University of Arizona
Texas
01/25/2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
Women/Men: No. 17/18 ARIZONA vs. No. 1/2 Texas
When: Fri. Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. MST
Sat. Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. MST
Where: Austin, Texas
TV Coverage: Longhorn Network
Recap of Pac-12 Weekend
Arizona swimming and diving dropped the meets against California and Stanford this past weekend. The women fell to California, 119-181 and later to Stanford, 104, 190. Against California, the Cats won five events, coming from freshman Hannah Cox, freshman Kennedy Lohman, junior Tjasa Oder and senior Sally Hackett.
The men were outscored by California, 113-161 and Stanford, 118-170. Sophomore Chatham Dobbs highlighted the Stanford meet with two victories of the Wildcats' three total. Justin Wright also added a win in the 200 fly, his school record-holding event.
Looking at the Competition
Texas' first-ranked women's swimming and diving team is 9-1 on the season, its only loss coming against Stanford in November. Each of the teams the Longhorns have faced this season are currently in the top 20 of the CSCAA rankings, five of which are in the top ten. The Texas women most recently upset then No. 2 Georgia, 171-124, giving the Bulldogs their first home loss in 22 years.
The No. 2 Texas men's swimming and diving team is 4-3 this season, losing to Indiana twice and N.C. State. All of the teams the Longhorns have faced thus far are in the top ten of the CSCAA rankings. The men last earned a victory against then No. 7 Georgia, 180-114, snapping the Georgia men's 103 home-meet win-streak.
History versus Texas
Arizona last met Texas at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center in the 2015-16 season. The women were eight points shy of pulling the upset over then No. 4 Texas, 146-154. The meet was decided in the last event. Arizona needed a 1-2 finish in the 400 free relay to tie, but ended up going 1-4, giving Texas six points and the win.
The men fell to then No. 1 Texas, 167-113, winning two events in the meet.
Hannah Cox: And She's Off
Freshman Hannah Cox has been on a roll in her first collegiate year since the horn went off for her first event. Cox has not finished lower than third in her best events, the 200 free, 500 free, 200 IM and 400 IM. In the 500 free, the freshman has won four of the seven times she swam the event, coming in second place the other three times.
Cox has also won at least one event in five of the eight meets, coming against NAU/Hawai'i, Utah, No. 19 UCLA, No. 4 USC and No. 6 California. The freshman has won multiple events in each of those meets, excluding UCLA. Cox's most recent success came against California as she was the only swimmer to have multiple victories in the meet. Cox outdueled California's Katie McLaughlin to win the 200 free by five-hundredths of a second, touching in 1:49.43. The freshman later dominated the 500 free, winning by a body length with 4:52.78
The swimmer then led the women against No. 2 Stanford, finishing second in the 200 free (1:48.06), behind Olympian Lia Neal. She was then runner-up in the 500 free with 4:50.58, second to the event's American-record holder, Katie Ledecky. Cox closed out the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 IM (4:20.19).
Of the five conference meets this season, Cox has at least one victory in four of those from five different events (200 free, 500 free, 1,000 free, 200 IM, 400 IM). The freshman has used her versatility to continuously contribute points for the Wildcats.
Chatham Dobbs: Winner, Winner
Sophomore Chatham Dobbs led the men in the meet against Stanford with two victories of the three total for Arizona. Dobbs won the 100 fly (48.61) and 50 free (20.43) in the meet. This season in the 100 fly, Dobbs has won the event five of the seven times he swam. The sophomore finished first in the prelims of the 100 fly at the Texas Invitational (46.14), later placing fourth in the final (46.39). Apart from his fourth-place finish at the Texas Invite, Dobbs has only come up short one other time, against No. 1 California.
Arizona in the Rankings
The Cats have multiple swimmers in the USA Swimming Top-100 Times this season. The women have 46 swimmers with times in the top 100 of all the conferences' swimmers while the men have 55.
The women have 11 total times in the top 20 of the rankings coming from six swimmers. They are led by sophomore Katrina Konopka and freshman Hannah Cox with three each. Konopka is sixth in the 50 free, 12th in the 200 free and 14th in the 100 back. Cox has the seventh-fastest time in the 500 free, 15th in the 200 free and 19th in the 400 IM. Sophomore Annie Ochitwa has two top-20 times, notching the 16th-fastest in the 100 fly and tying for the 18th-fastest time in the 100 back.
Also coming from six swimmers, the men have totaled eight top-20 times this season. Junior Nick Thorne and sophomore Chatham Dobbs together contributed half of them. Thorne holds the tenth-fastest time in the 400 IM and is tied for the 14th-fastest in the 200 IM. Dobbs has the eighth-fastest time in the 100 back and is tenth in the 100 fly. Sophomore Justin Wright also has a top-ten time, currently holding the seventh-fastest in the 200 fly.
Freshman Strong
Arizona has 15 freshmen this season, seven for the women and eight for the men. Of the women's 55 victories this season, freshman have contributed 16 of them. Ten alone have come from Hannah Cox, while Kirsten Jacobsen and Kennedy Lohman have also added to that number.
Follow Arizona Swimming and Diving: For further coverage of Arizona swimming and diving, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow the team's Twitter (@ArizonaSwimming) and Instagram (@ArizonaSwimDive) accounts.
