No. 2 Texas Women’s Swimming and Diving defeats No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Alabama
January 15, 2023
No. 2 Texas women’s swimming and diving came back from the break right where it left off and scored two victories in their two-day double dual meet. The Longhorns defeated No. 5 Ohio State 196-157 and No. 6 Alabama 213.50-139.50.
The Longhorns started day one, earning the top-five spots in the 3-meter dive. Junior Bridget O’Neil earned first place with a score of 366.60 points, while sophomore Hailey Hernandez and senior Janie Boyle rounded out the top three with 327.05 and 320.80 points, respectively.
Senior Kelly Pash continued the victories for Texas as she earned first place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.45. Fellow senior teammate Kyla Leibel took third at 1:48.60.
Pash garnered another victory in the 100-yard individual medley in 54.28.
Freshman Lydia Jacoby and junior Olivia Bray added the fourth and fifth victories of the day for Texas in their respective event. Jacoby finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.21, while Bray finished first in the 100-yard backstroke at 53.50.
Graduate student Dakota Luther earned the final win for Texas of the day in the 200-yard butterfly finishing in first place with a time of 1:56.05. Junior Emma Sticklen came in second at 1:56.31.
Sophomore Erica Sullivan also managed a second-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle, finishing in 9:47.89.
The 200-yard medley relay team composed of Bray, Jacoby, Sticklen and Pash combined to finish in second place with a time of 1:38.14.
Texas finished day one with Bridget Semenuk, Pash, Bray and Leibel finishing in second place in the 400-yard freestyle relay at 3:16.37.
Day two started just as the first did, with Texas sweeping the top three of the 1-meter dive. Hernandez finished first with a score of 314.15, while O’Neil finished second with 301.15 and Boyle took third with 289.85.
The Longhorns continued strong with a dominating performance from Bray, Jacoby, Sticklen and Pash in the 400-yard medley relay. They led Texas to a first-place finish with a time of 3:32.85, almost 4 seconds ahead of runner-up Ohio State.
Pash again had two individual victories, this time coming from the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley. She took first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.37 and first in the 200 IM at 1:58.24.
Jacoby also picked up another individual win coming in the 200-yard breaststroke. She finished in first place with a time of 2:11.14.
Sticklen closed the victories for the day with a 52.10 first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.
The Longhorns will look to continue their undefeated season at their next meet on Jan. 27-28, where they will host No. 4 NC State.
