No. 2 Texas Women’s Swimming and Diving cruises to weekend victories against No. 4 NC State

Elijah Garcia, General Sports Reporter

No. 2 Texas Women’s Swimming and Diving brought the brooms and pans to this weekend’s two-day dual meet against No. 4 NC State. The Longhorns were bouncing up and down poolside, cheering on their teammates and pumping up the crowd as they enjoyed the Friday night cruise to victory. Texas won 124-62 and again on Saturday, finishing 93-53.

Over the two-day meet, Texas competed in a total of 19 events. The Longhorns secured 15 event victories, first and second place finishes in six of those events and sweeping first through third place finishes in three of those events.

Event victories came from sophomore Hailey Hernandez, securing wins in the one and 3-meter dive, senior Kelly Pash in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley, junior Emma Sticklen in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly, freshman Lydia Jacoby in the 100 and 200-yard breast, sophomore Erica Sullivan in the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle and junior Olivia Bray in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke.


Pash’s time of 1:42.73 in the 200-yard freestyle and her 1:53.81 finish in the 200-yard medley earned her the fastest and third-fastest time in the NCAA this season. Jacoby’s finish of 57.45 in the 100-yard breaststroke earned the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

Sullivan’s finishes of 4:35.88 in the 500-yard freestyle and 9:33.66 in the 1000-yard freestyle earned her the fastest times in the NCAA for both events this season. Sullivan showed her exceptional quality during her races, finishing seven to nine seconds ahead of the next finisher in both races. Sullivan’s finishes brought out her fiery passion as she rose out of the water and continuously pounded on it in triumph.

The 400-yard medley relay team composed of Bray, Jacoby, Sticklen and Pash also set a record as the fastest time in the NCAA this season and a program-best with a time of 3:25.29.

Texas received several-point boosts from junior Grace Cooper in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, senior Bridget Semenuk in the 50-yard freestyle, junior Anna Elendt in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, graduate student Dakota Luther in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Abby Pfeifer in the 1000-yard freestyle, sophomore Olivia McMurray in the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle and freshman Meghan DiMartile in the 200-yard backstroke.

Texas divers junior Bridget O’Neil, senior Jordan Skilken and senior Janie Boyle also heavily contributed to the dominant showing by securing second-fourth place finishes in the one and 3-meter dives.

The Longhorns will look to close out their 8-0 undefeated regular season at home on Feb. 3, where they will host unranked SMU.