NCAA Div. I Men: #1 Texas Takes on #4 Texas A&M and #6 Arizona

AUSTIN, Jan. 23. THE University of Texas' No. 1-ranked men's swimming and diving team opens its 2001 home season against No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 6 Arizona on Friday-Saturday, Jan. 26-27 at the Jamail Swim
Center. The meet will be held in three sessions beginning on Friday at 6 p.m., and then concluding on Saturday with events at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
The 4th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies are 6-0 in dual
meet action this season with wins over LSU, 140-103, and No. 23 Kentucky (125-116) on Saturday, Jan. 12. Senior David Morrow led the Aggie charge, capturing first-place honors in the 100-yard freestyle (45.17) and second place distinction in the 200 freestyle with a season-best time of 1:39.53. Morrow also helped the Aggies claim the 200 freestyle relay title in a time of 1:21.23.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Under head coach Eddie Reese, the Longhorns are 21-0 against the Aggies. Most recently, Texas posted a 164-123 win over Texas A&M on Feb. 12, 2000, in College Station, Texas.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
After posting wins over Florida State, SMU and USC, the No. 6 Arizona Wildcats have dropped their last two meets against No. 7 California, 129-112, and No. 4 Stanford, 147-96. Of note, junior Roland Schoeman holds the best times in the nation in both the 50 freestyle (19.45) and 100 butterfly (47.16) according to the latest Swimming World College Quick 25 rankings.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Longhorns are undefeated (10-0) against the Wildcats under head coach Eddie Reese. Most recently, the Longhorns and the Wildcats squared off at the Texas Invitational, where Texas captured first place and Arizona claimed third-place honors. Last year, the Longhorns notched a 206-147 win over then-No. 2 Arizona on Jan. 28-29 in Tucson, Ariz.

LAST MEET REWIND
The No.1 University of Texas recorded back-to-back
wins against then-No. 4 Auburn (136.5-103.5) on Thursday, Jan. 11 and then-No. 13 Georgia (161-133) on Saturday, Jan. 13. Junior Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) carried the Longhorns by sweeping the one-meter and three-meter diving events against the Tigers and Bulldogs. In fact, Dumais remains undefeated in the one-meter and three-meter boards this season in dual meets. Sophomore Chris Kemp (Southlake, Texas) also had an impressive weekend, posting a first-place finish and an NCAA-qualifying time of 1:35.93 in the 200 freestyle, the fastest time in the nation thus far this season.

REESES' MILESTONE
Head coach Eddie Reese is only one win away from
capturing his 200th career victory in 29 years of coaching. He is also only one win away from capturing his 150th triumph at Texas. Reese holds a 179-53 career mark and a 149-42 record in 22-plus seasons at UT.

ON TOP OF THE RANKINGS
Despite a dual-meet loss to then-No. 6 Tennessee, the Longhorns remained No. 1 in the fifth edition of the
College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25 Poll, released Thursday, Jan. 18. Of note, the Longhorns have held the top spot since Nov. 19, 1999.

HOME SWEET HOME
After opening their dual meet season with four matchups on the road, the Longhorns will remain at home until the NCAA Championships held on March 22-24 in College Station, Texas. Texas will compete in its last two dual meets of the season when it takes on TCU on Friday, Feb. 2 and No. 22 SMU on Saturday, Feb. 3. The Longhorns will then host the 2001 Big 12 Championships on Thursday-Saturday, March 1-3.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Longhorns have won 15 consecutive dual meets at the Jamail Swim Center and have not lost at home since
Stanford edged them by a score of 122-121 on Oct. 30-31, 1998. The longest win streak for a UT team is 24 consecutive victories (1984-1992). In addition, under head coach Eddie Reese, Texas holds a 63-12 mark at the Jamail Swim Center.

LAST YEAR REWIND
The Longhorns capped off a stellar season by winning their seventh national title in school history at the 2000 NCAA Championships last March. Texas claimed a total of three relay itles and three individual titles en route to scoring the highest point margin in UT history and outdistancing second-place Auburn for the national title. Their NCAA crown completed the No.1 ranked Longhorns' perfect 10-0 dual meet season, in which they also claimed their 21st-consecutive conference title at the 2000 Big 12 Championships.

MY SUMMER VACATION
This past summer, a total of six current Longhorns claimed spots on the USA Olympic Team. Seniors Scott
Goldblatt (Scotch Plains, N.J.), Nate Dusing (Villa Hills, Ky.) and Jamie Rauch (Houston, Texas), along with juniors Troy Dumais and Tommy Hannan (Baltimore, Md.), and newcomer Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine) all qualified for the U.S. squad and made up one-third of the USA Swimming and Diving teams. The Longhorns' success then continued at the 2000 Sydney Olympics as Goldblatt, Dusing and Rauch captured silver medals as members of the 800-meter freestyle relay, while Hannan and Crocker led the U.S. to a first-place finish in the 400 medley relay. Dumais, meanwhile, placed sixth in the three-meter springboard and narrowly missed capturing a bronze medal in the three-meter synchronized event. In total, this group of current
Longhorns earned five Olympic medals for the United States.

AT THE SWIMMING HELM
Head coach Eddie Reese returns for his 23rd season at the helm of the Texas men's swimming program in 2000-01. During his tenure, the Longhorns have won six of the last 12 NCAA Championships and an incredible 21 consecutive conference titles. Last year, he led his squad to the program's seventh NCAA Championship and was honored as the 1999-00 NCAA Coach of the Year. Reese has also coached 28 NCAA individual champions, 25 national champion relays, 114 All-Americans and 18 Olympians, who have claimed 18 gold medals in five Olympiads.

AT THE DIVING HELM
Matt Scoggin begins his seventh year as the head coach of the Texas men's and women's diving programs in 2000-01 after garnering numerous accolades, including being named the NCAA National Diving Coach of the Year for the 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns. Additionally, Scoggin is a four-time Big 12 Conference
Women's Diving Coach of the Year and was the 1994-95 Southwest Conference (SWC) Women's Diving Coach of the Year. Under Scoggin's direction, Troy Dumais captured his second national title on the three-meter springboard and his first title in the one-meter event in 1999-00 to become only the third man in Texas history to win back-to-back NCAA titles in diving competition and only the second Longhorn to win two diving titles at one NCAA Championship meet.

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