Longhorns Dominate At Big 12 Championships

Texas swept the Big 12 Championship titles after posting outstanding performances by both the men’s and women’s squads.

Feb 26, 2018 by Kolby Paxton

Longhorns Dominate At Big 12 Championships

Release courtesy of the Big 12 Conference

The Texas Longhorns swimming and diving teams swept the Big 12 Championship titles after posting outstanding performances by both the men’s and women’s squads. They defended their 2016 trophies as the women earn their fifth consecutive victory while the men have won it every year since the league’s inception.

The championship was highlighted by eighteen Big 12 records over the course of the four days, including five on its final day.

In addition to the team awards, the Longhorns swept the event’s individual honors. Will Licon’s first place performances in the 200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke combined with his second place time in the 400 medley earned him Men’s Swimmer of the Meet. Madisyn Cox carded the women’s title for her victories in the 200 and 400 medley along with the 400 breaststroke.

Eddie Reese picked up his 39th-consecutive conference title ?

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Congrats also go to @TexasWSD and @TexasTFXC https://t.co/7FtwSQO2a4
— Texas Men's Swimming & Diving (@TexasMSD) February 25, 2018

Meghan O’Brien and Mark Anderson earned the Men’s and Women’s Diver of the Meet honors as well. O’Brien placed first in the 1 and 3-meter events while Anderson took first in the 1-meter and second in the 3-meter. Newcomer of the Meet awards were presented to Josh Artmann and Lauren Case. Combined, the two tallied two first place and two second place finishes in the championship.

On the last day of competition, Clark Smith (UT) notched the nation’s fastest time this season in the 1650-yard freestyle, clocking in at 14:33.28 to break his previous record. On the women’s side, Iowa State’s Keely Soellner set a Cyclone record 16:26.59, which is over 11.26 seconds faster than the program’s previous best.

The Texas men’s team finished the four day event with 1081 points, followed by West Virginia (870) and TCU (702). On the women’s side, the Longhorns led with 991. Kansas took second, earning 683.5 points to set a program record for the most points a team has scored. Iowa State received third place (591.5) followed by WVU (581.5) and TCU (434.5).