Aggies Win Third Big 12 Team Crown in Four Seasons
Feb 27, 2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 27, 2010
The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team dominated the field at the 2010 Big 12 Championships to win its third team crown in four seasons on Saturday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
Holding a solid 44-point lead over runner-up Texas entering Saturday's final day, the Aggies sprinted to 96-point bulge after the first two races of the day on their way to a 99-point margin of victory over the defending champion Longhorns. The Aggies scored 1,002 points, followed by Texas (903), Missouri (484), Kansas (416), Iowa State (338) and Nebraska (261).
The Aggies opened the final with senior Kristen Heiss leading a 64-point barrage in the 200-yard backstroke. Heiss cruised to a winning time of 1:53.58 and was trailed by senior Emily Neal (2nd, 1:54.22), junior Lindsey King (5th, 1:54.95) and freshman Tess Simpson (6th, 1:55.47).
A&M kept the pressure on with 62 points in the 100 freestyle with Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet Julia Wilkinson cruising to a Big 12 meet record in 47.74 (old meet record of 47.80 by Wilkinson in 2008). Wilkinson also earned swimming's top honor as a junior in 2008 before redshirting last season with a shoulder injury. Other Aggies standing tall in the 100 free were senior Sarah Woods (3rd, 48.93), senior Ella Doerge (5th, 49.67) and junior Maria Sommer (7th, 50.05).
The Longhorns took their first race victory of the day in the 1,650 freestyle but the Aggies kept racking up points. Freshman Casey Hurrell-Zitelman in 2009). The Aggies went 2-3-4 in the race with Hurrell-Zitelman taking third in 16:22.35 and freshman Liz Nelson placing fourth in 16:24.17.
Senior Alia Atkinson remained undefeated in the breaststroke races at the Big 12 Championships with her sixth career victory in the stroke. Atkinson crushed her own meet record in the 200 breaststroke with a winning time of 2:08.07, which bettered last year's meet record time of 2:08.59. The Aggies also got points from junior Melanie Dodds (6th, 2:13.87) and Hurrell-Zitelman (8th, 2:21.36).
Sophomore Melissa Hain (6th, 2:00.44).
Redshirt freshman diver Haley Haynes in 2009) to give the Aggies a clean sweep of all three diving events. Teammate and Outstanding Diver of the Meet Jaele Patrick had won the one- and three-meter springboards earlier in the Championships. The Aggies also received points from sophomore Lorena Lujan (6th, 244.75) and Haynes (13th, 199.00).
With the meet sewn up, the Aggies were still up to the challenge in the 400 free relay. The foursome of Heiss, Doerge, Woods and Wilkinson hit the wall in a time of 3:15.23. Wilkinson entered the water facing a .66 second deficit, but turned in a 47.27 anchor split for the win.
Aggies Dominate Big 12 Swimming and Diving Meet Awards
Women's Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet: Julia Wilkinson
Women's Swim Coach of the Meet: Steve Bultman
Women's Outstanding Diver of the Meet: Jaele Patrick
Women's Dive Coach of the Meet: Jay Lerew
