In this episode of The Texan Recap, Audio Editor Mercy Solis chats about the Texas win over Michigan and Barton Springs’s early summer season closure.

Reported by Emma Hutchinson and Erika Pernis. Hosted and edited by Mercy Solis. Cover art by Emma Berke. Music by Top Flow Productions.

Mercy Solis: Texas secures another win for the season and Barton Springs pool has closed due to safety concerns. I’m your host this week, Mercy Solis and this is The Texan Recap.

Here’s what you missed this week.

*Intro music*

Solis: Texas beat Michigan on their home turf with a 31-12 victory. Here’s Emma with the story

Emma Hutchinson:   I’m Emma Hutchinson, and I’m the sports desk editor here at the Daily Texan for our sports department. 

Solis: Thank you for being here with us today Emma. So overall, How was the game? 

Hutchinson: The whole game was just super, super exciting, and just the way that Texas was kinda leading the game, and just really not giving Michigan any opportunity to score. Obviously, they just had to make some field goal kicks. , and then they got that touchdown in the fourth quarter there. But still, I think Texas did a really good job, just kind of leading, leading the game the whole time, and just not giving up. So that’s always fun to watch, you know.

Solis: Were you expecting the sweep that occurred when you went into the game?

Hutchinson: I honestly, I expected Texas to win, but, I definitely thought it was going to be a closer game, just because I was like, oh, Michigan is absolutely gonna, Have that hype. Obviously being in the big house, you know, , that environment is super intimidating. And so I was expecting it to be a close game. But then, like I said, Texas kind of took the reins the whole time.

Solis: I think the game surpasses a lot of people’s expectations, although hope has been restored in UT football. So, you’re a senior, in your time as a sports reporter how has UT evolved as a team or how has it changed? 

Hutchinson: Ooo, that’s a really good question. I’ve been reporting for the Texan literally ever since my freshman year. And I remember, when I came in as a freshman in 2021, that was the same year that we just got Sark as a head coach.

And so, I just really remember it was a rough rough time. So honestly, it’s been so cool and so exciting to see the program grow the way it has. I feel like last season was definitely like, um, after going to the college football playoff and winning the Big 12 championship, it was kind of just really refreshing to be like, ‘Oh, you know, Texas is finally back.’

It’s just been so like, inspiring to see the team grow under Sark. So, I definitely think they’ve come a long way.

Solis: So, you mentioned Texas is back. What do you predict the score against UTSA will be?

Hutchinson: I honestly want to say I don’t think we’ll let UTSA score. Maybe, maybe, we’ll let them get a field goal kick or something like that, but I’ll say I’m gonna go score maybe like 56 to like 3, I’d say. It’s gonna be like a blowout for sure.  

Solis: Thank you so much for joining us today!

Hutchinson: Yes, absolutely! Thank you so much for having me. This has been so exciting.

Solis:  The iconic Barton Springs pool has cut its summer season short. Here’s Erika with the story. 

Erika Pernis: Hi, my name is Erika Pernis, and I’m a senior news reporter here at the Texan.

Solis: Hi, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us why Barton closed?

Pernis: So, during I believe the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, they were doing  a weekly man check and they discovered that there were like two holes in one of the pipes that had really strong suction. So, if someone was swimming by it, that could be like a really bad safety hazard. I think the city said it could even cause the loss of a life. So, it was pretty dangerous.

Solis: Oh wow,  so you spoke to the city about a long-term solution. What will that look like?

Pernis: Yeah, so basically, I think this pipe situation has happened before in the past, but they didn’t have like a really long-term solution. So, they spent a little bit more time trying to develop a repair plan. So this time there, I think the main plan is just like fill the pipes and with concrete, so it doesn’t have that suction issue, and that can take several weeks. So, the pool will be closed for  a while.

Solis: Yeah, because it’s federally protected, so they’re not allowed to take, construction equipment down there, right? 

Pernis: Yeah, it’s a federally protected environment for this type of salamander, so they have to be like really careful about like the construction and like the site.

Solis:  In the meantime, where can Austin residents go?

Pernis: There are various other Austin pools that are still open. I think the main one that the city talks about is Deep Eddy Pool. That one is still open.

Solis: And Barkin Springs, which is apparently the name of the free side?

Pernis: Oh yeah, the outside area of Barton Springs, the part that’s free. That’s still open, parts of that weren’t closed down.

Solis: Thank you for joining us today Erika.

Pernis: Thank you so much for having me.

Solis:  And that’s The Texan Recap for the week of Sept. 8. I’m Mercy Solis.

The Texan Recap is a production of The Daily Texan Audio Department. If you like this episode, make sure you subscribe to The Daily Texan on your streaming platform of choice and follow us on Twitter @texanaudio. This episode was hosted and edited by me, Mercy Solis. Special thanks to Emma Hutchinson and Erika Pernis for their reporting. Cover art is by Emma Berke and music is by Top Flow Productions. To read the news stories in this episode or see more from the Texan, head on over to www.thedailytexan.com. Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you next week.