Oct. 16, 2009
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The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team opened the 2009-10 season with its third win in four seasons at the Big 12 Relays on Friday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The Aggies won of 10 of 18 events and outscored the field with 109 points, and were trailed by last year's champion Texas (103 points), Missouri (75), Kansas (43), Iowa State (35) and Nebraska (31).
"It was a great way to compete in the first meet of the year," said A&M head coach Steve Bultman. "I was happy with the way we stepped up and performed. We had some strong swims and posted some quality early season times, so I'm really pleased with the way we competed."
Bultman praised the efforts of the Aggie diving crew of junior Haley Haynes and redshirt freshman Janie Potvin, which logged a victory in the three-meter springboard competition with a score of 294.40.
"It was a tremendous effort from the divers," Bultman said. "I can't say enough about the way they got the job done. Their performance was crucial to the team's victory."
The Aggie swimmers posted victories in the 100-yard medley (47.05), 3x500 freestyle (14:41.61), 200 medley (1:41.81), 400 medley relay (3:40.96), 400 IM (3:49.24), 800 free (7:19.38), 3x50 fly (1:16.08), 3x50 back (1:16.08) and 200-400-200 IM (8:25.40).
Not surprisingly, the Aggie swimmers were led by a pair of seasoned veterans in seniors Julia Wilkinson and Alia Atkinson, who both swam on four victorious relays. Logging three victories were senior captain Melissa Hain and freshmen Ella Doerge and Kristen Heiss, junior Renee Iserman and Sarah Woods, juniors Melanie Dodds and Hannah Kinder, sophomores Rita Medrano and Megan Latone, and freshman Liz Nelson all swam on one winning foursome.
The Aggies return to the Mizzou Aquatic Center for a 10 a.m. dual meet with host Missouri on Saturday. It will be the Tigers' third straight day of competition after dropping a dual meet decision to Texas on Thursday and placing third in the Big 12 Relays on Friday.
"Missouri definitely did a good job today and swam well against Texas on Thursday," Bultman said. "We will need to be ready to compete. When you're competing in someone else's home pool, it brings up a whole new set of challenges. I know they will want to defend their home pool, so we will have our hands full."