COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The No. 1-ranked University of Texas men's swimming and diving team extended its lead after claiming two relay NCAA titles in the second night of competition at the 2001 NCAA Championships on Friday, March 23 at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium. Texas captured wins and American records in both the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay. After 14 events, Texas remains in first place with 447.5 points, followed by Stanford (337.5) and Tennessee (247.5).

Texas opened the night with the foursome of senior Matt Ulrickson (Scottsdale, Ariz.), senior Nate Dusing (Villa Hills, Ky.), freshman Brendan Hansen (Haverford, Pa.) and junior Leffie Crawford (Pacifica, Calif.) cruised to an American and NCAA record in the 200 medley relay, breaking their record they set in the morning prelims of 1:25.26.

The Longhorns would also take the 800 freestyle relay for their fourth-consecutive NCAA title. The team of Dusing, senior Scott Goldblatt (Scotch Plains, N.J.), sophomore Chris Kemp (Southlake, Texas) and senior Jamie Rauch (Houston, Texas) notched an American and NCAA record with a time of 6:18.00, breaking the five-year-old record held by Michigan (6:20.89). It marked the third time a Texas relay has posted an American record at the meet, as Texas' 400 medley relay (Dusing, Hansen, Hannan and Crocker) posted a record time of 3:05.37 in Friday's finals.

On the boards, junior Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) dominated for the second consecutive day, placing first on the three-meter springboard. Troy Dumais now has claimed five NCAA titles (three three-meter springboard and two one-meter springboard titles) in his three years at Texas. His brother, Justin Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) also finished fourth with a score of 630.35.

In the 400 IM, junior Joey Montague (Houston, Texas) and freshman Michael Halika (Jerusalem, Israel) placed 11th and 14h, respectively in the consolation finals.

The youth of the Longhorn team also prevailed in the second night of competition, as both freshmen Ian Crocker (Portland, Maine) and Hansen claimed individual NCAA titles. In the 100 fly, Crocker cruised to his first individual title with a time of 45.96 as teammates Dusing (46.22)folowed in second, while junior Tommy Hannan (Baltimore, Md.) (46.93) finished in sixth. Crocker's time not only set a pool record, but also ranks first on the UT All-time Best Times list.

After posting the fastest time in Texas swimming history to enter the championship finals seeded first, Hansen bettered his time in the 100 breaststroke finals, posting a personal-best and fourth-best time in NCAA history (52.35).

Kemp claimed second-place honors in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:34.69, while Rauch and Goldblatt finished second and sixth, respectively. Sophomore Jim Pullin (Monroe Falls, Ohio) also finished 16th in the consolation finals of the 200 freestyle (1:37.65).

"I'm real pleased with the way we are swimming," said Texas head coach Eddie Reese. "Tomorrow is a tough day. Our goal is to win every day, so we head into tomorrow with that being our major objective."