March 27, 2009
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Record-setting swims and dominating diving put Texas A&M in the top 10 in the team standings on Friday as the Aggies enter the final day of the 2009 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
After two days of competition, the Aggies stand 10th with 87 points and are in the hunt to equal or better their highest NCAA finish in school history. The Aggies are practically a lock to earn their 14th straight top 25 NCAA finish, and are looking to better the 10th place finish at the national meet by the 1999 Aggies. Texas remained on top of the team standings with 348 points, but is closely trailed by Auburn with 342 points.
The Aggies set the tone of the day early when sophomore Boris Loncaric (pronounced LON-char-itch) took down the second-oldest record in the Aggie men's swimming and diving record book in Friday's morning session.
Loncaric, from Zagreb, Croatia, earned a spot in the championship final with a huge lifetime-best effort of 45.53 in the preliminary heats of the 100-yard butterfly. Loncaric's swim bettered the school standard of 47.10 that was set two-time NCAA runner-up Chris O'Neil in 1986. Once in the final, Loncaric turned in another strong effort and placed seventh with a time of 45.73 to score 12 points for the Aggies.
The Aggies' diving tandem of freshman Eric Sehn turned in huge points by placing fourth and sixth, respectively, in the three-meter springboard. It was the highest combined finish in a single event by any pair of Aggies in school history. Nel turned in a six-dive score of 430.55, while Sehn scored 410.20 points. The pair contributed 28 points to the Aggie total.
"I was proud of the way the boys competed in the morning and in the final," Aggie diving coach Kevin Wright said. "Putting two guys in the top eight in the morning against this field is extremely difficult. That's significant because that means we're doing well, and we're not done yet."
The Aggies tallied another school record in the morning session with the 200-yard medley relay earning a spot in the consolation final with a time of 1:25.51. The foursome of junior Jason Bergstrom, junior Casey Strange broke their own school record of 1:25.61 that they had set earlier this month at the Austin Grand Prix. The Aggies nearly pulled off the win in the consolation final, but couldn't run down the Minnesota relay (125.68) and placed second in the race and 10th overall with a time of 1:25.84.