Circle C Sweeps Second Tex-Mex Invitational

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 20. CIRCLE C Swim Club completed its sweep of the first-ever Tex-Mex meets, taking both the men's and women's crowns today in the two-day affair. Circle C won both the short course yards meet held Friday in Austin and today's short course meters event, held in San Antonio.

The Texas A&M men's and women's swimming teams both earned a third place finish at the short course meet, held at the San Antonio Natatorium.

Men's Meet
In the men's meet Circle C, the 2001 USA Swimming national club champion, defeated the Mexican National Team 247.5 to 213. The Aggies, who competed only on the second and final day of competition, beat the University of Texas, which competed on only the first day, 122-58.5 for third. A small group of U.S. National Team members finished fifth with 46 points while the Alamo Area Aquatic Association was sixth with 20.

"We lifted weights pretty hard yesterday but we still raced tough today," said A&M head coach Mel Nash.
"Overall we got some really good racing in. Mexico was coming in off the Central American Games and was racing well. Any time you get a chance to race against U.S. Olympic-caliber talent, you look forward to it."

Sophomore Scott Mueller (Mequon, Wis.) earned the Aggies' lone win of the day with a victory in the 400-meter individual medley. Mueller, the Big 12 champion and A&M school record holder at the 400-yard distance, swam a time of 4:39.88 for the win.

Also in the morning session, All-American Matt Rose (Lindsay, Ont.) claimed a runner-up finish in the 100-meter backstroke. Rose finished behind U.S. Olympian Neil Walker 55.89 to 56.89. Rose also took third in a star-studded 100-meter freestyle behind Walker and U.S. National Team member Nate Dusing.

In the afternoon session, junior Josh Hill (Bedford, Texas) claimed a second place finish in the 200-meter backstroke. Juan Rodela of Mexico topped Hill for the top spot.

"Matt Rose looked good but was exhausted,"Nash said. "Scott Mueller had been sick all week but still came through to win the 400 IM. All in all, we accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. Now we will move on to some of our more traditional meets."

The Aggies return to action on Nov. 1-2 when they travel to Austin for a double dual meet against national champion Texas and perennial power Southern Cal.

Women's Meet
In the women's comnpetition, the Aggies finished behind only Circle C Swimming Club (274) and the Mexican National Team (181), despite competing on only the second day of the two-day meet. A&M scored 159 points while the University of Texas, which competed on only the first day of the meet, finished fourth with 85.

"This was good chance for us to race against some good competition," said A&M head coach Steve Bultman. "The meet was a little bit different because we swam short course meters as opposed to the usual short course yards."

Freshman Kara Morelli (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was the Aggies' lone event winner on the day. Morelli beat out Adriana Marmolejo (Mexico City), a freshman member of the A&M team swimming for Mexico this weekend, in the 400-meter individual medley 4:59.51 to 5:00.76.

"That was a really nice swim for Kara," said Bultman.
"I was very pleased about that."

Sophomore Ashley Roark (Austin, Texas) claimed a second place finish in the afternoon session in the 200-meter backstroke. Roark finished in a time of 2:24.34 behind only Hayley McGregory of Circle C.

The Aggies took runner-up honors in the first event of the day, the 200-meter medley relay. The foursome of Courtney Patterson (Plano, Texas), Kelsey Savage (Roswell, Ga.), Millie Reynolds (San Antonio) and Brittany King (Arlington, Texas) swam a time of 2:02.39 finishing second only to a foursome from Circle C Swim Club which included World University Games gold medallist, and former A&M swimmer, Monica Williams.

The Aggie will host their first meet of the year on Nov. 1 when they welcome Arkansas and SMU to College Station. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and admission is free.

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