March 28, 2008
Texas A&M held steady at No. 12 in the team standings after another solid day on Friday at the 2008 NCAA Men?â„¢s Swimming & Diving Championships at the King County Aquatic Center.
The Aggies scored a total of 23 points on the middle day of the Championships with an eight-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay and a 16th place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. The Aggies have a two-day point total of 64 points.
?This group of guys has done a good job of taking care of business in the morning prelims and then collecting the points at night,? Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. ?If you look at our times, we?â„¢ve been at our best in the prelims. We still have a lot of work to do. We could be 12th after Saturday or 16th, and a lot will hinge on how we swim on Saturday morning.?
The 200 medley relay took eighth with a time of 1:26.67 to add 22 points to the Aggies?â„¢ score. Earlier in the day, the Aggie four of sophomore Nikita Denisyako, senior Alejandro Jacobo, sophomore Jason Bergstrom and senior Ozzie Gardner set the school record with a time of 1:26.20, which knocked .35 of a second off the old school record of 1:26.55 set by Riley Janes, Nic Tate, Michael Greene and Michael Colligan while placing fourth at the 2001 NCAA Championships.
?It was so much fun to watch those guys compete,? Holmes said. ?Those guys were electric. They broke the school record by nearly a half-second that was set by a relay that placed fourth at the NCAA meet. This was all set up by our ability to get Nikita and Jason into the meet. It gave us the ability to get all this done.?
Bergstrom chipped in another point for the Aggies with a 16th place finish in the 100 backstroke. Earlier in the day, Bergstrom posted a lifetime best 47.54 in the prelims.
Other A&M results from the morning session were a lifetime-best 48.15 in the 100 fly by Israel Duran; a 53.86 in the 100 breast by Alejandro Jacobo; and a 47.82 in the 100 back by Denisyako.