AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 1-nationally ranked Texas men's swimming team captured its 22nd consecutive conference title on Saturday, March 3 as it won the 2001 Big 12 Conference Championships at the Jamail Swim Center. The Longhorns won 20 of 21 events to set a Big 12 record team total of 1,105 points. Texas was trailed by No. 4 Texas A&M (622), Iowa State (487.5), Nebraska (475.5), Missouri (353.5) and Kansas (275.5). The win also marks the largest margin of victory, shattering the previous record of 358 which was set by the Longhorns at the 2000 Big 12 meet.

Head coach Eddie Reese's Longhorns swept all six events in the final day of competition. The Longhorns had one of their most outstanding performances of the meet with a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Senior Jamie Rauch (Houston, Texas) led the trio of Longhorns, touching in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 43.56. Freshman Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine) finished second in a time of 43.71, while sophomore Chris Kemp (Southlake, Texas) came in third (43.79). Freshman Tony Diers (Houston, Texas) completed Texas' strong showing, finishing sixth in a time of 44.11.

Senior Jim Pullin (Monroe Falls, Ohio) opened the meet winning his first individual conference title in the 1650 freestyle and posting a personal-best time of 15:14.75. Missouri's Dane Pedersen (15:34.50) and Iowa State's Josh Nogar (15:37.77) followed in second and third place, respectively.

Senior Nate Dusing (Villa Hills, Ky.) followed Pullin's performance with his own individual title in the 200 backstroke, marking his fourth Big 12 Championship of the meet. Dusing blazed to an NCAA automatic time of 1:41.94, almost breaking the school record time of 1:41.74 set by Neil Walker. Senior Matt Ulrickson (Scottsdale, Ariz.), the three-time champion in the event, finished second with a time of 1:46.15.

Freshman Brendan Hansen (Havertown, Pa.) grabbed his second individual title of the meet in winning the 200 breaststroke in an automatic time of 1:55.92. Hansen's time also shattered the Big 12 Conference record of 1:58.62 set by former Longhorn Russell Chozick in 2000. Sophomore Ross Binkley (Austin, Texas) touched second in a consideration time of 1:59.36.

Junior Tommy Hannan claimed the last individual event of the meet, defending his 2000 title in the 200 butterfly (1:44.97). Senior Tsim Schneider (Davis, Calif.) posted a time of 1:45.12 to finish second, while junior Joey Montague (Houston,Texas) came home in third (1:45.85).

Dusing, Kemp, Crocker and Rauch also claimed first-place honors in the meet's final event -- the 400 freestyle relay, nearly setting an American record by posting a time of 2:51.32. Texas A&M's David Morrow, Alfred Mansour, Riley Janes and Keven Kehlenbach touched second (2:56.17).

The Longhorns also swept the meet's final awards, as Dusing was named Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet, Crocker was named Outstanding Newcomer of the Meet and Reese earned Swimming Coach of the meet honors.

"We really came out and swam well in nearly every event this weekend," said Reese. "We performed well on all accounts and this puts us in a great position for the NCAA's."

The Longhorns, the defending national champions, will travel to College Station, Texas to compete in the 2001 NCAA Championships on Thursday-Saturday, March 22-24.