AUSTIN, Texas — University of New Mexico head women’s swimming coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker was selected to the 2017 University of Texas Hall of Honor Class and will be inducted in October along with 14 other University of Texas alums the school announced Thursday.
The second-year Lobo coach was an NCAA champion and a 16-time All-American while swimming for the Longhorns from 1988-92 – helping Texas to national titles in 1990 and 1991 (the team finished second in 1989 and 1992).
As a freshman, Tierney placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke, fifth in the 200 IM and eighth in the 100 breaststroke and earned All-America honors in all three events. She helped the Horns to third place in the 200 and 400 medley relays as Texas placed second at the 1989 NCAA Championships.
As a sophomore, Tierney swept the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and helped Texas to victory in the 200 and 400 medley relays at the Southwest Conference Championships. She earned All-America honors again in all three individual events, as she took third in the 200 IM, fourth in the 200 breaststroke and seventh in the 100 breaststroke at the 1990 NCAA Championships in Austin. She helped the Horns place third in the 400-medley relay and sparked Texas’ run to its eighth national team title.
In her junior campaign, Tierney once again used a strong performance at the Southwest Conference Championships as a springboard to bigger things at the NCAA meet. She won the SWC title in the 200 breaststroke and helped UT win the league crown in the 400 medley relay. The next month at the 1991 NCAA Championships, Tierney placed third in the 200 IM and second in the 100 breaststroke before winning her first NCAA title while setting an NCAA record in the 200 breaststroke. She led the Horns to another NCAA title in the 200-medley relay, and Texas took home its second straight and ninth overall national team title.
Tierney, a two-time captain for the Longhorns, finished strong as a senior with Southwest Conference titles in the 200 IM, the 200 breaststroke and the 400 medley relay. She added NCAA runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 breaststroke events and a fifth-place national finish in the 200 IM, as Texas took second at the 1992 NCAA Championships.
Tierney-Walker also had success internationally – and even before she arrived on Texas’ campus – as she took home her first gold medal at the 1987 Pan-American Games in the 200 breaststroke. In 1991, she was ranked third in the world in the 200 breaststroke and named captain of the USA National Team at the Pan-American Games in Cuba where she won three gold medals and set the Pan-Am Games record in the 200 breaststroke.
Tierney-Walker – who was the co-head women’s swimming coach at Auburn when it won national titles in 2006 and 2007 – helped six Lobos earn All-Mountain West honors (10 all-conference performances overall), including Celine Bertrand winning the Lobos their first individual swimming title in program history (200 butterfly), as the team took sixth in her first season at the helm.
UNM coach Tierney-Walker named to UT Hall of Honor
