February 25, 2008
The Texas A&M women?â„¢s swimming & diving team will try to defend its Big 12 Championship this Wednesday through Saturday at the Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
The Aggies (9-1) have had another banner season after a record-breaking year in 2006-07. A&M?â„¢s only loss of any kind all season long was a tight 155-139 setback to then-No. 1 Auburn in College Station on Jan. 12. and, in that meet, A&M held the lead with two races to go. The Aggies have beaten all of the other seven ranked teams it has faced this season, including four of the top 21 teams in the country at the SMU Classic in late October.
A&M is coming off its first-ever dual meet win in Austin more than three weeks ago. The Aggies won 12 of 14 races en route to one of its biggest wins ever over rival Texas.
Entering the conference championship portion of the season, the Aggies have at least one swimmer ranked among the top 10 in the nation in every race save three.
Junior Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ont., Canada) has been one of the Aggies?â„¢ most lethal weapons this year having won National Swimmer of the Week honors for a second year in a row as well as the fifth and sixth Big 12 Swimmer of the Week honors of her career. Wilkinson enters the conference season as the national leader in the 100 freestyle and ranks among the top 10 in the 100 back (5th), 200 IM (5th), and 200 free (7th).
Big 12 Swimmer of the Year Kristen Heiss (Casper, Wyo.) has emerged as one of the best 200 backstrokers in the U.S. and ranks No. 2 collegiately in the event heading into the conference races. Heiss also ranks No. 10 nationally in the 500-yard freestyle.
Arguably the biggest win in Texas A&M swimming & diving history came exactly one year ago when the Aggies captured the school?â„¢s first-ever Big 12 championship with a dramatic 931-930 win over the eight-time defending champion Longhorns. The Aggies captured 15 of 18 races just two seasons after winning only a single race at the 2005 Big 12 meet in College Station.
Aggie sophomore Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.) captured Big 12 Swimmer of the Meet honors last year following victories in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard freestyle. Marshall set then-school records in the both the 200 IM (1:58.07) and the 200 fly (1:58.71).
Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after defeating five-time Big 12 breaststroke champion Elizabeth Tinnon in both the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. Atkinson enters the conference season ranked No. 4 nationally in the 200 breast and No. 5 in the 100 breast.
A&M Head Coach Steve Bultman earned a share of Big 12 Women?â„¢s Swimming Coach of the Meet honors for the fifth time in six seasons after the Aggies?â„¢ conference victory and went on to win his second Big 12 Coach of the Year honor.
The 2008 Big 12 Swimming & Diving Championships will begin on Wednesday at 6 p.m. with the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. The meet will begin in earnest on Thursday at 10 a.m. with individual preliminaries while finals are slated for 6 p.m. each evening through Saturday.