Wisconsin Badgers
Texas Invitational
Hutchins’ school record highlights stellar Texas Invitational for Wisconsin
December 05, 2015 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Junior wins 1650-yard freestyle with school record and fastest time in nation
AUSTIN, Texas – The Wisconsin swimming program had a standout showing at the Texas Invitational last week, highlighted by Matt Hutchins putting on a show last Saturday night in the 1650-yard freestyle by besting his own school record and swimming the fastest time in the nation this season to record an NCAA 'A' qualifying cut.
Swimming a time of 14 minutes, 38.14 seconds, Hutchins not only shattered his school record of 14:49.87 by over 11 seconds, but the junior also beat out runner-up Townley Haas of Texas by nearly three seconds. Hutchins' time ranks as the fastest in the nation this season.
"Matt was outstanding," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "He swam the top time in the nation. He broke the school record in the mile and then the 1000-yard freestyle on the way out. Any time you have the fastest time in the nation, you know that you're doing something right. We're excited because he's not fully rested and shaved, too. He's just going to go faster. I'm really excited about that. He was great all the way around."
Over the course of the week, Wisconsin swimmers recorded a total of 48 NCAA cuts at the Texas Invitational.
"We had a lot of really, really good performances. It was by far the most successful Texas Invitational that we've competed in since I've been here," Hite said. "We had a lot of lifetime best times. We had people that will qualify for NCAAs. With both the men and the women, it was a total team effort."
The UW women had great swims in the mile as well on the final day of competition in Texas, as Danielle Valley garnered a third-place finish with a time of 16:14.59 and Jenny Holtzen finished right behind in fourth with a time of 16:16.26.
Wisconsin performed well in the 100-yard freestyle as well, as Chase Kinney claimed a runner-up finish with a personal-best time of 48.38 seconds. Cannon Clifton was fourth in the men's race with a time of 43.32, while Brett Pinfold was eighth in 44.44.
Jess Unicomb led the way for the Wisconsin women in the 200-yard backstroke, as the freshman finished the mid-distance race in a time of 1:59.04.
Three Badgers placed in the top-ten in the men's 200-yard backstroke, as Pinfold was sixth (1:44.38), Austin Byrd was ninth (1:42.47), and Todd McCarthy was 10th (1:44.49).
In the 200-yard butterfly, Dana Grindall was fifth, as the junior clocked in at 1:57.11, just nearly missing her school record by less than a second. Grace Wold was ninth in the B Final with a time of 1:57.87, breaking her personal best time by just under five seconds.
Anna Meinholz grabbed an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, as the senior touched the wall at 2:13.84.
The Badgers finished the meet strong, as the team of Clifton, Pinfold, Ryan Stack, and Ryan Barsanti finished third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, touching the wall at 2:55.50. The women's 'A' 400-yard freestyle relay team of Unicomb, Kinney, Annie Tamblyn, and Marissa Berg was fifth with a time of 3:18.27.
"We've worked very hard this fall, so it was a great halfway point for us," Hite said of the Badgers' showing at the Texas Invitational. "It gives us an indication of where we are and we're in a really good spot. We're in a really good place and we've got some more work to do, but certainly this gave us a very good indication that what we're doing is working.
"Hard work always works. I'm really proud and pleased with the performances. I think it's just going to lead to better things coming up as we get through some good training and onto the championship season."
Players Mentioned
