Texas Swimming concludes competition at 2004 National Championships
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Longhorn Aquatic's men's and women's 400m medley relay squads each won and placed two teams in the top five on the final day of competition at the 2004 ConocoPhillips National Championships, Saturday, Aug. 7 at Stanford University. A total of four UT swimmers, including two incoming freshmen, combined for six individual national titles over the five-day championship event. Longhorn Aquatic swimmers swept the men's and women's 400m free and medley relays at the championships. In the women's 400m medley relay, incoming freshman Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas) and Texas Ex Tanica Jamison (1999-2003) combined with Alexandra Spann and Andrea Axtell for a winning time of 4:10.34. Texas swimmers also added a fourth-place finish when a quartet of current Longhorns comprised of sophomores Elaine Ferritto (Columbus, Ohio), Leah Avilla (Livermore, Calif.) and Katherine Robinson (Dillsboro, Ind.) and junior Kristin Siminski (Potage, Ind.) posted a time of 4:16.29. In the men's 400m medley relay event, three Longhorns, incoming freshman Daniel Rohleder (Austin, Texas), sophomore Tyler O'Halloran (Boardman, Ohio) and junior Christian Schurr (Austin, Texas), teamed with John Abercrombie for a winning time of 3:46.02. Longhorn Aquatic added a third-place performance when junior Wade Kelley (Marietta, Ga.) and sophomore Poston Pritchett (Durham, N.C.) joined Michael Klueh and Scott Spann to post a time of 3:50.05. Individually, Jamison turned in a second-place finish in the 50m freestyle with a time of 26.11 on Saturday. She also turned in an eighth-place performance in the 200m individual medley touching the wall in 2:19.34. Jamison led all UT swimmers at the championships. The All-American collected her first individual nation title on Wednesday, Aug. 4, in the 100m freestyle with a time of 55.96. Two days later, Jamison captured the second title of her career and the meet winning the 100m butterfly in 59.23. She also teamed with UT senior Kaela Humphries (Chaska, Minn.), Siminski and Axtell on the first place 400m freestyle relay squad. Also a double winner on the women's side at the championships was incoming freshman Hayley McGregory (Houston, Texas). After placing third in both backstroke events at the U.S. Olympic trials, McGregory found a little something to smile about, winning the 200m backstroke in 2:13.59 on Wednesday, Aug. 4, and the 100m backstroke in 1:02.55 on Friday, Aug. 6. The national titles were the first and second of her career. On the men's side, sophomore Garret Weber-Gale (Fox Point, Wis.) and Rohleder also captured the first national titles of his careers. On Wednesday, Aug. 4, Weber-Gale, who finished seventh in the 100m free at the Olympic trials and missed the Olympic team by 23-hundredths of a second, won the 100m freestyle with a time of 49.91. On Thursday, Rohleder and Weber-Gale joined O'Halloran and Pritchett to form the winning squad in the 400m freestyle relay. One day later, Rohleder captured his first individual title by winning the 100m butterfly. His time of 54.17 was just two-hundredths of a second faster than runner-up Jason Schmidt.
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