Texas A&M Sign Six Swimmers

COLLEGE STATION, Texas–The Texas A&M Women's Swimming program completed another successful recruiting season, adding six new signees to their roster for the 2001-2002 season, Head Coach Steve Bultman announced on Wednesday. These six will join the two early signees from November, Courtney Patterson and Ashley Roark, to make up a strong incoming freshman class.
Tiffany Moore graduated from The Bolles School this spring in Jacksonville, Fla., where she swam for Larry Shofe and Jeff Poppell. Moore was an Olympic Trial qualifier in the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle, with top times in the 200 (1:50.79), 500 (4:51.47), 1000 (9:59.14) and 1650-yard freestyle (16:47). She was a High School All American, and she won the 500-yard freestyle at the Junior National Championships in March 2000. Tiffany plans to major in kinesiology/sports medicine at Texas A&M. Head Coach Steve Bultman is excited about Moore's background. "Tiffany comes from a great program at Bolles that has historically produced many strong middle distance and distance freestylers. She will be a big contributor for us in those events."

Christina Thompson comes to A&M from Marietta, Ga., where she swims for Stuart Wilson with Swim Atlanta. As a Senior National swimmer in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke, Thompson will help the Aggies out in the backstroke (100 back 56.42, 200 back 1:58.79), individual medley (200 IM 2:04.36, 400 IM 4:24.77), and the 200-yard butterfly (2:03.73). Thompson won the 100-yard backstroke at the 2001 American Short Course Championships, and she finished second in the 200-yard backstroke. She was county high school swimmer of the year in 2001, winning the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard IM. She also won the 200-yard IM in the county championships her junior year. "Christina has improved a great deal this past year, and she qualified for her first senior national championships. As versatile as she is, we expect her to help us in many areas," Bultman says.

Kelsey Savage will join the Aggies from Marietta, Ga., where she is a recent graduate of Pope High School. Kelsey swims for Tim Nun at Kennesaw Tidal Wave, and she was a first-time qualifier for Senior Nationals this past season. Her top events include the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.72), 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.47), and 200-yard IM (2:05.20). As a representative of Pope High School, coached by Monica Erwin, Kelsey earned a position on the all-state team and the all-county first team at the Georgia High School State Championships. Kelsey was a top student at Pope High School, graduating with honors, and she intends to major in English. According to Bultman, Savage will fill a much-needed position. "With the addition of Kelsey, we filled a need in our breaststroke events. She also really improved quite a bit this past season, qualifying for her first senior national meet this past spring. Kelsey is an extremely hard worker with a lot of potential."

Danielle Townsend is a graduate of Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield, Calif., where she swam for Bill Potter. Townsend also trained under Eric Burton as a member of Bakersfield Swim Club. Danielle was a high school All American her junior and senior years in the 50 (24.0) and 100 (51.8) yard freestyle events. During her senior year, she was a member of her high school 200 and 400 yard-freestyle relays which received All-American rankings. She was a two-time CIF Champion and was named MVP of her high school team all four years. Danielle intends to major in veterinary medicine at Texas A&M. Bultman is excited about Townsend's untapped potential. "Danielle has not done a lot of consistent year-round swimming. We feel that her best swimming days are still ahead of her, and that is exciting given her current strength in the sprint freestyle events."

Katie Fancher joins the A&M women's squad from Tucson, Ariz., where she swims for Roric Fink of Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics. She graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School in May. Based on her swimming success, Katie was the Athlete of the Year at Salpointe High School her junior and senior years. She is a school record holder in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle, and she holds the Southern Arizona regional record in the 500-yard freestyle, capturing the regional championships four years in a row. Top times for Katie include 4:59.82 in the 500-yard free, 10:22.69 in the 1000-yard free, and 1:53.50 in the 200-yard freestyle. She was a top student at Salpointe Catholic, graduating with honors, and she intends to major in pre-medicine with plans to be an orthopedic surgeon. Bultman also expects Fancher to show a lot of improvement over the next several years. "Katie has a wide range of strengths @ she is capable of swimming the 50-yard freestyle, and she can also swim the mile. She is another swimmer who has been improving recently, and we look to see that improvement continue."

Dia Rose Gentile, who will be a freshman at Texas A&M, comes from Houston where she attended Clear Lake High School. Gentile swims for Eddie Adams of Southeast Texas Aqua Racers (STAR), with the 100-yard backstroke as her top event (57.74). Dia Rose was an honor student at Clear Lake High School, and she plans to major in pre-medicine. "Dia is a sprint backstroker and freestyler who had a nice time drop at the High School State Championships. She will definitely add depth to our backstroke events," Coach Bultman said.
Texas A&M signed two swimmers during the early signing period in November. Courtney Patterson comes to A&M from Plano West High School in Plano, Texas. She swam under Sandra Flinn in high school and also swims for the Dallas Mustangs club team coached by Mook Rhodenbaugh. She is a high school All-American and will help the Aggies out in the backstroke and individual medley. She has a top time of 56.53 in the 100-yard backstroke. She intends to major in education.

Ashley Roark comes to the Aggies from McNeil High School in Austin, Texas, where she was an All-American, with top times in the 100-yard backstroke (57.59) and 500-yard freestyle (5:04.45). Ashley intends to major in animal science and will become a second generation Aggie. Her parents, Robin and Betty Roark are both Class of '78.

"We are excited about the athletic and academic talent of this recruiting class," Bultman said. "We had certain needs to fill for the upcoming season, and we feel these needs were addressed with this group of women. This is a large freshman class with a lot of potential, but they will need the returning upperclassmen to lead the way in order to have a lot of this potential realized."

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