The eighth-ranked Indiana men’s and 13th-ranked women's swim and dive teams suffered their first losses of the season on Friday, falling to the University of Texas at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
It was a tightly contested meet down south, as the Hoosier men fell to the second-ranked Longhorns by just 10 points, 155-145. The women were defeated by the third-ranked Longhorn squad by a score of 166-132.
The Hoosiers took second in the meet after defeating the Aggies on both sides. Indiana beat the 14th-ranked men’s team 220-80 and the 22nd-ranked women’s team 200-100.
[Related: Indiana men’s and women’s swim and dive defeats Kentucky to begin season]
The men’s 200-medley relay team of sophomores Luke Barr and Josh Matheny, junior Tomer Frankel and graduate student Van Mathias took first place with a time of 1:26.42. Sophomore Rafael Miroslaw and Mathias took first and third, respectively, in the 200 free, with Miroslaw’s 1:35.23 being one of Indiana’s many B-cut times on the day. Barr and junior Gavin Wight took the top two spots in the 100 back, and Barr’s first-place time of 47.40 was another B-cut.
Senior Brendan Burns won the 200 fly, and his time of 1:42.45 currently stands as his season high. Mathias, sophomore Finn Brooks, graduate student Jack Franzman, and Miroslaw finished second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the 50 free, with Mathias’ runner-up time of 19.90 also being good enough for a B-cut.
Burns also won the 200 back by less than two tenths of a second with a time of 1:41.46 and the 100 fly with a time of 46.52. Burns, Frankel, and Brooks took the top three spots in the race, with Burns’ and Frankel’s both being B-cuts.
Sophomore Quinn Henninger continued his strong start to the diving season, winning the 1-meter springboard event with an NCAA zone-qualifying score of 368.80 points, winning by almost 50 points. Henninger also took first place in the 3-meter springboard.
On the women’s side, sophomore Mariah Denigan had a strong showing, posting the second-fastest time in the country in the 1000 free at 9:45.47. Denigan later won the 500 free with a time of 4:48.47.
Sophomore Anna Peplowski won the 100 back by just five hundredths of a second with a B-cut time of 53.37 seconds, also tallying a B-cut time of 1:55.97 in the 200 back. Graduate student Noelle Peplowski took the top spot in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:10.41, adding to the Peplowski sisters’ success in the meet.
The women also took second and third in the 200 individual medley thanks to strong performances by graduate student Mackenzie Looze and Noelle Peplowski. Looze’s time of 1:59.00 was the final B-cut of the afternoon.
The Hoosiers will return to the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center for their first home meet of the season next at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, when they face the University of Missouri Tigers.
