February 15, 2007
Texas A&M diver Eric Sehn continued his dominance at the Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships by winning the seventh conference crown of his career on Thursday at the TAMU Student Recreation Natatorium.
Sehn, a junior from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, scored 374.20 points on the one-meter springboard to outdistance the field by more than 45 points. Sehn had a small advantage over runner-up Mike Wong of Texas after four dives, but Sehn?â„¢s fifth effort ?- a reverse two and one-half somersault ?- received 8.0 scores from all five judges to forge a 40-point bulge with one dive to go.
?It was back and forth,? Sehn said of his dual with Wong. ?I knew it would come down to the last couple of dives. I just tried to bear down and really zero in on my last two dives. If I was going to go down, I was going to go down fighting.?
Sehn remained undefeated against collegiate competition this year and undefeated in seven career diving competitions at the Big 12 Championships. Sehn?â„¢s seventh matched the conference record for career diving titles that was originally set by former A&M All-American Mark Naftanel from 1997-99.
?It?â„¢s always very exciting, no matter how many times you win,? Sehn said. ?The first (win of the meet) is always the toughest, especially since it was the one-meter because it?â„¢s the hardest for me.?
The Aggies were solid in the pool, grabbing seven spots in the three ?A? finals. But it was a special effort in a ?B? final, that spurred the A&M effort, according to head coach Jay Holmes. Junior captain Luke Chambless, on the scoring team at conference for the first time, won the 200-yard individual medley consolation final with a spirited lifetime best of 1:50.88.
?The team saw Luke?â„¢s will and desire in the 200 IM and it gave everybody a little boost,? Holmes said. ?For Luke to go 1:50-point is a great, great swim for him, and the team caught some energy from that. And that?â„¢s a good thing to catch.?
A&M put three swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle ?A? final with senior Francisco Picasso placing fourth, sophomore Brad Raiford taking seventh and true freshman Casey Strange nabbing eight. Picasso touched the wall in a lifetime-best time of 20.10, which met the NCAA ?B? qualifying standard and ranks No. 9 on A&M?â„¢s all-time top 10 list. Raiford and Strange touched in 20.56 and 20.58, respectively, in the final after both turning in lifetime bests of 20.51 in the prelims.
In the 200 IM, the Aggies took fifth and sixth with lifetime bests from true freshman Israel Duran and junior Alejandro Jacobo. Duran took fifth in 1:49.96, which ranks No. 6 on A&M?â„¢s top 10 list, and Jacobo was sixth in 1:50.83, which ranks No. 11 on the list.
The Aggies grabbed sixth and seventh in the 500 free with junior Ryan Loney finishing in a lifetime best 4:29.27 and sophomore James Hard touching in a season-best 4:32.91.
A&M capped the night with an NCAA consideration time of 3:15.60 in the 400-yard medley relay. The foursome of Duran, Jacobo, sophomore Shawn Clarke and Picasso finished second behind Texas in a season-best clocking.
?That was a really good race for those four guys,? Holmes said. ?That time is faster than what we swam last year, and that was an experienced group of swimmers. We have two brand-new guys out there, but they all did a good job of putting it together.?