May 1, 2009
One of the finest seasons in school history was honored at the third annual Texas A&M Swimming & Diving Banquet. The 2008-09 Aggie swimmers and divers earned a No. 12 finish at the 2009 NCAA Championships in their home pool, marking the team's 14th straight top 25 NCAA finish, which is a record for any sport at A&M. In addition, the Aggies broke an impressive nine school records last season, including one that was the second-oldest mark in the record book.
Keying the Aggies' strong effort at the NCAA Championships was fifth-year senior diver Eric Sehn, who was voted the Danny Green '49 Team Most Valuable Award. Sehn, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, placed third in the 1m, sixth in the 3m and ninth in the platform to score 38 points for the Aggies. Sehn reached the Championship final at the NCAA meet nine times in 12 career chances and scored a school-record 151 career points at the national meet. Sehn also won two of three events at the 2009 Big 12 Championships and finished his A&M career as the winningest student-athlete in school history with 11 Big 12 diving crowns. He owns school records in all three dives.
Receiving the Trey Heye Memorial Award was junior Tyler Welch, who scored 32 points at the 2009 Big 12 Championships. The Trey Heye Memorial is given annually to a swimmer or diver who came to A&M without a scholarship but proved himself with his work ethic, performance and teamwork. The Award is named for Trey Heye, who tragically passed away at age seven in 2000. The eldest son of Aggie graduates Paul '87 and Mary Jo '88 Heye of Little Rock, Ark., Trey was a talented swimmer who dreamed of swimming for the Aggies.
Welch, from Lake Travis High School in Austin, Texas, placed sixth in the 200 fly, seventh in the 100 fly and 10th in the 200 IM at the conference meet. All three of his performances rank in the top 10 in the A&M record book - No. 4 in the 100 fly (47.46), No. 5 in the 200 IM (1:48.99) and No. 8 in the 200 fly (1:48.14).
Boris Loncaric, from Zagreb, Croatia, was named the team's Most Improved swimmer after a strong sophomore season at A&M. Loncaric took down the school record in the 100 fly with a time of 45.53 in the prelims at the NCAA Championships and went on to finish seventh in the finals. Loncaric's effort supplanted the 23-year old record of 47.10 set by two-time NCAA runner-up Chris O'Neil. Loncaric was also instrumental on the Aggies' school record-setting 200- and 400-yard medley relays. On the 200 medley relay, Loncaric scorched the pool with a 50 fly split of 20.14, which was the fastest in school history.
Senior Brad Raiford received the 2009 Bob Stallings Aggie Heart Award, which is named for longtime Aggie swimming supporter and swim official Bob Stallings, who passed away in 2007. Raiford, from Kingwood, Texas, rejoined the Aggie squad in 2006-07 after serving a two-year LDS mission. The past two seasons Raiford has earned All-America honors with the Aggies' 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Also at the banquet, the Aggies named the 2009-10 team captains: Strange, Henry Stevens and Balazs Makany.
2008-09 Texas A&M Swimming & Diving Honors Danny Green '49 Team MVP - Eric Sehn
Trey Heye Memorial Award - Tyler Welch
Most Improved - Boris Loncaric
Bob Stallings Aggie Heart Award - Brad Raiford
2009-10 Team Captains - Henry Stevens, Balazs Makany and Casey Strange
2009 Academic All-Big 12 -- (first team) Eric Sehn, Henry Stevens, Casey Strange, John VanNatta. (second team) Kyle Holland.
School Records Set: 100 fly - Boris Loncaric, 45.53, NCAA Championships
100 back -- Jason Bergstrom, *46.31, NCAA Championships
100 free - Balazs Makany, *42.96, Austin Grand Prix
200 free -- Balazs Makany, 1:36.21, SMU dual meet
200 medley relay - (Casey Strange), 1:25.61, Austin Grand Prix
400 medley relay - (Jason Bergstrom, Nathan Lavery, Boris Loncaric, Balazs Makany), 3:08.03, NCAA Championships
400 free relay - (Brad Raiford, Casey Strange, Shawn Clarke), 2:53.48, Austin Grand Prix
1m dive - Eric Sehn, 420.70, NCAA Championships
3m dive - Eric Sehn, 451.35, Big 12 Championships