The Arizona mens and womens swimming teams completed the 2005 Texas Invitational finishing in first place to post the first Arizona dual-victory at the meet in school history.

The women tallied 724 team points, which dropped Texas to second-place (652 points), while the men posted a score of 623 to down the Texas men, who had a 32-point lead over the Wildcats entering tonight?s competition.

I admire the team effort throughout this meet,? said head coach Frank Busch. They put great energy into each other and themselves, and that made for a really great meet.

The men added three automatic and nine NCAA consideration times to their total beginning with the 1650 freestyle as senior Tyler DeBerry placed fifth with a consideration time of 15:25.23. Freshman David Pursley also posted a consideration time of 15:24.23 to finish sixth.

Junior Nate Rothman finished 11th in the 200 backstroke with a consideration time of 1:47.23. All three automatic qualifying times were achieved in the 100 freestyle as senior Simon Burnett finished second (42.90), junior Adam Ritter finished fourth (43.43) and senior Lyndon Ferns was ninth (42.98). Sophomores Albert Subirats and Jonas Persson also tallied two consideration times for the Wildcats.

Sophomore Ivan Barnes finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke with a consideration time of 1:59.24 and senior Dave Rollins finished ninth, also with a consideration time of 2:00.75.

To finish the evening?s events, the two 400 free relay teams finished first and second, putting the Wildcats in first-place. The Arizona ?B? team of Subirats, Ferns, Persson and freshman Brandon Selts came in first (2:54.70) and the Arizona ?A? team of Ritter, Burnett, freshman Matt Barnard and sophomore Bart Steninger placed second (2:55.52).

This meet was very exciting for me,? said team manager Kim Miller, who will put her four-year tenure with the team to rest after tonight?s events. ?The team cohesiveness was really good this meet, which made it exciting to watch. I?m going to miss the team and this meet was a great way to end my awesome experience at the U of A.

The women had an equally impressive finish to the meet as they tallied another six automatic times and 10 consideration qualifying times to their total.

Freshamn Kathryn Thompson started-off action for the women, placing fifth in the 200 backstroke with a consideration time of 1:58.38. Senior Marshi Smith finished sixth, also posting a consideration time for the NCAA Championships (2:00.25).

Seven Wildcats posted qualifying times in the 100 freestyle. Sophomore Lacey Nymeyer finished second with and automatic qualifying time of 48.60, while senior Jenna Gresdal and freshman Taylor Baughman finished third (48.90) and fourth (50.07), tallying two more automatic qualifying times. Freshmen Lindsey Kelly and Anna Turner, along with seniors Katie Willis and Ryann Hackett, each posted a consideration time in the race.

Senior Erin Sieper finished second in the 200 breaststroke, posting an automatic qualifying time of 2:13.10. Sophomore Jacquelyn Craft and freshman Jessica Embick posted consideration times in the race as well.

Junior Whitney Myers won the 200 butterfly with an automatic qualifying time of 1:55.98, while senior Lisa Pursley finished eighth with a consideration time of 2:01.40.

The women also finished the meet by finishing first and second in the 400 free relay. The ?A? team of Turner, Smith, Myers and Nymeyer finished first with an automatic qualifying time of 3:18.77, while the ?B? team of Kelly, Baughman, Gresdal and Hackett finished second (3:19.57: Consideration).

These are two really solid teams, and they showed us that with their effort at this meet,? Busch said. ?Everyone will be an asset to the success of this team in the future and it?s nice to see them step up.?

The Wildcats will resume competition after winter break on Jan. 6, 2006 as the women take on Northern Arizona and Oregon State, while both teams will host Washington at 2 p.m. (MST).