Before the women’s swimming and diving team competed in their annual Orange-White meet there were a few things that Texas head coach Kim Brackin was hoping this meet would accomplish.
“I watch for little things, like their reactions at the end of races. I look to see if they are reaching over the lane lines after the races and saying ‘good job’ to one another, giving each other some comments afterward,” Brackin says.
She also wanted to see the upperclassmen reach out to the newcomers. “I’m watching them mentor the young ones,” she said. “That’s what I hope to get out of this meet, and it’s good to see the upperclassmen do that.”
The meet took place on Friday and the White team defeated Orange 143-95 with the help of sophomore Leah Gingrich and freshman Kelsey Amundsen. Gingrich had three individual wins and Amundsen had two. Gingrich led off the individual events with a win in the 800-yard freestyle with a time of 8:01.72 and sophomore Kathleen Hersey added a win for team White in the 150-yard backstroke in a time of 1:27.32.
Junior Carlye Ellis contributed to White’s victory by capturing the 50-yard breaststroke in 26.97. Gingrich took her second victory in the 150-yard butterfly in 1:28.24 and Amundsen took her first win in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.83, giving the White team first place victories in the first six swimming events.
Team Orange finally captured a victory when sophomore Lauren Caldwell won the 1-meter diving event with 316.57 points. Sophomore Karlee Bispo tacked on another win for team Orange by taking the 150-yard freestyle in 1:22.24.
Amundsen took her second win for team White in the 50-yard butterfly in 26.42. Bispo answered back for team Orange scoring her second victory, this time in the 150-yard breaststroke in 1:40.45. Sophomore Katie Riefenstahl scored a victory for team Orange as well in the 50-yard backstroke in 26.50.
White finished the meet with two wins overall. Gingrich tallied her third victory of the day in the 400-meter individual medley in 4:21.29, and freshman Maren Taylor won the 3-meter diving event with 315.15 points.
“Overall, there was some good racing out there,” Brackin said. She stated that as far as freshmen, Amundsen stood out. “[Amundsen] had a really strong 150 free and a 200 free on the relay, and then did well on the 50 butterfly. I was impressed with the way she swam.”
The regular season starts on Oct. 15 at Missouri.
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