 "Photo: Paul Chouy; Daily Texan Staff")
It has been two years since Texas took home the Big 12 championship trophy, and for head coach Kim Brackin, that’s two years too long.
“Texas wants to take the title back,” Brackin said. “It’s not a sense of revenge, but it has been disappointing that the past two years I’ve been here, we have not won this meet.”
Texas dominated the four-day Big 12 Championship meet from 1996-2006, winning a record eight straight times. Since then the Longhorns lost two years in a row to in-state rival Texas A&M. This year the No. 3 Longhorns head into the championship meet with the highest national ranking in the Big 12.
“It was really emotional when we lost the Big 12 championship to Texas A&M by one point in 2007,” Brackin said. “But this year it is our goal to win.”
This year’s meet will begin Wednesday in Columbia, Mo. and end Saturday with Texas competing in a total of 19 events against the conference’s five schools that field women’s swimming programs, including No. 8 Texas A&M.
Leading the Texas charge in the diving categories are seniors Jessica Livingston and reigning Big 12 Diver of the Year Kathryn Kelly. Each earned multiple All-American honors, two and three times, respectively.
The swimmers will be piloted by a number of championship-hungry seniors as well as underclassmen standouts. Senior Hee-Jin Chang, a 2008 Beijing Olympian, anchored Texas’ 200-yard medley relay to first place and a new meet record (1:38.36) at the Big 12 Championship Meet in 2007. Chang will be looking to replicate that success at this year’s meet.
Brackin said Texas would rely on freshman Kathleen Hersey as a top point-scorer. Hersey, also a Beijing Olympian, has posted stunning performances all season. During the Longhorns’ January matchup against No. 2 Arizona, Hersey set the pace for Texas with three individual victories. Hersey has already smashed five school records and three Big 12 records in her short college career, but this is Hersey’s first Big 12 Championship meet.
While winning races relies on individual power and determination, Brackin made sure to emphasize that meets cannot be won without a strong team effort.
“We have a very talented group of swimmers all across our team, from our freshman to our seniors,” Brackin said.
The Big 12 Championship does not affect how the competitors in the national championships are chosen; those competitors are chosen on an individual time basis. But Texas still considers the meet as a hallmark of pride in such a competitive conference.
“A number of women on this team are focused and ready to compete,” Brackin said.
Be the first to comment on this article!