Lady Vol swimmer makes Olympic team

Christine Magnuson, one of the most accomplished swimmers to come through the Lady Vols swimming program, earned a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team Monday by winning the 100m butterfly at the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Magnuson came in as the top seed after winning both the preliminaries and semifinals on Sunday. Her time of 58.11 earned the Tinley Park, Ill., product her first trip to the Olympics.

“If you had asked me two years ago if I was going to the Olympics, I would have given you a very strange look,” Magnuson said.

At the turn, the 23-time All-American was in third behind 2004 Olympic medalist Rachel Komisarz, who was on pace to set a new world record, and Brooke Bishop. However, she found another gear to finish the final 50 meters one-tenth of a second ahead of Stanford’s Elaine Breeden for the win. Breeden will join Magnuson as a member of the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing. Komisarz was third with a 58.36 readout.

“It is amazing, thrilling,” Magnuson said. “Now I can just really relax and have fun. I had a blast tonight. I don’t know how I am going to top this one.”

Lipscomb gets new women’s assistant

Lynsie Blau has been named as a new assistant coach for the Lipscomb Lady Bisons basketball team.

Blau has spent the past two seasons as a graduate assistant at Abilene Christian University. Despite her title, she performed all of the duties of a full-time assistant coach.

She will work with the post players for the Lady Bisons. She will also be involved in opponent scouting, student-athlete development, scheduling, team camp and all aspects of recruiting.

“Lynsie will be a tremendous asset to our program,” said Lady Bisons head coach Frank Bennett. “Lynsie has a great basketball mind. She is very organized and has an outstanding work ethic.

“She has a great personality which will aid her in working with our student-athletes and in recruiting. She comes to us with outstanding recommendations from the ACU coaching staff and others with whom she has worked.”