North Carolina State University Athletics
Cullen Jones wins NCAA Championship in 50-Yard Freestyle
3/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
March 23, 2006
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
ATLANTA, Ga. - NC State's senior sprinter Cullen Jones won the NCAA Championship in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.18. He is the first Wolfpack NCAA champion in swimming since David Fox won the same event in 1993, and the seventh men's swimming title in school history.
Fox, an investment banker with Goldman Sachs who recently moved to Atlanta, was on hand to present Jones with his NCAA Award, as the two came together at poolside after the event.
"I put a lot of effort into trying to lenghten my stroke and trying to get stronger all year," said Jones afterwards. "I want to keep improving my time, and hopefully one day I can get there."
Jones becomes the first NC State athlete in any sport to win an NCAA title since long-distance track runner Kristin Price won the 10,000-meter title at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2002.
The senior from Irvington, NJ, Jones set a conference record in winning the ACC Championship in the same event in late February. His time of 19.07 broke Fox's conference record and was a mere two-hundreths of a second off of the American record.
"Winning the NCAA championship [in 1993] was the best feeling of my athletic career," said Fox, who won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics at the same Georgia Tech swimming facility where Jones won his national title. "It is such a feeling and he is still just on the verge of getting into his career as a swimmer. He is special."
The Wolfpack collected 20 team points with the win, and Jones will anchor the 200 medley relay Friday afternoon with Kevin Velleca (back), Dan Velez (breast), Steven Cowling (Fly) swimming the other three legs.
Check back to www.GoPack.com for more information as the NCAA Championships run through Saturday in Atlanta, Ga.
