March 08, 2007
The Texas A&M women?â„¢s swimming and diving team broke three school records and had an entry qualify for evening finals in every single race during the morning preliminaries on day one of the NCAA Championships at the University Aquatic Center.
The Aggies?â„¢ highest finishes during the morning session came in a pair of individual events. Sophomore Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) smashed her school record of 22.40 in the 50-yard freestyle set at last season?â„¢s NCAA meet by hitting the wall in 22.27 to qualify sixth overall. Sophomore Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ont.) used the second-fastest freestyle split in the entire 200 individual medley field to push her way into the first NCAA championship final of her career. Wilkinson, like Aljand, ranked sixth overall after nine preliminary heats.
The A&M 200 freestyle relay team needed every single bit of its new school record to qualify for the championship final. The foursome of Wilkinson, senior Rebecca Sturdy (Anacortes, Wash.), freshman Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), and Aljand finished eighth overall, breaking the 1:30 barrier for the first time in school history. The group clocked in at 1:29.97 to finish ahead of California (1:30.11) and Texas (1:30.12).
Sophomore Kristen Heiss (Casper, Wyo.) lowered her own school record of 4:44.79 in the 500 freestyle to 4:44.11 to qualify for her first-ever individual evening swim at the NCAA meet. Heiss finished in a tie for 12th to earn a spot in the consolation final.
The Aggie 400 medley relay team of Wilkinson, Atkinson, Sturdy and sophomore Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.) used a monster last leg by Marshall to win their heat and qualify seventh for the evening championship final. The group turned in a time of 3:37.45 with Marshall clocking 48.47 on the anchor leg.
Marshall also squeaked her way into the consolation final of the 200-yard individual medley. The Big 12 Swimmer of the Meet finished 16th in the 200 IM in 1:59.59. Junior Erin Mahoney (Wichita, Kan.) crushed her lifetime best in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.60 to finish 26th.
Aljand, Heiss, Marshall, Wilkinson and both relays will compete in finals tonight which are slated to begin at 7 p.m.