WHAT: No. 19 Texas to compete in the 2008 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
WHERE: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion - Columbus, Ohio
WHEN: Thursday, March 20 - Saturday, March 22
TEXAS' NCAA PARTICIPANTS
Alex Basso - 100, 200 free, 200 IM, 200 free relay
Hee-Jin Chang - 50, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 free relay
Susana Escobar - 500, 1,650 freestyle, 400 IM
Kathryn Kelly - 1-meter and 3-meter diving
Brie Powers - 200 free relay, 50, 100 free, 100 fly
Marisa Rodriguez - 200 Freestyle Relay
Natalie Sacco - 500, 1,650 Freestyle, 400 IM
Alison Soelter - 100, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM
Mary Yarrison - 1-meter and 3-meter diving
LONGHORNS' NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY: Texas has won nine National Championships (2 AIAW, 7 NCAA), with the most recent title coming in 1991. UT placed sixth at the 2007 NCAA Championships with 220 points under then-first year head coach Kim Brackin.
Order of Swimming Events - All times Eastern
Thursday, March 20
Preliminaries (11 a.m.)
200 freestyle relay
500 freestyle
200 individual medley
50 freestyle
400 medley relay
1-meter diving (1:30 p.m.)
Swimming and Diving Finals - 7 p.m.
Friday, March 21
Preliminaries (11 a.m.)
200 medley relay
400 individual medley
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
100 breaststroke
100 backstroke
3-meter diving (1 p.m.)
Swimming and Diving Finals - 7 p.m.)
(800 free relay also swam during finals)
Saturday, March 22
Preliminaries (11 a.m.)
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
400 freestyle relay
Platform diving (1 p.m.)
1650 freestyle (all but last heat of timed finals) - 4:30 p.m.
Swimming and Diving Finals - 7 p.m.
TEXAS SENDS NINE LONGHORNS TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Under second-year head coach Kim Brackin, nine Longhorn swimmers and divers will represent The University of Texas at the 2008 NCAA Championships.
Swimmer Hee-Jin Chang and divers Kathryn Kelly and Mary Yarrison will make their third appearances as Longhorns at the NCAA Championships. Chang earned three All-America and two honorable mention All-America accolades as a member of relay teams during her freshman and sophomore seasons and will look for her first individual All-America finishes this season. Kelly placed eighth in the one-meter diving event to earn All-America honors at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Yarrison, who also reached the NCAA Championships as a freshman at Arizona, placed seventh in the three-meter event and ninth in the one-meter event at the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Sophomores Alex Basso and Susana Escobar will make their second consecutive appearances at the NCAA Championships. Basso earned honorable mention All-America accolades a season ago at the NCAA Championships by helping the 800- and 200-yard freestyle relays to 10th- and 14th-place finishes, respectively. Escobar also was a member of that honorable mention All-America 800 freestyle relay.
Junior Alison Soelter and freshmen Brie Powers, Natalie Sacco and Marisa Rodriguez will make their respective debuts at the NCAA Championships. Primarily a backstroker during her freshman and sophomore seasons, Soelter made a successful transition to the breaststroke, as she earned a NCAA automatic-qualifying mark in the 200 breaststroke at the Big 12 Championships. Sacco was one of only two NCAA provisional qualifiers in the 1,650 freestyle. Her mark of 16:23.54, a new lifetime best set at the Big 12 Championships, proved to be just fast enough to warrant a spot in the NCAA Championships. Powers and Rodriguez earned their NCAA bids as a member of UT's NCAA automatic-qualifying 200 freestyle relay.
TEXAS TAKES SECOND AT BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Texas placed second at the Big 12 Championships held Feb. 27-March 1 in Austin, as the Longhorns tallied 748 points. Susana Escobar captured UT's lone conference swimming title, taking the 1,650 freestyle in 16:18.86, a new personal best. Mary Yarrison captured her fourth and fifth Big 12 diving titles by sweeping the springboard events for a second consecutive year.
CHANG COMES THROUGH FOR TEXAS
With the graduation of top sprint threat Connie Brown, UT coach Kim Brackin looked to junior Hee-Jin Chang to fill the void in the sprint group, and Chang responded. The 2000 Olympian from Seoul, South Korea, enters the NCAA meet ranked 11th in the 50 freestyle (22.29) and 24th in the 100 freestyle (49.11). Much like Brown, Chang also is a formidable threat in the 100 butterfly. Chang posted a NCAA "A" cut time of 53.75 at the Big 12 Championships.
VERSATILE ESCOBAR LOOKS FOR ALL-AMERICA FINISHES
Texas sophomore Susana Escobar, who represented her native Mexico at the 2007 Pan American Games, has positioned herself to score individual points at the 2008 NCAA meet. Escobar enters the meet as the 18th seed in the 500 freestyle (4:43.36) and is the 22nd seed in the 1,650 freestyle (16:18.86). Her personal best of 4:13.84 in the 400 IM landed her an additional NCAA automatic-qualifying berth.
NCAA CHAMP LIVINGSTON TRAINING FOR BEIJING
Senior diver Jessica Livingston has elected to redshirt during the 2007-08 to concentrate on training for a potential spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. The 2007 NCAA platform diving champion trains alongside Texas-ex Laura Wilkinson in The Woodlands, Texas, and the duo will compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials in June as a synchronized platform diving pair.
BIG 12 HONORS LONGHORNS QUARTET
The Big 12 Conference honored four Longhorns during the course of the season as its Big 12 Swimmer and Diver of the Week. Mary Yarrison was tabbed the league's diver of the week on Dec. 12 for her performances at the Texas Invitational and again on Feb. 6 for her showing at Arizona. Hee-Jin Chang earned swimmer of the week honors on Dec. 12 after scoring her two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks at the Texas Invitational, and Susana Escobar earned the same honor on Jan. 23 after completing a solid pair of meets against Auburn and Georgia. Junior diver Kathryn Kelly also was recognized on Jan. 23 for her Auburn and Georgia performances.
