March 5, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team has qualified 13 swimmers to compete at the NCAA Championships on March 19-21 at the Student Rec Center Natatorium in College Station.
Aggies having gained entrance to the meet include Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia), Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Melissa Hain (Kingwood), Codie Hansen (Arlington), Casey Hurrell-Zitelman (San Antonio), Marissa Jasek (San Antonio), Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.), Emily Neal (Plano), Sarah Woods (Birmingham, Ala.).
In addition to the aforementioned 13 swimmers, A&M has qualified all five of its relay squads for the NCAA Championships, three of which rank among the top eight in the country.
While the Aggies have 13 athletes accepted into the meet, the possibility exists that the team could add even more. Sophomore Melanie Dodds (Maple Ridge, B.C.) is listed as the third alternate to the meet thanks to her third-place time of 4:13.54 at the Big 12 Championships last Friday. Also, all four of A&M's female divers have qualified for the Zone D Championships and will be gunning for the 10 available qualifying spots next weekend in Columbia, Mo.
Team members that did not qualify for the NCAA Championships will compete in the Speedo Championship Series Southern Sectional Meet in College Station this weekend.