Texas A&M
Texas
No. 19 Aggies Fall to No. 4 Longhorns, 170.5-127.5
Feb 05, 2011 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 5, 2011
The No. 19 Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team fell to the No. 4 Texas Longhorns, 170.5-127.5, in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center on the Texas campus.
The loss was the first of the season for the Aggies, who fell to 5-1, while the Longhorns improved to 6-1. It was the final regular competition for the Aggies prior to the Big 12 Championships, which will also be contested in Austin.
The Aggies went on the offensive early in the meet by grabbing wins in the first three races of the day - the 200-yard medley relay, the 1,650 freestyle and the 200 free.
"What we wanted was for the guys to come out swinging," Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. "In my mind, the first three events were going to be interesting because I thought we had a chance to win all three, and if we didn't win all three, I didn't know how it was going to be close. I was really pleased with the way started the meet."
The medley relay foursome of junior Amini Fonua, senior Nathan Lavery, freshman Henrik Lindau and freshman Kyle Troskot touched the wall in a NCAA "B" cut time of 1:28.17.
Sophomore Omar Enriquez broke his own school record while dominating the field in the 1,650 with a NCAA "B" cut time of 15:06.23. Enriquez, who broke four school records last year, bettered his old best of 15:08.45 from last year's Big 12 Championships.
Senior Balazs Makany took the win in the 200 free with a season-best and NCAA "B" cut time of 1:36.24.
The Longhorns battled back with wins in the 100 backstroke and the 50 free, but Fonua added another win for the Aggies in the 100 breaststroke before the first diving break. Fonua placed first with an NCAA "B" cut of 54.35 and senior Bryan Snowden was third with a B cut time of 54.84.
"I thought Amini's win in the 100 breast was the swim of the meet," Holmes said. "For him to hop up there, with where he is in his training, and swim like that was impressive. I challenged the breaststrokers to get a win and Amini responded with a tremendous race."
The Aggies scored big in the three-meter springboard with juniors Grant Nel and Cam McLean sweeping the top two spots. Nel grabbed the gold over his teammate with a score of 446.63, while flirting with his school record of 453.0 from last fall. McLean was a close second with a score of 427.43.
Sufficiently challenged, the defending NCAA Champion Longhorns literally changed into their racing suits during the diving break and responded by winning the next five races. During this span, a pair of Aggies logged NCAA "B" cuts with Snowden in the 200 breaststroke (1:58.68) and Enriquez in 500 free in 4:22.69.
"I knew if we angered Texas enough, they would respond like champions and they did," Holmes said.
A&M again scored big in diving with Nel and McLean sweeping the top two spots in the one-meter springboard. This time McLean came out on top with a score of 407.48 and Nel placed second with 386.78.
"We knew we'd be able to count on the divers like we always do," Holmes said. "Grant and Cam were just money. They do a great job for us. We are such a better team because of what those guys can do."
The Longhorns closed out the meet with wins in the 400 IM and the 200 free relay, but the Aggies' free relay of Lindau, sophomore John Dalton, Troskot and freshman Austin Wilson posted a NCAA "B" cut of 1:20.68.
Players Mentioned
