Women win seventh straight conference title
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The University of Texas men swimming and diving team claimed its 26th consecutive conference championship Saturday at the 2005 Big 12 Conference Championships. The Longhorns women squad completed the sweep for Texas, earning their seventh consecutive conference championship.
Texas A&M finished second and Missouri took third place.
The Longhorn men won 17-of-18 total swimming events. Texas' Nate OBrien won the 200-yard Backstroke and teammate Garrett Weber-Gale finished first in the 100-yard freestyle to get things going for Texas early on.
A&M freshman James Hard finished first in the 1650-yard Freestyle to give the Aggies their only first place finish of the week. Hard was also the only non-Longhorn to capture a gold medal this week.
Christian Schurr got the Horns back on track with a first place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Texas teammate Rainer Kendrick finished the individual competition with a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:44.74.
The Texas relay team of Austin McAnally, Caleb McDermott, Matt McGinnis and Garrett Weber-Gale finished first in the 400-yard freestyle relays with a NCAA qualifying time of 2:53.69.
Texas A&M freshman Eric Sehn took home the men's platform diving championship followed by teammate David Kalec and Missouris Evan Waters.
On the women's side, the Longhorns were just as dominant as the men, winning all five of the swimming events Saturday.
Texas' Elizabeth Wycliffe won the 200-yard backstroke and set a new meet record with a NCAA qualifying time of 1:55.03.
Fellow Longhorns Sarah Wanezek and Macie Garrett finished first in the 100-yard freestyle and 1650-yard freestyle respectively.
Wanezek, Amy Gruber of Kansas, Kristy Siminski and Kaela Humphries of Texas and Danielle Townsend of A&M each recorded NCAA qualifying times in the 100-yard freestyle.
Elizabeth Tinnon continued the Longhorns assault with a first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a NCAA qualifying time of 2:10.35.
Katie Robinson of Texas finished first in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:00.35. The Longhorns 400-yard freestyle relay team of Connie Brown, Kristy Siminski, Kaela Humphries and Sarah Wanezek closed out the four-day competition with a first place finish and a NCAA qualifying time of 3:18.07.
Hillary Nichols of Iowa State finished first in the women's platform diving, followed by Texas Monica Maxwell and Nebraska's Amie Buoy.
Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press
