HOUSTON, Texas, January 23. THE University of Houston swimming and diving program signed five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the fall signing period. Ashley Grijalva, Caitlin Horner, Emma Moore, Victoria Padial and Sharo Rodriguez comprise head swimming coach Rich Murphy\u2019s first signing class.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am thrilled with our fall signees\u201d said Rich Murphy. \u201cStarting at UH a few days before classes began, we got a late start on building this fall class and we are excited to have built relationships with five outstanding student-athletes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank the women on the team, my assistant coach, Keith Dawley, and our support staff at the University of Houston for the assistance in showing how much we have to offer. These athletes in the Class of 2018 set us up for team success based on the relay depth and individual scoring they will provide. I am excited to add these student-athletes and for their commitment to being well-rounded with a priority on academics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashley Grijalva<\/strong> \u201cAshley comes to us from the Tempe Rio Salado program in Tempe, Ariz. and it is a club that has a long, storied tradition and it’s great to have Ashley at the University of Houston. She is an outstanding swimmer who competes best when the lights are the brightest and we are excited for her to realize her potential swimming at UH. Ashley is a determined young lady and she is going to make an immediate impact on relays and in our breaststroke events. I am thrilled she will be pursuing her education at our university.\u201d<\/p>\n Caitlin Horner<\/strong> \u201cCait is so fun to be around and I really enjoyed getting to know her and her family during the recruiting process,\u201d said Murphy. \u201cHer coaches were very excited to share how much they enjoyed coaching her and it is clear in seeing her swim that she is at the beginning of how much she can achieve in the sport. Cait excels in sprint freestyle and has a lot of versatility in terms of events and training. We are eager to see how well she does as a student-athlete at UH. Cait will make us a more successful team.\u201d<\/p>\n Emma Moore<\/strong> \u201cEmma is a late bloomer in the world of swimming and we are looking forward to seeing her best swims happen as a member of the Cougar Swimming and Diving family,\u201d said assistant swimming coach Keith Dawley. \u201cHer sprinting ability will strengthen our relays and add depth to a young and talented group of freestylers. The focus and dedication she has shown both in and out of the pool highlight the limitless potential she has to positively impact the UH community, we couldn\u2019t be happier to be adding her to our team.\u201d<\/p>\n Victoria Padial<\/strong> \u201cVictoria comes to Houston from Crawfish Aquatics which is an outstanding team in Louisiana,\u201d said Murphy. \u201cVictoria is a backstroke state champion and also competes at a very high level in freestyle events. We look forward to Victoria pushing us to new levels in the pool, and to her achieving in the classroom. Victoria will be an outstanding addition and I am looking forward to having an opportunity to help her grow her success in the sport; Victoria will be a great fit at UH.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharo Rodriguez<\/strong> \u201cSharo brings a magnetic personality and a lot of national and international experience to our team. Sharo has competed at the 2011 and 2013 Junior World Championships and we are committed to helping Sharo continue her international success while also having a great educational and intercollegiate team experience. Sharo provides immediate impact in the butterfly events and her training toughness and enthusiasm for the support are contagious. We are so happy to have Sharo be a student-athlete at UH.\u201d<\/p>\n The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HOUSTON, Texas, January 23. THE University of Houston swimming and diving program signed five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the fall signing period. Ashley Grijalva, Caitlin Horner, Emma<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[36,26568,155,10709,26575,26580,1820,26571,26576,14313,4095,754,26579,1736,465,9275,26574,25065,25015,25302,26578,26573,26570,26569,24693,4374,21204,87,142,366,8424,26572,26577,543,14227],"class_list":["post-48008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-college","tag-arizona","tag-ashley-grijalva","tag-assistant-coach","tag-assistant-swimming-coach","tag-caitlin-horner","tag-cougar-swimming-and-diving","tag-department-of-defense","tag-emma-moore","tag-forward-to-victoria","tag-gilbert","tag-head-swimming-coach","tag-houston","tag-keith-dawley","tag-louisiana","tag-mexico","tag-national-qualifier","tag-nelson-vargas-aquatic","tag-newsmasterswimmingworldmagazine-com","tag-person-travel","tag-rich-murphy","tag-richardson","tag-rio-salado-swim-club","tag-sharo-rodriguez","tag-south-eastern-virginia","tag-sports","tag-st-joseph","tag-st-josephs-academy","tag-swimmer","tag-swimming","tag-texas","tag-university-of-houston","tag-valley-tribune-swimmer","tag-victoria-padial","tag-virginia","tag-yorktown"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n
\n Gilbert, Ariz. | Gilbert HS | Rio Salado Swim Club<\/strong>
\n-State champion in 100 breast and finished fifth at state in the 200 IM
\n-East Valley Tribune Swimmer of the Year
\n-Qualified for Winter Nationals and Summer Junior Nationals in 200m breast and is her club team\u2019s highest national qualifier
\n-2013 Winter Nationals Qualifier<\/p>\n
\n Yorktown, Va. | Grafton HS | South Eastern Virginia Aquatics<\/strong>
\n-Named Top 5 Air Force Finalist in the Department of Defense-wide 2013 Military Child of the Year competition, sponsored by Operation Homefront
\n-SEVA Competitive Spirit Award
\n-Competed at 2013 NCSA Junior Nationals<\/p>\n
\n Richardson, Texas | Richardson, Texas | Metroplex Aquatics<\/strong>
\n-Named Swimmer of the Meet at district championship after winning the 50 and 100 free
\n-State Finalist in 50 free
\n-Ranks in the Top 10 of graduating class of 500+<\/p>\n
\n Baton Rouge, La. | St. Joseph\u2019s Academy | Crawfish Aquatics<\/strong>
\n-Helped St. Joseph\u2019s win three straight state titles
\n-State champion in 100 back and finished third at state in 200 free<\/p>\n
\n Queretaro, Mexico I Nelson Vargas Aquatic<\/strong>
\n-Competed at the 2011, 2013 FINA World Junior Championships<\/p>\n