Texas Men’s Swimming and Diving: No. 4 Texas sweeps No. 19 Penn State, Virginia and West Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 4 Texas won five events in the meet’s second session and preserved victoriesSaturday over No. 19 Penn State, Virginia and West Virginia in a two-day quad meet at UVA’s Aquatic and Fitness Center. 

 Texas (5-1) defeated host Virginia by a 225-128 margin and knocked off No. 19 Penn State, 185-168.  The Longhorns defeated Big 12 foe West Virginia, 259-93.    

 Junior All-American Clay Youngquist once again showed his range in the freestyle events, as he started his day by winning the 1,000-yard freestyle and closed the session by taking the 200 freestyle.  The Battle Creek, Mich., native led a one-two Texas finish in the 1000 with a winning mark of 9:11.36.  Sophomore Sam Lewis took second in 9:12.11. 

 Freshman Will Licon notched the second Texas win in the 200 breaststroke where he was victorious in 1:59.49. Freshman Jack Conger used a strong back half to put away a victory in the 100 butterfly.  The Rockville, Md., native trailed at the 50-yard mark but out-split his nearest competitor by over a second in the final 50 yards to win in 47.47.  Youngquist led the 200 freestyle from start-to-finish and closed out a convincing win in 1:36.97. 

 Penn State stood within striking distance of the Longhorns heading into the 400 IM, but UT’s John Martens and Licon placed first and second to hold off the Nittany Lions and effectively preserve the three-team sweep for Texas.  Martens claimed the event in 3:53.59 while Licon followed in 3:56.14.  Penn State closed the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay. 

 The Longhorns host the UT Diving Invitational from Nov. 21-23 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.  The swimmers return to competition on Thursday, Dec. 5 when UT hosts the annual three-day Texas Invitational.