texas Tech’s Sarah Dvorak in the second round (6-7, 6-4, 6-3) after a bye in the first round. Foster will play Baylor freshman Kelley Anderson in the third round. 

Sophomore Pippa Horn defeated Abilene Christian University sophomore Erin Walker (6-2, 6-4) Thursday after receiving a bye in the first round. Horn will go up against Houston senior Elena Kordolaimi in the third round. 

Sophomore Neda Koprcina topped UT-Arlington junior Elizabeth Thoms in the second round (6-1, 6-1) after a bye in the first round. 

First-seeded junior Breaunna Addison also won over TCU sophomore Sofiko Kadzhaya (6-0, 6-4) in the second after a bye first round. Addison will play Abilene Christian University freshman Lucile Pothier. 

Junior Lana Groenvynck was the lone Longhorn to fall on Thursday, as she fell in the first round to SMU junior Hristina Dishkova (3-6, 3-6). 

Tournament play continues until Oct. 20 and will include doubles starting Oct. 17.

Cross country preview

The cross country team returns from a three-week hiatus this Saturday to compete at the NCAA Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana. 

Competitors include multiple Big 12 rivals, such as Baylor and Texas Tech in both the men’s and women’s races, and Kansas and Kansas State only in the men’s race. 

The Longhorns will run their 8,000, and 6,000-meter races on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, the same trail that will host the NCAA Division I Championships, allowing all runners to take the course for a test run before their biggest race.

The NCAA Division I Championship is set for Nov. 22.