Feb. 24, 2010
The Texas A&M men and women's swimming and diving teams combined to win a conference crown, set three school records and post two NCAA “A” qualifying cuts to highlight their first day at the 2010 Big 12 Championships on Wednesday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
After the first day, the No. 7 Aggie women are tied with No. 3 Texas atop the team standings with 74 points with Missouri and Kansas tied for third with 62 points. In the men's race, the top-ranked Longhorns are in the lead with 113 points with the Aggies (110 points) and Missouri (107) right behind.
The A&M women brought the crowd to its feet with a winning effort in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The Aggie foursome of senior Kristen Heiss, senior Melissa Hain, freshman Julia Wilkinson hit the wall in an NCAA “A” cut of 7:01.63 to edge out the Longhorns (7:02.10). The Aggies trailed the Longhorns by more than a second after 600 yards, but Wilkinson closed with an impressive 1:43.41 split to overtake Texas' Kathleen Hersey for the win.
The Aggie men's foursome of senior Jason Bergstrom, sophomore Casey Strange posted an NCAA “A” cut with a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay. The Aggies finished in 1:25.51, which matches the school record set at last year's NCAA Championships.
The A&M men broke a pair of school records while placing second in the 800 free relay. Junior Balazs Makany opened the relay with 200 free time of 1:35.10, which broke his own school record of 1:36.21. Makany, freshman John Dalton, freshman William Wagner and Loncaric finished in 6:25.94 to break the old record of 6:29.81 set in 2004 by nearly four seconds.
The A&M women's team placed second in the 200 medley relay with the foursome of freshman Alia Atkinson, senior Ella Doerge and junior Maria Sommer touching in an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:38.70 (season-best).
The A&M men's diving crew scored 42 points in the one-meter springboard with sophomore Henry Stevens placing fifth (303.85) and sophomore Blake Ferguson finishing eighth (238.35).
Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championships
Men's Scores
1. Texas 113
2. Texas A&M 110
3. Missouri 107
Women's Scores
1. Texas A&M 74
Texas 74
3. Missouri 62
Kansas 62
5. Iowa State 54
6. Nebraska 28