From the Desk of Ross Bjork

Howdy!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! As with every year, but especially in 2020, the weeks and months fly by, and I can't believe it's already the holiday season. It is my hope that over the next few weeks you are able to step away from the craziness of this year and safely enjoy special moments with friends and family. December tends to be filled with Christmas shopping, holiday activities and travel, and we get consumed with busyness and stress. My goal is to not let those elements overtake my holiday spirit, and instead, reflect on the positive things this year provided.

Even though it has been a unique and challenging year, it has been one full of unexpected blessings and surprises. For example, many people did not believe we could safely host college sports, but we did exactly that. Though the spring left so many unknowns, and the summer challenged our team's ability to participate in athletic activity, we have been able to successfully conduct fall and winter sports! Making it this far is an incredible accomplishment that highlights the hard work, dedication and flexibility that was displayed by student-athletes, staff, University and Conference administrators, local and state health officials, donors, fans and so many more over the last nine months. I also want to send a special thank you to our donors and season ticket holders. All of you have stepped up this year, continued giving to the 12th Man Foundation and provided us with an opportunity to compete at the highest level. The generosity continues to humble me, and I am so grateful for each and every one of you!

I missed seeing everyone in Kyle Field this past weekend for our final home game against Ole Miss. We were extremely disappointed that we could not play the game and honor our senior class, but we must continue to adjust and operate in a way that keeps our student-athletes as safe as possible. As I have said many times this fall, things can change every 15 minutes and we must be prepared to adapt at any point. I look forward to a strong finish to a rewarding regular season when our Aggies take the field this Saturday in Knoxville against Tennessee.

Though we have gotten this far, there is still much ahead of us. We must stay the course and continue to put the health and safety of our student-athletes at the forefront. We continue to ask that everyone do their part and continue to wear their face coverings at all home athletic events and stay socially distant. Over the holiday break, come out and support our men's and women's basketball teams as Holiday Hoops is in full swing. As we look to the spring, and we hope to finalize schedules for our spring sports in the near future.

On behalf of our student-athletes, staff and coaches, we wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season and thank you for all you do for Texas A&M Athletics. Here's to a special 2021 and beyond!

Gig 'Em!
Ross

Sport Updates

The football team wraps up the regular season this Saturday against Tennessee at 11 a.m on ESPN, and Coach Fisher has the team well positioned on the national radar. Our seven conference wins are the most in a season since we joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012. This week is also crucial as we build our future with the early signing period on Wednesday and we learn our postseason destination on Sunday.

Coach Gary Blair and the women's basketball team have opened the season with six consecutive wins and are just one of four teams in Division I women's basketball to have three road wins, which include victories over No. 19 DePaul and No. 25 Texas.

The men's basketball team is currently 3-1 and has two games remaining until they begin SEC play. Coach Buzz Williams' team opened the season with victories against New Orleans, Tarleton State and UTRGV, and close out the year against Southeastern Louisiana and Wofford.

You can be a part of the action through the end of the year. For all men's and women's basketball home games at Reed Arena, tickets start as low as $5. You can purchase tickets at www.12thMan.com/tickets. Hope to see all of you supporting Coach Blair and Coach Williams' squads as they round out the non-conference schedule and gear up for SEC play!

Men's swimming and diving boasts a No. 6 ranking in the 2020 dual meet season. Junior Shaine Casas has already earned automatic qualifying times for NCAA Championships in five individual events and has lowered four of his own individual school records early in the year. Casas has recorded the fastest time in the country this season in four different events and a top-three time in three more events. Senior Tanner Olson has made himself known in the early going, setting the school record in the 100 breaststroke with the fastest time in the county this season, while classmate Mark Theall has lowered his own 500 freestyle school record at the Art Adamson Invitational.

Women's swimming and diving has also had a strong start to the 2020 season, earning impressive times at the annual Art Adamson Invitational. The No. 15 team in the dual meet rankings has been led by seniors Jing Wen Quah and Camryn Toney. Quah has tallied nine individual top finishes mainly in the butterfly and IM events, while Toney has also logged a pair of top-20 times nationally in the 1650 freestyle and 400 IM. Freshman Chloe Stepanek has burst onto the scene boasting the second-fastest time in the country in the 100 free and the fifth fastest in the 200 free.

Track and field hosted its Maroon vs. White meet in preparation for the upcoming season on Friday. Coach Pat Henry's teams begin the 2021 indoor season on Jan. 16 with the Ted Nelson Invitational at the Gilliam Indoor Stadium.

Aggies CAN

Our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee continued their success with the annual AggiesCAN Food Drive as they crushed their goal of $5,000 by raising $11,472! In past years, they have collected canned goods at home games, but this year, all donations were collected entirely online throughout the month of November.

A special thank you to H-E-B, who graciously matched collections up to $5,000, Whataburger for their $1000 donation as well as Brookshire Brothers & KBTX for their continued support.

AggiesCAN started in 2000 with a handful of student-athletes wanting to give back to the community that gave so much to them. What started out as an idea to have a collection at one football game, has grown into the largest student-athlete-driven canned food drive in the nation.

I'm proud of our student-athletes for giving back to the community and supporting the Brazos Valley Food Bank.

Green Team

On behalf of the 12th Man Green Team, which strives to implement, maintain and grow efforts to support and inspire sustainable actions, here are 12 sustainability tips for the holiday season:

1. Buy from local vendors and stores when shopping for both gifts and food
2. Bring reusable bags when gift shopping
3. Donate old sweaters/blankets to those in need
4. Limit the time your lights are on or switch them out for LED lights (they can last up to 10 times as long and use 80% less energy)
5. Make your own holiday decorations or reuse old ones instead of buying new
6. Use reusable utensils, plates, and cups for all your holiday meals
7. Have guests bring over reusable containers to take any leftovers home with them
8. Use recyclable wrapping paper, or use recyclable alternatives such as old newspapers, posters, etc.
9. Save water by not leaving it running
10. Recycle all 1 and 2 plastics, tin foil, and cans
11. Encourage others to recycle
12. Compost compostable food waste

For more information on our sustainability efforts, please visit 12thMan.com/GreenTeam.

Fall Commencement

I am so proud of our 47 student-athletes that were among the 5,000 December graduates that walked across the stage at Reed Arena during fall commencements.

Of the 47, nine received their graduate degrees: equestrian's Adele McKenna; football's Landry Estes, Riley Garner, Colton Prater and Braden White; women's swimming and diving's Haley Allen; men's tennis's James Martell; and women's track & field's Valarie Bradley and Emily Gunderson.

Their perseverance and determination in dealing with unprecedented challenges during this past year and focusing on completing their goal of graduation is commendable. It is a testament to their hard work and the work of our academic support staff.

Congratulations to all of our graduates!