Texas A&M
NCAA Championships
Wilkinson, Atkinson Grab Gold, Lead Aggies to No. 6 NCAA Finish
Mar 20, 2010 | Women's Swimming and Diving
March 20, 2010
Led by a pair of gold medal finishes by seniors Julia Wilkinson and Alia Atkinson, the Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team finished sixth at the 2010 NCAA Championships on Saturday at Purdue University's Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
It was the Aggies' fourth consecutive top eight finish at the NCAA Championships, but the wins by Wilkinson and Atkinson were program firsts for Texas A&M swimming and diving. Wilkinson and Atkinson grabbed the NCAA individual titles in back-to-back races with Wilkinson taking first in the 100-yard freestyle in 47.61 and Atkinson following with a win in the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:07.38.
“That was incredibly sweet to watch for me as a coach,” A&M head swimming coach Steve Bultman said. “Seeing Julia win our first-ever national title and then doing it again with Alia was awesome to watch. Going into the meet we knew they had a chance to win, but having a chance and actually doing it are different things. You know it can happen but to see them pull it off was exciting and fun to see.”
The Aggies' No. 6 NCAA finish was the second-highest place in program behind only their No. 4 finish at the 2008 NCAA Championships. A&M scored 311 points which also ranks No. 2 in program history to the 2008 team's 315 points.
“We would have loved to bring home some hardware, but I was proud of the way the team competed throughout the meet,” Bultman said. “It was an incredibly close NCAA meet with six teams that really separated from the rest of the pack. We were solidly in sixth place and only 71 points out of first place, so that was very exciting for our program.”
Florida won the team championship with 382 points, followed by Stanford (379.5), California (363), Arizona (359.5), Georgia (342.5), Texas A&M (311), USC (251), Auburn (153), Virginia (151) and Indiana (133).
Wilkinson, from Stratford, Ontario, Canada, finishes her career as the most- decorated swimmer in school history. At the 2010 Championships alone, Wilkinson earned seven All-America awards. For her career, Wilkinson earned 23 All-America citations and won 19 Big 12 Championships, which are both program bests. Atkinson, from Pembroke Pines, Fla., finishes her career as the greatest breaststroker in school history with 19 All-America citations and 10 Big 12 crowns.
In other action on the final day of the NCAA Championships, freshman Maureen McLaine crushed her own school record in the 1,650 freestyle while finishing 11th in a time of 16:07.41 (old mark by McLaine was 16:12.98 at 2010 Big 12 Championships).
Senior Kristin Heiss finished out her illustrious A&M career with a sixth-place finish in the 200 back in a time of 1:53.67. Heiss finished her career with nine Big 12 titles and 13 All-America citations.
In the 200 butterfly, sophomore Rita Medrano placed 16th overall with a time of 1:57.34. Sophomore Janie Potvin won the consolation final of the platform dive with a score of 290.60.
The Aggies closed out the meet with the foursome of senior Sarah Woods, senior Melissa Hain, junior Maria Sommer and Wilkinson placing sixth in the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:15.46. The foursome posted a season-best 3:14.39 in the prelims.
