UT swim team has fast start at meet

The Texas swimming and diving teams made it a clean sweep on the first day of the Big 12 Championships at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center on Wednesday.

The No. 4 women won the 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 36.87 seconds to start the day. Claire Adams, Olivia Anderson, Mimi Schneider and Rebecca Millard won with the seventh-fastest time at Texas. The UT women also took the 800 freestyle relay in 6:58.63.

Austin Katz, Austin Temple, Joseph Schooling and Brett Ringgold teamed up to win the men’s 200 medley relay in 1:24.30.

Jacob Cornish won the 1-meter diving title for the second time, posting 367.05 points in the event.

The No. 6 men finished up the day with a victory in the 800 freestyle relay in 6:16.78, an automatic-qualifying time for the NCAAs.

Aston a Naismith semifinalist: Texas women’s basketball coach Karen Aston is among 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year award.

Aston, who was a Naismith finalist last year, has led the Longhorns to a 22-5 record and No. 6 national ranking. Texas has five wins over Top 25 opponents this season.

The other semifinalists are UConn’s Geno Auriemma, Oregon’s Kelly Graves, Notre Dame’s Muffet McGraw, Baylor’s Kim Mulkey, Missouri’s Robin Pingeton, Mississippi State’s Vic Shaefer, Georgia’s Joni Taylor, Louisville’s Jeff Walz and Nebraska’s Amy Williams.

Baylor hires Okam: Former Texas defensive tackle Frank Okam, who was a member of the 2005 national championship team, has been hired by Baylor as an assistant coach.

Okam, 32, will coach the defensive line. Baylor coach Matt Rhule announced the hiring Wednesday.

Okam had coached at Rice the past four seasons. He was a graduate assistant for the first two, then was promoted to coach the defensive line.

“For me this has been a great experience,” Okam said in a statement. “Personally, having the chance to come to a school like Baylor in the Big 12 is really exciting for myself and my career. I want to thank Coach Rhule for the opportunity he has given me and this chance to take the next step in my career.”

Okam played for Texas from 2004-07. He was a fifthround draft pick of the Houston Texans in 2008.