February 28, 2008
A school record swim by newcomer Nikita Denisyako highlighted Texas A&M?â„¢s second day at the 2008 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at the University of Texas?â„¢ Jamail Swim Center.
Denisyako?â„¢s effort, coupled with a pair of sizzling swims from senior Ozzie Gardner and sophomore Casey Strange in the 50-yard freestyle, pushed the Aggies into second place in the team standings. Texas leads with 380 points, A&M is second with 247 and first-day leader Missouri is third with 246 points.
Denisyako, a sophomore from Moscow, Russia, set the school record with a NCAA consideration time of 1:47.45 while placing fifth in the 200 individual medley. Denisyako, who joined the Aggies in January, broke of the old record of 1:47.79 by Scott Mueller in 2004. Denisyako led a large Aggie contingent in the race with senior Alejandro Jacobo taking seventh and sophomore Israel Duran grabbing eighth place in the championship final. Junior teammate Kyle Holland won the consolation final in an NCAA consideration time of 1:49.27 and was closely trailed by sophomore Tyler Welch in 1:51.05.
?Watching Nikita set the school record in his first Big 12 Championship was a lot of fun,? Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. ?He joined us in January and we?â„¢re happy to have him. That is why he came to the United States ?- to get a degree and swim fast at the NCAA level.
?I can?â„¢t say enough about Kyle Holland?â„¢s effort in the 200 IM. He came to us as a non-scholarship kid out of Houston, and he?â„¢s always done everything we?â„¢ve asked of him. I couldn?â„¢t be prouder of him.?
The Aggies also scored big points in the 50 free with two of the fastest efforts in school history. Gardner placed second in a career-best time of 19.67, while Strange took third in a career-best 19.76. Gardner?â„¢s time puts him No. 4 on A&M?â„¢s 50 free top 10 list, while Strange?â„¢s time tied Andrew Sullivant for No. 5 on the list. Also in the ?A? final, senior Luke Chambless placed seventh with a lifetime best time of 20.27 and junior Brad Raiford was eighth in 20.42. . In the ?B? final, sophomore Jason Bergstrom was second in 20.70 and freshman Boris Loncaric was third in 21.28.
?Our sprint freestylers did a great job,? Holmes said. ?(Associate Head Coach) Doug (Boyd) prepared them extremely well. It was exciting to watch them step and swim that fast. Ozzie and Casey did a great job and that was a heck of a swim for Luke Chambless.?
Senior Ryan Latone contributed a victory in the consolation final of the 500-yard freestyle in a lifetime bet of 4:29.26.
The Aggies had a setback in the 400-yard medley relay when it was disqualified for an early takeoff.
?I?â„¢m really disappointed with what happened with the medley relay,? Holmes said. ?It was a 36-point swing in the team standings, and it would have been a school record that probably gets us to the NCAA meet. I?â„¢m absolutely not mad at anyone. Our guys were being aggressive, which is what we want them to be, and we were early by four-hundreds of a second. The loss of those points puts us at a deficit and we?â„¢re going to have to fight to make them up.?
Action on Friday for the Aggie men includes the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and three-meter springboard.