Nov. 20, 2008
COLLEGE STATION - The eighth-ranked Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team will host the Art Adamson Invitational this Friday through Sunday at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.
This year's Adamson invite will give a glimpse into March's NCAA Championship meet, which will also take place on the A&M campus. Teams scheduled to compete this weekend include No. 6 California, No. 17 Southern Methodist, No. 18 Michigan, and perennially ranked opponents, Louisiana State, Purdue, and Washington. Divers from No. 2 Stanford, No. 15 UCLA, last year's NCAA host Ohio State and diving powerhouse Houston will also be in attendance.
The Adamson will begin on Friday with swimming preliminaries at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. The schedule will remain the same on Saturday. On Sunday, swimming preliminaries will start at 9:30 a.m. with finals set for 4:30 p.m.
The diving portion of the meet will begin on Friday with the men's one-meter prelims at 12:30 p.m. followed by the women's three-meter prelims at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the prelim times will remain the same with each gender changing to the opposite springboard they contested the day prior. Finals on both springboards will take place in the evening. The platform competition will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with prelims and finals held back-to-back until the competition is complete.
For those not able to attend the Adamson invite, live updates will be available at (http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/m-swim/spec-rel/artadinvite.html). Each night session will also be streamed live on the internet for free at Aggies All-Access (http://www.aggieathletics.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/111708aab.html).
The Aggies will be led by Olympians Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia), Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), and Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.). Aljand has yet to be beaten in any individual event all season long and was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the 50-yard freestyle up until this past weekend (22.50; national leader is NCAA champion Lara Jackson of Arizona; 22.47). Atkinson, one of the most dominant breaststrokers in Big 12 history, has yet to taste defeat in either breaststroke race this season and ranks No. 8 and No. 6 nationally in the 100 and 200 breast, respectively, entering the weekend. Marshall is unbeaten in all her individual freestyle races this season and ranks No. 5 and No. 7 in the nation in the 200 and 500 freestyles, respectively, heading into the Adamson invite.
Sixth-ranked California should give A&M its greatest test at the Adamson invite in years. The Golden Bears are ranked two spots ahead of the Aggies after finishing one spot behind them at the 2008 NCAA Championships in March. Cal will be led by 2008 200 freestyle Olympic silver medalist Sara Isakovic (Slovenia) and 2004 800 free relay Olympic gold medalist Dana Vollmer (U.S.) among others. Isakovic is one of only four women in the country to rank ahead of the Aggies' Marshall in the 200 free while Vollmer is directly behind the A&M Olympian in the national standings in the same race.
The No. 16 SMU Mustangs will return to the Adamson Invite for the fifth straight season. The Mustangs have finished in the top three at the Adamson every year and will bring an experienced group in to do the same again this time around. SMU is led by senior sprinters Candace Blackman and Petra Klosova. Klosova, a six-time Conference USA Swimmer of the Week, and Blackman both rank in the top 25 in the nation in the 200-yard freestyle, helping shape up an NCAA Championship caliber field in the race. Blackman ranks among the national leaders in the 50 and 100 freestyles as well.
No. 17 Michigan has finished one spot behind the champion Aggies at the Adamson invite each of the past two seasons. No team will come in more battle tested than the Wolverines who have contested arguably the toughest schedule in the country so far, having already faced No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Florida, No. 9 Minnesota and No. 10 Indiana. Junior Margaret Kelly, a nationally ranked IM and butterfly specialist, and 2008 NCAA 1,650 champion and Big 10 Swimmer of the Year Emily Brunemann, among others, will lead the Wolverines into College Station.
LSU (0-2-1), who is receiving votes in the latest top 25 poll, is returning to the Art Adamson Invitational after a one year hiatus. The Tigers finished fourth in their most recent appearance at the Adamson invite during the 2006-07 season. LSU lost its first two meets of the season, to No. 5 Florida and No. 22 Arkansas, but did rebound to end Alabama's season-opening three meet win streak by tying the Crimson Tide, 150-150.
Purdue (1-4) is coming off its first win of the season, a 202-135 win over Eastern Michigan. Three of their four losses have to come to No. 21 Northwestern, No. 23 Louisville, and No. 24 Notre Dame. Boilermaker diver Ashley Beal has been a bright spot for Purdue, winning Big 10 Diver of the Week honors this week. Purdue is scheduled to host the 2010 NCAA Championships.
Washington, who is also receiving votes in the latest poll, grabbed a 12th-place finish at last season's NCAA Championship meet. The Huskies (5-4) beat A&M when they last met head-to-head three years ago in Seattle, 147-115, when the Aggies were ranked No. 10.
While the teams competing in the swimming portion of the meet are among the best in the country, the Adamson diving field might be even better.
Ohio State, alma mater of A&M diving coach Kevin Wright, will attend the Adamson invite for the first time. The Buckeyes hosted the NCAA Championships last season, earning a 15th place finish -- in large part due to its divers. Vince Panzano, Wright's collegiate coach, was named the NCAA Diving Coach of the Year in 2008 as he led current senior Chelsea Davis to the NCAA Championship on the three-meter springboard.
Diving powerhouse Houston will send its divers to the Adamson invite again this year. Houston finished 28th at last season's NCAA Championships with all its points coming from the diving well. Up until last season, again with all its points coming solely out of the diving well, the Cougars placed in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships for seven straight years.
No. 2 Stanford (5-0) will be sending its women's divers to College Station along with its entire men's team. The Cardinal has dropped No. 5 Florida as well as Adamson competitors No. 17 Michigan and Washington in dual meets so far this season.
Leading the way for No. 15 UCLA's diving team will be senior Marisa Samaniego. Samaniego qualified for the Zone E Diving Championships on both the one and three-meter springboards last weekend at home against Arizona State.
This invitational meet was renamed in 2006 to honor Art Adamson, the longest tenured head coach in Texas A&M athletic history. Adamson coached the swimming program from 1934 until 1969, a reign of 35 years. During that time, he led Texas A&M to three Southwest Conference team championships as well as several swimmers to Olympic berths. More than 25,000 Aggies were taught swimming by Adamson, including several World War II veterans that survived D-Day because of his physical education swim classes.