August 06, 2007
Several members of the Texas A&M women?â„¢s swimming team closed out their summer seasons with rewarding performances while a pair of athletes will see their seasons continue thanks to those efforts.
Both junior Kristen Heiss (Casper, Wyo.) and sophomore Emily Neal (Plano) will represent the United States at the Japan International Grand Prix in Chiba, Japan, which take place Aug. 21-24. Heiss and Neal both recorded times under the U.S. National Team qualifying standard during finals of the 200-meter backstroke at the 2007 ConocoPhillips National Championships this past week in Indianapolis to gain a spot on the U.S. team.
Heiss earned the trip to Japan after recording a time of 2:12.00 in the 200 back to take fifth in the championship final. Neal placed fifth in the ?'B?â„¢ final, finishing just under the team qualifying standard at 2:15.11 to earn her trip across the Pacific.
Heiss qualified for a second swim at U.S. nationals in both the 100 backstroke and 400-meter freestyle. Heiss set a lifetime best of 1:03.07 to finish in a tie for fourth in the consolation final of the 100 back while winning the ?'C?â„¢ final of the 400 free in a career-best 4:15.22.
Heiss teamed with senior co-captains Erin Mahoney (Wichita, Kan.) and Beth McCullough (Austin) as well as classmate Marissa Jasek (San Antonio) to earn a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter freestyle relay in 8:15.16. Mahoney?â„¢s lead-off leg of 2:02.43, the fourth-fastest of the entire field, also came in under the qualifying standard of 2:03.39 for next summer?â„¢s U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb.
A quartet of Aggies placed 16th in the 400-meter freestyle relay. Jasek, Melissa Hain (Kingwood), McCullough, and Heiss recorded a time of 3:51.09 to finish one spot ahead of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club led by Olympian Katie Hoff.
Other A&M swimmers qualifying for the 2008 U.S Olympic Trials in addition to Erin Mahoney were Heiss (100 back, 200 back, 200 free, 400 free) and Neal (100 back, 1:04.46 time trial; 200 back).
Junior Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ont.), fresh off an impressive week at Canadian nationals, continued her string of remarkable performances at the Open de Paris which concluded on Sunday.
Wilkinson teamed with Erica Morningstar, Victoria Poon, and Genevieve Saumur to break the Canadian national record in the 400-meter freestyle relay in a bronze-medal-winning performance of 3:41.07. The quartet broke the record that they set a year ago at the Pan Pacific Championships (3:41.83). Wilkinson got the ball rolling for the Canadians on the record-breaking relay with a lifetime-best 100 free split of 55.53 on the lead-off leg.
The group of Wilkinson, Chelsey Salli, Saumur, and Morningstar just missed the Canadian record of 4:05.59 in the 400-meter medley relay, clocking a 4:05.83 for the silver medal in Paris. Wilkinson?â„¢s lead-off leg of 1:02.22 came within .29 of the Canadian record in the 100 backstroke as well.
From an individual standpoint, Wilkinson qualified for the Paris finals in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing seventh in a lifetime-best of 2:00.13. She also made the finals in the 50-meter backstroke, taking eighth in 29.49. She clocked a time of 29.40 to qualify for that final. Wilkinson qualified for a third final, the 200 individual medley (2:18.15), but did not swim it. She also recorded the ninth-fastest time during the 100 free prelims (56.45) and placed 10th during the 100 back semifinals (1:02.73) in wrapping up her summer season.
Junior teammate Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) also competed in Paris. Aljand finished 12th in the 50 free (26.10), 16th in the 100 fly (1:02.41; 1:01.73 in prelims), and 23rd in the 100 free (57.46). She also helped the Estonian team to a seventh-place finish in the 400 medley relay (3:52.71).