Feb. 23, 2010
Nearly 250 swimmers and divers will converge on the Texas A&M University campus for the 2010 Big 12 Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be contested Wednesday through Saturday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The Aggies will host men and women's teams from the University of Texas and the University of Missouri, and women's teams from Iowa State, Kansas and Nebraska. Live results and live video (prelims only) will be available on AggieAthletics.com. Ticket information can be found at the 12th Man Foundation Ticket Center at: 12thmanfoundation.com
The Championships get underway on Wednesday with the prelims of the men's one-meter diving competition at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday's finals start at 6 p.m. On Thursday through Saturday, the swimming prelims begin at 10 a.m. and the finals start at 6 p.m. The Championships' full schedule is available at AggieAthletics.com.
The No. 7 Aggie women's team will battle No. 3 Texas and No. 21 Missouri for supremacy in the women's team race. Leading the way for the Aggies is the largest senior class at the Big 12 Championships, which will be seeking its third Big 12 team crown of their careers. Heading up the 11-member senior class are Alia Atkinson, Melissa Hain, Kristen Heiss and Julia Wilkinson, who all have Big 12 individual crowns on their resume. Heiss and Wilkinson return to the Big 12 meet after missing the 2009 Championships due to shoulder injuries, while Atkinson returns to the Aggies' scoring team after only competing on the “B” team last season after a death in her family. The Aggies might have the Big 12's best diving crew with returning All-American Haley Haynes, Emily Watson and Lorena Lujan.
On the men's side, the No. 19 Aggies will have their hands full with top-ranked Texas and Missouri, who are receiving votes in the College Swim Coaches Association team poll. The Aggie men are led by a strong group of returning All-Americans in freestyle sprinters Casey Strange and Nikita Denisyako and Jason Bergstrom, flyer Eric Sehn, the Aggies remain strong in the dives with the return of All-Americans Grant Nel and Cam McLean. Freshman Omar Enriquez has already broken school records in the 1,000 and 1,650 freestyles and gives the Aggies a strong presence in the distance races.