Oct. 26, 2010
The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team opened the 2010-11 with a dominant 183-101 dual meet victory over Houston on Tuesday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The defending Big 12 Champion Aggies swept all 16 events from the Cougars of the Conference USA, and six Aggies earned NCAA qualifying standards to highlight the meet. Divers Jaele Patrick, Janie Potvin and Lorena posted NCAA zone qualifiers, while swimmers Tess Simpson, Breeja Larson and Caroline McElhany logged NCAA "B" cuts in the first meet of the season.
"I thought they were outstanding, especially this early in the season," Aggie head swimming coach Steve Bultman said. "You can just go down the list of people that had impressive swims. It was even a better performance than I expected. I'm very pleased especially considering the amount of pool work and weight training we've been doing."
Patrick swept the 1- and 3-meter springboards and logged zone qualifiers in both dives. Patrick, who medaled at the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, won the 1m with a score of 354.55 and the 3m with a score of 343.20. Potvin and Lujan posted their zone qualifiers on the 3m board with scores of 288.45 and 285.25, respectively.
"Jaele had a very good night on the 1-meter and it's just a matter of time before her 3-meter catches up," Aggie diving coach Jay Lerew said. "She's way ahead of the game right now. We've just got to keep her that way."
The Aggies received double victories from sophomore Maureen McLaine in the 500 freestyle (4:52.50) and the 1,000 free (9:56.04); sophomore transfer Caroline McElhany in the 100 butterfly (54.99) and the 200 fly (1:59.40, NCAA "B" cut); and freshman Breeja Larson in the 100 breaststroke (101.79, NCAA "B" cut) and the 200 breast (2:16.97).
Also logging victories were senior Liliana Ibañez in the 100 free (50.84), freshman Kim Pavlin in the 200 back (2:02.68) and sophomore Jaclin Rehring in the 200 IM (2:08.60).
A&M was victorious in both relays with the foursome of Pavlin, Larson, junior Rita Medrano and Sommer winning the 200 medley relay in 1:42.77 and the quartet of freshman Lara Slesnick, freshman Paige Miller, sophomore Meagan Hairston and Kinder hitting the wall first in the 40