March 29, 2008
The Texas A&M men?â„¢s swimming and diving team rode the wave of five school records to grab its 13th straight top 25 team finish by placing No. 13 at the 2008 NCAA Men?â„¢s Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday at the King County Aquatic Center.
All eight swimmers representing Texas A&M at the meet had a hand in scoring 78 points for the Aggies. The 13 straight top 25 finishes at the NCAA Championships is the longest streak ever by any varsity sport at Texas A&M. The No. 13 finish is the Aggies?â„¢ eighth top 15 finish at the NCAA meet and its highest since a No. 12 finish in 2004.
The Aggies solidified their No. 19 place by scoring 14 points in 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Sophomore Israel Duran, who lowered his own school record in the prelims, turned in a third place finish in the consolation final (11th place overall) with a time of 1:44.55. In the morning session, Duran flew to a time of 1:43.98 to lower his old best of 1:44.79 that came in his victory at last year?â„¢s Big 12 Championships.
The 400 free relay closed out the Aggies?â„¢ final day scoring with a fifth finish in the consolation final (13th overall). The foursome of sophomore Casey Strange, senior Luke Chambless, junior Brad Raiford and senior Ozzie Gardner turned in a time of 2:55.52 in the night session after advancing to the final with a season-best time of 2:55.25 in the prelims.
Earlier in the day, Gardner added the 100-yard freestyle school record to his resume with a 43.38 clocking, but missed qualifying for a night swim by .12 of a second and five spots. Gardner, who set the school record in the 50 free earlier in the Championship, eclipsed the old mark of 43.45 set by Matt Rose in his victory at the 2003 Big 12 Championships in Austin.
In other Saturday action, sophomore Nikita Denisyako posted a time of 1:43.92 in the 200 back; and senior Alejandro Jacobo swam to a time of 1:58.43 in the 200 breaststroke.
For the three-day meet, the Aggies scored points with all four relays that were entered ?- the 200 and 400 free relays and the 200 and 400 medley relays. The Aggies received individual points from Gardner in the 50 free, sophomore Jason Bergstrom in the 100 back and sophomore Israel Duran in the 200 fly. School records were set by the 200 and 400 medley relays, Gardner in the 50 and 100 free and Duran in the 200 fly.