Texas A&M
LSU
Aggies Honor Seniors By Sweeping LSU on Senior Day
Jan 22, 2011 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Jan. 22, 2011
The Texas A&M swimming and diving teams honored their senior classes of 2011 by sweeping the LSU Tigers on Senior Day on Saturday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The No. 8 Aggie women (4-2) dominated the No. 23 Tigers (10-4) from start to finish en route to a 168-120 win, while the No. 20 A&M men improved to 5-0 with a 166-134 win over LSU (6-5). The Aggie women won 13 of 16 possible events, while the A&M men won nine.
Leading the way for the A&M women were six Aggies with multiple victories - senior Maria Sommer, juniors Rita Medrano and Janie Potvin, sophomores Tess Simpson, Maureen McLaine and freshman Breeja Larson. Other Aggies tallying individual victories were freshmen Lili Ibañez and Sarah Henry.
"It was a good solid win today," A&M women's head coach Steve Bultman said. "We won a bunch of events, and, definitely, the girls were showing a lot of life. We got through Christmas training and I'm pleased with the direction we're going. We had some good solid swims as we head into the conference meet, and that was fun to see."
On the men's side, the Aggies received multiple victories from seniors Balazs Makany and Bryan Snowden, junior Grant Nel and sophomores John Dalton and Omar Enriquez.
"I was really happy that the seniors were able to contribute to today's win in their final day of competing here in their home pool," Aggie men's head coach Jay Holmes said. "I really enjoyed that part of the day. They've all meant a lot to this program and it was good to see them go out with a big win over a rival. Anytime you get a win over LSU, it's a good day. I'm glad we were able to get out of here with a win."
Both Aggie squads opened and closed the meet with relay victories. The foursome of Simpson, Larson, Medrano and Sommer won the women's 400-yard medley in a time of 3:41.89, and the men's foursome of junior John Ariens, Snowden, freshman Henrik Lindau and Makany hit the wall first in 3:17.73. Makany's anchor leg time of 43.55 gave the Aggies a narrow victory as he made up a deficit in the final 25 yards.
Closing out the meet, A&M's foursome of freshman Erica Dittmer, freshman Wylie Escobedo, junior Megan Latone and Sommer won the women's 400 free relay in 3:26.53, and the men's team of freshman Kyle Troskot, Makany, Lindau and Dalton cruised to a time of 2:59.23.
In the 1,000 free, the A&M women grabbed a 1-2-3-4-5 finish with McLaine leading the way in 9:52.09. She was trailed by freshman Ashley Adams, Henry, sophomore Liz Nelson and junior Alyssa Conner. On the men's side, Enriquez powered to a winning time of 9:19.99.
In the 200 free, Ibañez swam to victory in a time of 1:47.63 in the women's race, while Dalton led a 1-2-3-4 finish on the men's side in 1:40.38. Dalton was trailed by Makany, sophomore Paul-Marc Schweitzer.
The A&M women were dominant in the 100 back with a 1-2-3-4 finish led by Simpson's winning time of 54.92, and she was trailed by freshman Paige Miller, senior Lindsey King and freshman Kim Pavlin.
The Aggies swept the 100 breaststroke with Larson and Dittmer finishing 1-2 in the women's race in times of 1:00.80 and 1:03.04, respectively, and Snowden gliding to victory in 55.79 on the men's side.
The A&M women went 1-2-3 in the 200 fly with Medraño winning in 1:57.70, followed by freshman Cammile Adams and sophomore Jaclin Rehring.
In the three-meter springboard, the women went 1-2-3-4 with Janie Potvin winning with a score of 351.10 and being followed by junior Lorena Lujan, junior Jo Thibodaux and freshman Jessica Macaulay. On the men's side, Nel grabbed the gold with a score of 415.60.
A&M dominated the 100 free with the women placing 1-2-3-4 and the men winning the top three spots. Sommer led the women with a winning time of 50.47 and she was trailed by Ibañez, and sophomores Christine Regone and Meagan Hairston. Makany won the men's race in 44.81, holding off the challenge from Dalton and Troskot.
The A&M women went 1-2 in the 200 back with Simpson winning in 1:59.23 and King right behind in 2:00.74.
Larson and Snowden also swept the 200 breast, with Larson winning in 2:13.47 and Snowden touching in 2:02.09.
In the 500 free, McLaine grabbed her second win in a time of 4:51.44 in the women's race, and she was trailed by Cammile Adams, Nelson and Ashley Adams. Enriquez also tallied his second win of the day in a time of 4:33.35.
In the one-meter springboard, Potvin led a 1-2-3 finish on the women's side with a score of 317.85, and was followed by Thibodeaux and Lujañ. In the men's competition, Nel won with a score of 378.15 to hold off a challenge from junior teammate Cam McLean (364.35).
The women's squad grabbed another 1-2-3-4 finish in the 200 IM with Henry winning in 2:02.03, followed by Pavlin, senior Melanie Dodds and King.
Eleven seniors were competing in the final home meet of their career - six from the Aggie women's team and five from the men's team.
The seniors honored from the women's team were Andres Van Dam (Caracas, Venezuela).
Players Mentioned
