College Station, Texas (March 24, 2001) -- For the fourth consecutive year, senior Arunas Savickas earned All-America honors while sophomore Aaron Russell picked up his second All-America citation for their respective performances at the 2001 NCAA Championships.
Savickas earned a second team All-America citation for his 14th-place finish in the 200 freestyle Friday, making him the only male swimmer in BYU history to be named All-American each his four years at BYU. He has earned six All-America citations in four trips to the NCAA Championships. A tooth infection kept Savickas out of the 500 free on Thursday, allowing him to concentrate on his two other events, the 100 and 200 free. On Saturday, he finished 46th in the 100 free, failing to advance to the finals.
"I'm excited for Arunas that he was able to be an All-American in each of the four years he was at BYU," men's swimming coach Tim Powers said.
Russell earned his second team All-America honor with a 13th-place finish on the 1-meter springboard event Thursday. He also finished 21st on the 3-meter board Friday while placing 25th in the platform event Saturday.
Heading into the final day of competition, Savickas and Russell had earned seven points for the Cougars, putting them in a 28th-place tie.
All-Americans Arunas Savickas and Aaron Russell, who led BYU to a 33rd-place tie at last year's NCAA meet, will represent the men's swimming and diving team this week at the 2001 NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas.
Fourth Trip
Savickas is no stranger to the NCAA meet as he returns for the fourth time, where he has been named an All-American the past three years. He will participate in the 100-, 200- and 500-meter freestyle events. At the 2000 NCAA Championships, Savickas finished 16th in the 200 back to earn second team All-American honors after bad luck kept him out of the finals in his best event--the 200 free.
Savickas has won the 100 free once this season, the 200 free seven times and the 500 free five different times. His time of 1:36.46 in the 200 free ranks 14th in the nation, while his time of 4:21.39 in the 500 free is 20th-best. Savickas was named the Mountain West Conference Swimmer of the Week two times this season.
All-American Returns
Russell is making his second trip to the NCAA Championships. Last year he was named a second team All-American with his 14th-place finish on the 1-meter springboard while also finishing 24th in the 3-meter event. Russell will participate in all three diving events (1M, 3M and platform). He finished second on the 3M board with a score of 572.50 at the Zone E Diving Meet two weeks ago to qualify for nationals.
Russell won the 3-meter board at the 2001 MWC Championships with a score of 560.00 and was named MWC Diver of the Week twice. He won the 3-meter board four different times this year and the 1-meter board three times while also winning the platform event at the BYU Diving Invitational.
Quotes
"I'm hoping Aaron can score points and get an All-American citation." -Diving Coach Keith Russell .
Results
Results from this weekend's championships will be on BYU's official athletics Web page, www.byucougars.com, as they are available.
