Feb. 28, 2009
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team placed second after a valiant four-day effort at the 2009 Big 12 Championships held at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
A&M scored 831 points while Texas won its first title in three years in the second closest meet in Big 12 history with a total of 893 points. Host Missouri (582) was third followed by Kansas (493), Iowa State (332), and Nebraska (298).
The Aggies' youth stepped to the fore on the final day, earning A&M its top individual finishes as well as two school records. Sophomore Casey Hurrell-Zitelman (San Antonio) fought her way to a second-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 16:16.78. In doing so, Hurrell-Zitelman took down the oldest school record in the books, pushing past Joan Wojtowicz's time of 16:17.09.
Hurrell-Zitelman not only grabbed second in the 1,650 free but came back after swimming the most grueling event in the sport to place eighth in the very next race, the 200-yard breaststroke. Hurrell-Zitelman clocked a time of 2:22.19. Sophomore Melanie Dodds (Maple Ridge, B.C) finished four spots ahead of Hurrell-Zitelman, hitting the wall in 2:15.57 after setting a lifetime best of 2:15.27 in prelims.
Freshman Christine Marshall's school record of 1:57.56. Fellow freshman Lauren Clifford also made the 200 fly final, taking fifth in a career-best of 1:59.45.
A&M closed the meet with the second-fastest 400-yard freestyle relay in school history. The group of Christine Marshall's (Newport News, Va.) qualified automatically for the NCAA Championships in a time of 3:14.08.
Marshall, Hansen, Woods, and Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) finished fourth through seventh in the 100-yard freestyle, enabling the Aggies to outscore the Longhorns in the event. Marshall and Hansen both swam career best times of 48.82 and 49.30 during prelims while Woods set a lifetime best of 49.35 in finals. Hansen went on to better her career best mark in the 100 free, leading off the 400 free relay in 49.00.
Sophomore Emily Neal (Plano) placed third in 1:56.59 while freshman Megan Latone (Austin) was seventh in 1:58.39.
Junior Haley Haynes (The Woodlands) equaled her career-best Big 12 finish of fourth place with the most prolific platform performance of her career. Haynes destroyed her previous lifetime-best of 220.50 by totaling up a school record score of 272.30 during the championship final.
One of the highlights of the entire meet came from junior Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) during both the preliminary and finals of the 200-yard breaststroke. Atkinson, who flew to Columbia, Mo., on Friday after attending the memorial service for her brother on Thursday evening, broke both A&M school records in the breaststroke in one day. Atkinson mauled the field in the 200 breast during the morning session, swimming the fastest time of anyone all day long at 2:08.59. At night, Atkinson used the first 100 yards of the 200 breaststroke `C' final to swim the fastest 100-yard breast in A&M history. Atkinson broke the one-minute barrier for the first time ever, marking the halfway point of the race in 59.82. After setting the 100 breast record, Atkinson cruised in to a C final win in 2:17.17.
A&M will compete in a last chance qualifying meet at the Mizzou Aquatic Center at 11 a.m. The Aggies will find out this coming Friday which members of the team will earn tickets to the 2009 NCAA Championships scheduled for College Station on March 19-21.
Platform Diving - Final 4. Haley Haynes, 272.30
Platform Diving - Prelims 5. Haley Haynes, 235.20
200-Yard Backstroke - Final 3. Lindsey King, 1:55.52 4. Emily Neal, 1:56.59 7. Megan Latone, 1:58.39 ------------------------------ 9. Ella Doerge, 1:58.03 ------------------------------ 17. Tracey Renfrew, 1:59.86 18. Sally Ranzau, 2:01.79
200-Yard Backstroke - Prelims 1. Lindsey King, 1:55.89 3. Emily Neal, 1:56.48 8. Megan Latone, 1:58.41 11. Ella Doerge, 1:59.06 16. Tracey Renfrew, 2:02.06 Exh. Alyssa Conner, 2:01.54
100-Yard Freestyle - Finals 4. Christine Marshall's, 48.98 5. Codie Hansen, 49.31 6. Sarah Woods, 49.35 7. Triin Aljand, 49.46 ---------------------------------- 10. Marissa Jasek, 49.80 11. Maria Sommer, 49.90 ---------------------------------- 24. Tarin Corwin, 50.31
100-Yard Freestyle - Prelims 3. Christine Marshall's, 48.82 5. Codie Hansen, 49.30 6. Triin Aljand, 49.32 7. Sarah Woods, 49.39 10. Marissa Jasek, 49.66 14. Maria Sommer, 50.28 24. Tarin Corwin, 51.10 28. Leslie Dlugopolski, 51.63 29. Hannah Kinder, 51.87
1,650-Yard Freestyle - Finals 2. Casey Hurrell-Zitelman, 16:16.78
200-Yard Breaststroke - Finals 4. Melanie Dodds, 2:15.57 8. Casey Hurrell-Zitelman, 2:22.19 ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- 17. Alia Atkinson, 2:17.17 (59.82 100 breast split) 19. Rebekah Love, 2:19.48 20. Caroline Maxvill, 2:20.35
200-Yard Breaststroke - Prelims 1. Alia Atkinson, 2:08.59 5. Melanie Dodds, 2:15.27 9. Casey Hurrell-Zitelman, 2:16.32 15. Rebekah Love, 2:19.93 19. Caroline Maxvill, 2:23.50 25. Renee Iserman, 2:24.23
200-Yard Butterfly - Finals 2. Rita Medrano, 1:57.30 5. Lauren Clifford, 1:59.45 ---------------------------------- 10. Melissa Hain, 2:00.42 ---------------------------------- 17. Jordan King, 1:59.84 23. Sarah Froehlich, 2:07.62
200-Yard Butterfly - Prelims 3. Rita Medrano, 1:58.55 6. Lauren Clifford, 2:00.15 7. Jordan King, 2:00.33 11. Melissa Hain, 2:00.99 20. Sarah Froehlich, 2:05.81
400-Yard Freestyle Relay 2. Christine Marshall's, 3:14.08