Texas Women’s Swimming and Diving

The Longhorns Checklist
* Texas took top honors at the 2001 Texas Invitational, Nov. 30-Dec.
2 at the Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin. The Horns posted 719
points in their victory, followed by second-place and
nationally-ranked No. 1 Stanford with 598 points.

* Texas moved up one spot to No. 5 in the latest edition of the
College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25 Poll
released on Dec. 13.

* The Horns posted a clean sweep of the freestyle relay events at the
Texas Invite, taking first in the 200, 400 and 800 races.

* The Longhorns return seven of 11 All-Americans and 18 of 28
letterwinners from the 2000-01 team, which won its third consecutive
Big 12 Conference Championship.

THIS WEEK: The No. 5-ranked University of Texas women's swimming
program welcomes two top 10 opponents to the Lee and Joe Jamail
Swimming Center this weekend as it takes on No. 2 Georgia on Friday,
Jan. 11 at noon, followed by No. 8 Florida on Saturday, Jan. 12, at
noon. Both meets are open to the public and admission is free.

RELAY SUCCESS: The Longhorns took control of the relay events during
the 2001 Texas Invitational, posting top finishes in the 200, 400 and
800 freestyle relays, with all three quartets tallying NCAA automatic
qualifying times. The free relay marks of 1:30.74 in the 200 and
7:14.58 in the 800 not only led all relay teams at the Texas Invite,
but are also the nation's fastest collegiate times during 2001-02,
according to Taper & Shave's College Quick 50 released on Jan. 9.
UT's 400 free relay time of 3:19.35 is the nation's second fastest
collegiate time.

BREAKING DOWN GEORGIA: No. 2 Georgia (3-1) was scheduled to compete
at Alabama on Jan. 4, but the trip was cancelled due to inclement
weather in the southeast. The Bulldogs did not travel to take on the
Tide, but the schools did conduct a "phone" meet with each team
swimming at their respective facilities. The Lady Bulldogs handily
defeated Alabama 165-30, but due to the circumstances surrounding the
meet, the outcome will not be reflected on UGA's won-loss record and
is not considered an official meet. Georgia was led by Stefanie
Williams, who posted winning times in the 50 and 200-yard freestyle,
as well as leading the 400 free relay team to victory.

RECENT HISTORY WITH UGA: The last time Texas and Georgia met in dual
meet competition was on Nov. 20, 1999, in Austin, with UGA putting
together a 173-119 win. Last season, Georgia won the 2001 NCAA
Championship, finishing with 389 points, just ahead second-place
Stanford with 387.5 points. Texas finished third with 350.5 points.

BREAKING DOWN FLORIDA: No. 8 Florida (9-0) remained undefeated on
the season after picking up a victory on Jan. 5 against No. 18 Penn
State (128-111). Florida took first-place in eight events against
the Nittany Lions, with Meredith Green and Rebecca Harper leading the
way. Both Gators swam NCAA qualifying times, with Green timing
16:28.09 in the 1,650 freestyle and Harper timing the 200 fly in
1:59.65.

SERIES VS. FLORIDA: Under co-head coach Jill Sterkel, Texas holds a
4-5 mark against Florida. The last time the two schools squared off
in dual meet action was on Jan. 13, 2001, with the Gators taking a
152-148 victory in Gainesville, Fla. The loss was the Horns first of
the 2000-01 season.

ORANGE-WHITE RECAP: UT returned to action after the holiday break on
Jan. 5 with its intra-squad Orange-White scrimmage at the Lee and Joe
Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin. The Orange squad got past
the White team, 116-110, but needed a win in the final race of the
day to ensure the victory, capturing first in the 200 freestyle relay
to clinch the win. All together, a total of four swimmers were
double-event winners during the meet.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Texas moved up one spot to No. 5 in the
latest edition of the CSCAA Top 25, released on Dec. 13. The next
set of rankings are scheduled to be released on Jan. 17.

STELLAR SUMMER FOR WOMEN: Erin Phenix (Cincinatti, Ohio) and Tanica
Jamison (Dublin, Calif.) competed at meets throughout the summer of
2001. The duo teamed to capture the gold medal in the 400-meter
freestyle, touching in a meet record time of 3:43.49, at the U.S.
National Championships (Aug. 14-18). Phenix also won silver medals
in the 400 freestyle relay (3:40.80) and 400 medley relay (4:01.81)
at the World Championships (July 22-29). Jamison capped off the
summer by taking the gold medal in the 400 freestyle relay at the
World University Games (Aug. 23-29). The relay time of 3:44.47 broke
the Univeriade meet record of 3:46.41 set by China in 1991. Jamison
swam the fastest split time of the four Americans, touching the
second leg of the relay in 56.10.

2001 IN REVIEW: With a core group of swimmers led by Colleen Lanné,
the Texas women's team earned its third consecutive Big 12 Conference
title and finished third at the 2001 NCAA Championships. This marked
the Longhorns' highest finish at the NCAAs since a third-place
showing in 1995. It was also the 17th top-10 finish for the
Longhorns in 18 years at the NCAA Championships. A total of 11 Texas
swimmers claimed All-America honors and four NCAA Championship
trophies (two individual/two relay).

WOMEN'S CO-HEAD COACH JILL STERKEL: Co-head coach Jill Sterkel enters
her 10th season at The University of Texas. In her first nine
seasons, she has directed the Longhorns to eight top-10 finishes at
the NCAA Championships, seven conference titles and to two runner-up
league finishes. This includes four top-three finishes at the NCAA
Championships (1993, 1994, 1995, 2001) and three consecutive Big 12
Conference Championships (1999, 2000 and 2001). Sterkel's Longhorns
also claimed four consecutive Southwest Conference crowns from
1993-1996.

WOMEN'S CO-HEAD COACH MIKE WALKER: Co-head coach Mike Walker is
entering his second season at Texas. Following the 2000-01 season,
Walker was named the Big 12 Conference women's swimming Co-Head Coach
of the Year. His impact was felt immediately last season as the
Longhorns finished third at the 2001 NCAA Championships, claiming
four NCAA trophies (two individual/two relay titles), as well as
setting NCAA records in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. Walker
joined the 2000-01 coaching staff after spending the previous six
years at the University of California where he led the Bears to four
consecutive top-10 NCAA finishes (ninth, 1997; eighth, 1998; fifth,
1999; fourth, 2000). The fourth-place finish in 2000 was the best in
Cal history.

HEAD DIVING COACH: Matt Scoggin begins his eighth year at Texas as
the head diving coach, where he has clearly established UT as one of
the nation's top men's and women's diving programs. A former U.S.
Olympic diver and a 2000 USA Olympic men's assistant diving coach,
Scoggin has been recognized nationally for his outstanding efforts.
He was selected NCAA Women's Diving Coach of the Year in 1996-97,
1997-98 and 1998-99, as well as the NCAA Men's Diving Coach of the
Year in 2000-01. Additionally, Scoggin is a four-time Big 12
Conference Women's Diving Coach of the Year and was the 1994-95
Southwest Conference Women's and Men's Diving Coach of the Year.
Scoggin has also coached the U.S. National Team seven times,
including his most recent appointment as the head coach of the
national team that competed at the 2001 World Championships in
Fukuoka, Japan (July 22-29).

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