The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Swimming and Diving breaks school record, places second in 200 medley relay
03.18.2005 | Women's Swimming and Diving
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Texas dropped 1.73 seconds off its preliminary time in the 200-yard medley relay and placed second in the final with a school-record time of 1 minute 38.06 seconds to lead the University of Texas women's swimming and diving team on Friday at the 2005 NCAA Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on the campus of Purdue University. Following the second day of competition, the Longhorns remain in sixth place with 163 points, trailing Stanford which sits in fifth with 216 points and Florida, which is in fourth (256). Georgia remains in first place with 422.5 points with defending national champion Auburn (329) holding second and Arizona (290) third.
After qualifying with the fifth-fastest mark of 1:39.79 in the morning preliminary swim, UT's 200-yard medley relay squad of freshman Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas), sophomores Elizabeth Tinnon (Bowling Green, Ky.) and Connie Brown (Andover, Mass.) and senior Sarah Wanezek (Brookfield, Wis.) improved three positions in the final to take second place and break the school record of 1:38.38, previously set by Kelley Robins, Helen Denman, Shona Kitson and Colleen Lanné on Feb. 17, 2001.
"It was a good night and I am very proud of them," Texas co-head coach Jill Sterkel said. "Before the meet we asked them to just get up and go fast and race each heat of every race like they expect to win it. I think they came in and took care of business today, which I was pleased with."
Following her performance in the 200-yard medley relay, Tinnon collected the first individual All-America honor of her career and posted the highest individual finish for Texas on Friday as she touched the wall fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.59. Tinnon placed 11th in the 100-meter breaststroke at last year's NCAA Championships. Sophomore Leah Avilla (Livermore, Calif.) who qualified for a consolation final for the first time if her career, earned her first All-America Honorable Mention honor in the 100-yard breaststroke after placing 15th in 1:02.05.
Meanwhile, Wanezek and McGregory added consolation titles in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke, respectively, and junior Kristy Siminski (Portage, Ind.) placed 15th in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:48.26.
Wanezek posted the fourth-fastest overall time (52.91) in the finals of the 100-yard butterfly to win the consolation final and earn All-America distinction for the fourth time in that event, while sophomore Katie Robinson earned the first All-America Honorable Mention Award of her career by placing 13th in that event with a personal-best time of 53.78. McGregory also posted the top time a the consolation final as she clocked 53.63, which marked the fifth-fastest overall time in the 100-yard backstroke, to earn her first individual All-America Honorable Mention honor.
On the boards, senior Monica Maxwell (San Jose, Calif.), who placed 25th in the one-meter springboard on Thursday, placed 24th in the three-meter springboard with a score of 432.90.
The Longhorns wrapped up Friday's events by placing 10th in the 800-yard freestyle relay as Robinson earned her second Honorable Mention award of the night as she teamed with juniors Kristy Siminski (Portage, Ind.) and Elizabeth Wycliffe (Kingston, Ontario) and sophomore Elaine Ferritto (Columbus, Ohio) to touch the wall in 7:15.58.
The final day of competition of the 2005 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships will begin with prelims at 10 a.m. CST on Saturday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Friday's NCAA Championship Notes: Seeded 28th in 400-yard individual medley entering the meet, junior Amanda Larence just missed qualifying for the finals as she posted the 18th-best time of the morning swim ... sophomore Elaine Ferritto dropped her personal-best time to 4:19.19 in the prelims of the 400 IM ... Ferritto captured her first career All-America Honorable Mention award helping Texas place 10th in the 800-yard freestyle relay ... sophomore Leah Avilla, who placed 21st in the 100-meter breaststroke last year, earned her first All-America Honorable Mention award of her career after placing 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke but had clocked her personal-best time of 1:00.67 in the morning prelim ... junior Kristy Siminski set a personal best of 1:47.02 in the prelims of the 200-yard freestyle ... by placing 15th in the 200-yard freestyle and 10th in the 800-yard freestyle relay, Siminski has now earned All-America Honorable Mention recognition twice (2003 and '05) in those events ... with one All-America honor and one All-America Honorable Mention award, senior Sarah Wanezek's career totals now stand at 15 and seven, respectively ... sophomore Connie Brown is now a three-time All-American and has earned All-America honors in the 200-yard medley relay in each of her two years.
Texas Finals Performances - Friday, March 18
200-yard Medley Relay - Final
2. TEXAS - 1:38.08 - Hayley McGregory (25.17), Elizabeth Tinnon (27.33), Connie Brown (24.08), Sarah Wanezek (21.48)
100-yard Butterfly - Final
9. Sarah Wanezek - 52.91
13. Katie Robinson - 53.83
200-yard Freestyle - Final
15. Kristy Siminski - 1:48.26
100-yard Breaststroke - Final
5. Elizabeth Tinnon - 1:00.59
15. Leah Avilla - 1:02.05
100-yard Backstroke - Final
9. Hayley McGregory - 53.63
800-yard Freestyle Relay - Final
10. TEXAS - 7:15.58 - Katie Robinson (1:49.58), Kristy Siminski (1:48.02), Elizabeth Wycliffe (1:48.71), Elaine Ferritto (1:49.27).
3-Meter Diving - Preliminaries
24. Monica Maxwell - 432.90
