The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both walked away with victories against North Carolina State on Saturday.
The No. 1 Texas men won the meet 154-136 over the No. 8 North Carolina State men, following a victory over No. 9 North Carolina, 160-132, on Friday.
The Longhorns held a firm lead the entire meet. The team even declined to accept any earned points for the remainder of the meet after junior Clark Smith outswam Wolfpack freshman Anton Ipsen in the 500-yard freestyle. Smith touched the wall first at 4:20.29, while Ipsen came in just fractions of a second later at 4:20.85. Defending NCAA champion sophomore Joseph Schooling smashed his own record-breaking time in the 200-yard butterfly at 1:43.76.
Senior diver Cory Bowersox won both diving events with 373.50 and 395.70 points in the 1-meter and 3-meter contests, respectively. Juniors Sean O’Brien and Mark Anderson followed closely behind in both contests.
The No. 6 Longhorn women also defeated the No. 7 North Carolina State women 160-140 on Saturday. Texas notched seven wins in a Day 2 comeback after falling to No. 2 North Carolina 154-146 on Friday.
“We had a great two days of racing, and I’m really pleased with the complete team performances on both days,” head coach Carol Capitani said. “Although we came up short [Friday] against UNC, I’m really proud of the team effort.”
Freshman Joanna Evans won the 1000-yard freestyle for the second day in a row by over 11 seconds. All-American junior Madisyn Cox picked up three wins Saturday in every individual event she entered.
Freshman Remedy Rule grabbed her first win of the weekend in the 200-yard butterfly. North Carolina State senior Riki Bonnema won the 50-yard freestyle with a 22.82, barely edging Texas sophomore Rebecca Millard’s 22.95. But Millard came back in the 100-yard freestyle and won in 49.54. Bonema placed second with a 50.03. Freshman Quinn Carrozza won the 200-yard backstroke for the second consecutive day.
The Longhorn women’s second, third and fourth place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events cancelled out North Carolina State’s first place points in both.
In a sweet song of victory, the Longhorns ended their weekend by singing the “Eyes of Texas” on the bus home. The Longhorn divers compete again next weekend at home in the Texas Diving Invitational.
