No. 2 Texas women’s swim and dive opened up its spring season this past weekend against Ohio State and Louisville in the annual Eddie Reese Showdown at Lee and Joe Jamal Swimming Center.
Diving took center stage on Friday morning, with Texas sweeping the top two spots in the 1-meter event through a strong showing from sophomore Alejandra Estudillo and junior Bayleigh Cranford.
Cranford, fresh off her gold and bronze medal performances in the USA Diving Winter Championship in December, finished first in the event with 291.55 total points. Estudillo came behind her in second with a score of 288.05.
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Heading into the afternoon session, the meet was tight, as the Longhorns held a slim 8-point lead over Louisville with Ohio State trailing not far behind.
In the 500-yard free timed finals, sophomore Jillian Cox, the school record-holder in the event, had the best finish overall for the Longhorns at 4:34.28. Cox wouldn’t have the stage all to herself, however, as fellow sophomore Kate Hurst set a season best with a time of 4:38.54, just shy of her personal best dating back to last year.
In Saturday’s early sessions, Texas displayed strength through its sprint events.
With freshman swimmer Eva Okaro placing second in the 50-yard freestyle, junior swimmer Alexa Fulton taking fifth and junior Erin Gemmell and senior Sienna Schellenger tying for sixth, the Longhorns tried to push final momentum to close the gap between them and the Louisville Cardinals.
In session two, however, the Cardinals swept in the women’s 200-meter medley relay, placing first in the A and B. Louisville also took first place in the women’s 400-meter freestyle relay, which propelled the Cardinals to secure first place.
The solid performances by Louisville put the Longhorns one point shy from first place. Ohio State finished in third after not competing in Saturday’s final sessions due to weather travel changes.
Looking ahead, Texas is set to compete at the Sterkel Classic on Jan. 31, which will prove to be another opportunity for the Longhorns to grow and learn before the Southeastern Conference Championships Feb. 16 to 21.
