AUSTIN, Texas – After four days of intense competition at the Texas Invitational,
Cierra Runge closed out her stay in Austin with a bang Saturday, notching her fourth school record of the weekend.
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This time, the sophomore toppled the 1650-yard freestyle record, posting an automatic NCAA qualifying cut of 15 minutes, 52.22 seconds to take the win. Runge's time ranks No. 2 nationally, trailing only Katie Ledecky of Stanford.
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The previous UW record (16:00.43) was set by teammate
Danielle Valley at last year's NCAA Championships.
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Runge now holds school records in the 800 freestyle relay, 200 free, 500 free and 1650 free, all of which were set during the four-day Texas Invitational.
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Valley also notched an impressive NCAA provisional cut of 16:00.89 Saturday in the 1650 free to earn runner-up honors.
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The Badgers men also saw success in the event, placing two swimmers in the top 10.
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Matt Hutchins led UW with a third-place finish in a "B" cut time of 14:47.62, followed by
Victor Goicoechea, who came in seventh with a "B" cut of 14:59.27.
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Beata Nelson led the Wisconsin women in the 200 backstroke, placing fifth with a "B" cut time of 1:54.86.
Jess Unicomb also came away with a provisional cut in the event, finishing 12th in 1:56.23.
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Todd McCarthy garnered a 15th-place finish in the men's 200 backstroke, touching the wall with a "B" cut of 1:46.36.
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The Wisconsin women came out firing in the 100 free, packing four Badgers into the top 15 -- with all coming away with "B" cut times.
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Chase Kinney led the Badgers' charge, coming away with a seventh-place finish in 49.16. Not far behind her was Runge, who was eighth in 49.64.
Marissa Berg finished 11th (49.67) and
Abby Jagdfeld placed 12th (49.98).
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On the men's side,
Cannon Clifton came away with a fifth-place finish in the 100 free with a provisional cut of 43.26 while
Brett Pinfold also recorded a provisional cut in 43.86 to take 13th.
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The women also saw success in the 200 butterfly as three Badgers placed within the top-15.
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Both
Grace Wold and
Dana Grindall earned provisional cuts in the event after Wold finished sixth (1:57.52) and Grindall placed seventh (1:58.32).
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Megan Doty notched a 13th-place finish after recording a time of 2:00.34.
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Both the men and women closed out the meet strong in the 400 freestyle relay.
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The relay team of Kinney, Runge, Jagdfeld and Berg took fourth in the women's race in 3:17.94 while the men's team of Clifton,
Ryan Stack,
Ryan Barsanti and Pinfold finished fifth in 2:55.29.
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The team will next see action in the New Year as they take on USC in dual-meet action on Jan. 13.