From the Desk of Ross Bjork

Howdy and Happy New Year!

I hope the end of December and early January allowed for you and your family to enjoy the special moments around the holiday season. At the end of every year, I believe it is always important to rest and reflect on all that occurred. As I did, many memorable moments from our student-athletes' accomplishments came to mind. A new year brings new excitement for the future of Aggie Athletics and I am looking forward to what lies ahead and the new memories that will be created.

Last month our Athletics Department mourned the loss of cross country and track and field student-athlete Chance Gibson. This was a tragic moment for the Gibson family, our cross country and track and field programs, and our entire University. Unfortunately the program lost another member of our family this week, Volunteer Assistant Coach and former student-athlete Deon Lendore. Deon leaves an enormous legacy on Texas A&M and beyond. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who were touched by Chance and Deon. Here.

It is an exciting time for our men's and women's basketball teams as we have begun conference play. Please continue to show up for our student-athletes by purchasing tickets and coming to Reed ready to yell for Aggie Basketball! Attending Aggie basketball will also allow everyone to celebrate Coach Gary Blair's legendary career in his final season as our head coach. As Coach Williams, Quenton Jackson and Andre Gordon expressed in this video, home court advantage matters. Get to Reed!

The college football season drew to a close Monday night with the SEC claiming yet another National Championship. As this chapter closes, I'm extremely optimistic for our future and the championship-level program Coach Fisher is building here in Aggieland. With an impressive group of veterans returning and the addition of a historic, top-ranked recruiting class, bright days are ahead for Texas A&M Football.

The most exciting way you can support our athletics programs is through season tickets and being a part of the unrivaled atmosphere of gameday in Aggieland. Aggie Football season tickets are currently on sale for the 2022 season, which will feature seven games at Kyle Field, including visits from Miami, Ole Miss, Florida, and LSU. Current season ticket holders will have the opportunity to renew their tickets beginning in February with more information coming from the 12th Man Foundation in the coming weeks. You can submit your contact information here for a member of our sales team to reach out. I hope you make plans to join us this fall.

Congratulations to our 44 student-athletes who graduated last month with either their bachelor's or master's degrees. Individuals from 12 different sports earned degrees from 31 different majors. I am extremely proud of these young men and women for achieving this milestone in their lives. They displayed discipline and hard work not only on the field, but also in the classroom.

Thanks and Gig 'Em,
Ross

Sport Updates

Men's basketball is off to its best start since the 2015-16 season and is currently 14-2 (3-0 SEC) on the season. Following their 67-51 win over Ole Miss on Tuesday night, head coach Buzz Williams and staff look to improve to 4-0 in conference play Saturday at Missouri. Winners of their last seven, the Aggies are led by Quenton Jackson, who is averaging 13.2 points per game. In SEC play, Henry Coleman III has been a force to be reckoned with as he tops the team with 18.3 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Women's basketball is in the heat of conference play in head coach Gary Blair's final season leading the Maroon & White. The Aggies are led by Kayla Wells who is averaging 17.1 points per game and hitting 51.4% of her shots from deep. A&M is leading the conference and has the third-best shooting percentage (41.1%) from beyond the 3-point line this season.

Women's golf's Amber Park won the Mexican Women's Amateur on Jan. 9 in Guadalajara, Mexico. The Aggie shot a 293 (73-73-71-76) en route to the second amateur championship of her career. The team is set to open its spring slate Feb. 21 at the ICON in Humble, Texas.

The men's & women's swimming & diving teams will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when the squads travel to Baton Rouge, La., for a dual meet with SEC-foe LSU. This will be the first opponent the Aggies face in 2022 after hosting a Maroon & White meet to begin the new year. A&M will close out its home slate Friday, Jan. 28 as both teams host SMU on Senior Night.

Twelve Aggies competed at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Abu Dhabi. Team USA's Shaine Casas, Canada's Sydney Pickrem and France's Beryl Gastaldello each made their way to the podium. Casas became the world champion in the 100m back and claimed individual silver in the 200m back, while also medaling as a member of four relay teams. The 2021 world champion in the 200m IM, Pickrem also helped Canada's 4x100m medley relay team to a silver medal finish. Gastaldello rounded out the trio of Aggies to medal when she claimed a silver medal in the 100m IM.

Women's tennis gets ready to start the 2022 season later this week, as we host McNeese and Tarleton in an opening day doubleheader at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The team earned the No. 14 ranking in the first ITA Coaches Poll of the season, and the Aggies feature one of the best doubles teams in the nation with the fifth-ranked pairing of Tatiana Makarova and Jayci Goldsmith. Makarova also appears in the singles rankings at the No. 122 spot. We hope everyone can come out and join head coach Mark Weaver and the Aggies on Sunday at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. as they serve up a new season.

Coach Denton and the men's tennis team are set to open the spring season at the always-challenging Sherwood Intercollegiate in California this weekend. The Maroon & White will be joined by No. 9 USC, No. 16 Stanford and No. 25 UCLA in Sherwood before taking a trip to Tempe to open the dual match season at No. 25 Arizona State a week from today. The Aggies open the spring ranked No. 19 by the ITA with No. 74 Raphael Perot, No. 80 Luke Casper, No. 115 Noah Schachter earning singles rankings while Schachter and Austin Abbrat are ranked 35th as a doubles team.

Pat Henry was inducted into the Texas Track & Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Jan. 7. Entering his 18th season at Texas A&M, Henry has amassed a combined nine NCAA national team titles between the men's and women's programs. Henry led the Texas A&M Track & Field program to a three-peat sweep between 2009-11 as the Aggies became the first school in NCAA history to achieve a "triple-double" by winning the men's and women's outdoor titles in three consecutive seasons. During his time in Aggieland, his athletes have won 62 NCAA event titles and most notably Texas A&M has had an individual or relay claim an NCAA title each season. Along with winning titles, Texas A&M has broken 22 all-time collegiate records, including the indoor men's 4x400m on three occasions and the indoor and outdoor women's 4x400m once.

The men's and women's track & field teams host its home season opener, the Ted Nelson Invitational on Jan. 14-15. The Aggies opened the season on Dec. 3 at the Wooo Pig Classic in Fayetteville, Ark. Sophomore Brandon Miller highlighted the meet running an all-time U-20 world best 600m time (1:15.49), while a total of nine Aggies recorded an all-time Texas A&M top-12 mark. Miller and Tyra Gittens recently were named to The Bowerman Preseason Watchlist.

A&MPLIFY Exchange

As a part of our expanded partnership with INFLCR, Texas A&M's A&MPLIFY Exchange has officially launched and will now give registered businesses the ability to request access to participate in NIL opportunities with Aggie student-athletes.

Registered businesses can now:

• Search student-athletes by name
• Sort and filter student-athletes by sport and team
• Send individual messages to student-athletes plus receive replies from them

For more information, please visit 12thMan.com/exchange.

BTHO Breast Cancer Games

Once again our basketball teams are helping raise awareness through their annual BTHO Breast Cancer games, presented by St. Joseph Health. The men will participate during the January 29 game against South Carolina, while the women will hold their event at the February 13 LSU game.

Funds raised will benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund as well as the Pink Alliance, a local non-profit in the Brazos Valley who serve as an advocate for breast cancer support.

The official 2022 BTHO Breast Cancer t-shirt is on sale now for just $10. You can buy them online (with additional $3 shipping cost) or pick one up at any men's or women's home game between now and February 13. 100 percent of all proceeds from shirt purchases will benefit the Pink Alliance and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

The Aggie Commitment

With Martin Luther King Day approaching this coming Monday, January 17th, we wanted to remind you that MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities.

Below are just a few opportunities that you can get involved in our local community this weekend:

• 38th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Keeping the Dream Alive Celebration (Fri., Jan. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Recreation Center)
• Community Clean Up around the Lincoln Recreation Center (Sat., Jan. 15 at 8:30 a.m. at the Lincoln Recreation Center)
• Bryan College Station MLK March (Mon., Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. at Sadie Thomas Park)
• Brazos Valley Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's virtual MLK Program (Mon., Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. on their YouTube Channel)

For more information on all events, please check out these articles (link, link, link).

Also, during the summer of 2020, Athletics encouraged everyone to sign our change.org petition that encourages you to:

• Educate yourself on the history of our country, injustices and current events.
• Engage in healthy dialogue in your community to learn about and empathize with others.
• Help Aggie Athletics provide opportunities of growth and learning for our student-athletes, coaches and staff

If you cannot attend the events above, try to do one of these three commitments to help bridge the racial and equality gap. There are many Martin Luther King Jr. speeches, interviews and sermons online, here are some that we have pulled. The goal is to listen and grow as we celebrate the birthday of one of our country's greatest leaders.

• Letter from a Birmingham Jail (Audio)
• I Have a Dream Speech
• I Have Been to the Mountaintop Speech
• What is Your Life's Blueprint Speech
• King in the Wilderness (Documentary)

Sustainability

It's 2022! If you're still thinking about making New Year's resolutions, consider ones that could decrease your carbon footprint! Here are some ideas:

1. Swap one disposable item for a reusable item such as tote bags for grocery shopping or a stainless steel water bottle instead of a plastic one.
2. Reduce food waste by planning ahead for meals and shopping with a grocery list.
3. Switch up your commute by biking, walking, carpooling, or taking public transportation.
4. Check secondhand before buying new items. See if your neighborhood has a "Buy Nothing" page on social media or organize a clothing swap with friends to refresh your closet.
5. Spend more time outdoors to boost both your physical and mental health.

If you have questions or want to learn more about incorporating sustainable solutions into your life, email us at sustainability@athletics.tamu.edu or follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @12thManSustain.