They don’t call Lindsay Urbatchka the “show stopper” for nothing.

Competing as the final leg of the final event of the Big 12 Conference swimming relays Friday at Robinson Natatorium, Urbatchka, a Kansas University junior, blazed her team to the front of the pack, giving the Jayhawks their lone victory of the day in the 100-yard freestyle relay.

Just like that, the show stopped.

When Urbatchka touched the wall, a grueling day of swimming was over for KU, and the Jayhawks finished the six-team meet tied for third with rival Missouri. If KU had finished anywhere but first in that last event, those pesky Tigers would have edged KU and snagged the one point that will apply toward the Border Showdown standings.

Instead, the two schools likely each will get a half-point. KU’s 100 free relay team was in third place at the split, but freshman Terri Schramka and Urbatchka made up the ground and squeaked past Texas A&M in a time of 44.88.

“That was so fun,” Urbatchka said. “I love sprinting. It doesn’t get any better than one length of the pool.”

Her long-distance teammates surely are jealous. KU was battling major fatigue Friday morning because of a Thursday dual with Texas. It’ll get even worse today, when KU wraps up a hectic weekend with a home dual against Texas A&M.

“This weekend is about being tough,” KU coach Clark Campbell said. “We were still hung over from our meet yesterday. We were real sluggish, but we shook the rust off.”

Besides the 100 freestyle relay, KU also had a solid showing in the 200 freestyle relay. Urbatchka, Schramka, Amy Gruber and Anne Liggett took second to the Aggies in a time of 1:36.97.

It further showed what could be KU’s strength this year — freestyle sprints. Despite going against traditional titans Texas A&M and Texas, the Jayhawks held their own in both the sprint free relays Friday, a sign that KU has both talent and depth in those races.

“The whole week, we’ve been training right up to the meet and not as though it was anything special,” Urbatchka said. “We’re unleashing everyone right now and surprising a few schools. We kind of feel like a secret weapon.”

Texas A&M and Texas were 1-2 in most of the women’s events and, not surprisingly, finished 1-2 in the team standings, as well. Missouri and Kansas each had 60 points, with Nebraska (39) and Iowa State (27) rounding out the team scores.

The Big 12’s three men’s teams also competed Friday at Robinson. Texas (105) beat Texas A&M (101) and Missouri (82) for the team title.

To be able to size up the conference competition was a plus for Campbell, but that wasn’t the best part of Friday’s day-long meet.

“What we really got out of this meet was a lot of racing,” Campbell said. “That’s the strength of having the relay meet. We got a lot of good races, and we got to see a lot of people do different things.”