Joanna Evans help lead Texas to Big 12 title

Sun, Feb 28th 2016, 11:20 PM


Bahamian Joanna Evans, a freshman at the University of Texas helped  lead the Texas Longhorns to their second straight Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships women's title. Individually, Evans won two gold medals and one silver. She is shown here with her teammates at second right in the front row. (Photo: University of Texas)

Freshman swimming sensation at the University of Texas Joanna Evans came up huge for the Texas Longhorns over the weekend as they completed a second straight sweep of the conference meet at the 2016 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships. For her efforts, Evans was tabbed as the Women's Newcomer of the Meet.

The Longhorns hosted the meet for the third straight season, as it was held at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.

As for Evans, the 19-year-old finished the three-day meet with two titles and second place finish to help the Longhorns capture their 14th Big 12 title. They finished with 1,043 points. Kansas was second with 650.5 points while Iowa State took third with 570.5 points. Virginia placed fourth with 530 points and Texas Christian University (TCU) took fifth with 451 points.

On the second day of competition, Evans cruised to an easy victory in the women's 500 free in 4:39.97. She became the first Longhorns swimmer to finish under 4:40 in the race since 1992. That swim also put her eighth all time in Texas history. Texas' Quinn Carrozza finished second in 4:42.28, and Kansas' Chelsie Miller turned in a third place time of 4:43.24.

On Friday, Evans took second in the women's 200 freestyle in 1:46.95. Carrozza was first in 1:44.99 and Breanna Barker from the University of Kansas finished third in 1:49.27. The former CARIFTA standout ended her time at the meet in grand fashion on Saturday when she collected her second league title of the meet. She claimed the 1,650 freestyle in 16:13.39, good for a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) "B" cut.

Coming into the competition, Evans was top seeded in the 1,650 free (16:07.78), second in the 500 free (4:43.07) and third in the 200 free (1:47.30). As a freshman, Evans has had success at a number of dual meets for the Longhorns swimming and diving team this season. She won the 1,650 freestyle (16.20.09) and the 400 Individual Medley (IM) -- 4:20.89 -- against TCU. She captured a gold medal in the 1,000 freestyle (9:58.94) and the 500 freestyle (4:49.17) and placed second in the 200 freestyle (1:49.05) at Arizona.

Evans was a highly scouted prospect prior to signing with Texas after she led The Bahamas to two consecutive CARIFTA titles. At last year's regional swimming championships in Wildey, Barbados, she set two new championship records, and accounted for 77 of The Bahamas' overall points total of 756.5 points.

By Randy Smith

Guardian Sports

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