From the Desk of Ross Bjork

Howdy!

It is hard to believe that the academic year has already come to an end. Yesterday, we honored the Class of 2022 at our annual Graduation Celebration, hosted by the Center for Student-Athlete Services. Sixty student-athletes will be earning their undergraduate degrees this May, and eleven graduates will be receiving their master's degrees. It is our privilege to support these student-athletes, we are dedicated to creating opportunities through championship athletics.

Congratulations to baseball's Rody Barker and equestrian's Rhian Murphy for being named SEC Brad Davis Community Service Award Winners. They will receive a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship provided by the SEC, and are nominees for the Male and Female Brad Davis Community Service Leaders of the Year, which will be announced later this month. These incredible student-athletes have not only been leaders in their sport, but on their campus and in the community.

Our spring sports season is winding down and several of our teams are already into NCAA competition. Men's golf is gearing up to host Regionals, while our women have advanced to the final site. Women's tennis has advanced to Super Regionals, and men's tennis is awaiting the individual singles and doubles championships draw. I want to give a special shout out to Coach Mark Weaver for leading our women's tennis program through a historic season. They clinched both the SEC regular season and tournament titles, and Coach Weaver was named the SEC Coach of the Year!

Last month, the 12th Man Foundation and Texas A&M Athletics announced the Centennial Campaign, a transformational initiative that will impact the academic and athletic development of all Aggie student-athletes. The Centennial Campaign will feature the construction of an Academic and Wellness Center, Football Indoor Performance Center and Indoor Track Stadium as well as a redevelopment of the Bright Football Complex. Check out the video that launched the campaign here.

Thanks for all you do for Texas A&M Athletics.

Gig 'Em,
Ross

Sport Updates

• With just two weeks left in the regular season, the BASEBALL team moved inside the top 10 in several national polls following a series win over South Carolina. Coach Schlossnagle's squad hosts its final regular-season home games this weekend against Mississippi State before traveling to Ole Miss. You can join the Aggies and Bulldogs in the fight against pediatric cancer this Friday through Sunday by supporting Turn It Gold.
• Congratulations to first-year head coach Gerrod Chadwell and the WOMEN'S GOLF team on an incredible final-round comeback at this week's NCAA Regional in Tennessee! The Aggies erased a six-stroke deficit to grab the final qualifying spot and punch their ticket to the national championship later this month in Arizona.
• Head coach Brian Kortan and the MEN'S GOLF team are coming off a second-place finish at the SEC Championship in stroke play and a semifinal appearance in match play and host the NCAA Bryan Regional, May 16-18, at Traditions Club. Included in the field are defending national champions Pepperdine as well as No. 13 Georgia and No. 19 Tennessee.
• Seventh-ranked WOMEN'S TENNIS cruised to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating A&M-Corpus Christi, 4-0, and Baylor, 4-1, at the Mitchell Tennis Center last weekend. Mark Weaver's squad welcomes Vanderbilt for a 2 p.m. match on Saturday.
• Steve Denton's MEN'S TENNIS team fell to No. 3 Baylor, 4-2, Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday. The Aggies finished the season with a 22-14 record. Noah Schachter will compete in the NCAA Individual Championship beginning May 23 and will pair up with Kenner Taylor to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship in Champaign, Illinois.
• TRACK & FIELD wrapped up the regular season winning 15 events at the Alumni Muster including Lamara Distin setting a world-leading and school record high jump clearance of 6'5.5"/1.97m. The women's team ranks No. 2 in the nation and men are No. 6 as the teams prepare for the SEC Championships this weekend before beginning NCAA action May 26-28.
• SOFTBALL saw its SEC Tournament run come to an end last night, dropping a 4-1 decision to host and 12th-ranked Florida before a sellout crowd in Gainesville. The Aggies now await their NCAA fate with the selection show set for Sunday evening.

Building Champions Awards

On April 18, we honored our student-athletes at the ninth annual Building Champions Awards presented by Opportune inside the Ford Hall of Champions. Women's track and field's Jaevin Reed and men's swimming & diving's Peter Simmons highlighted the evening as they earned Distinguished Letterman's Awards.

Awards were also presented for various academic, service, leadership and athletic endeavors.

The Aggie Commitment

The Aggie Commitment aims to develop and implement plans and strategies to increase equity and maintain an environment of inclusiveness. Over the past academic year, the department has worked to make an impact within Athletics and the local community. Check out the year in review:

• Continued partnership with Community Volunteer Deputy Registrars to provide easier access for voter registration
• United Way Book Bash book drive
• Release of four Unified Voices videos
• Installation of The Aggie Commitment mural in the R.C. Slocum Nutrition Center and completion of Texas A&M Athletics Trailblazers graphic
• Return on Inclusion training for staff, coaches and administrators
• Monthly Staff Book Club and Connecting Conversations for staff
• Habitat for Humanities staff service project

Sustainability

Athletics is proud to have one of our own recognized by the Office of Sustainability as one of the 2022 Texas A&M University Sustainability Champions for the second year in a row. Lauren Lichterman, our Graduate Assistant for Sustainability, was presented the award at the annual Sustainability Champions Breakfast last month on Earth Day, April 22nd. Her efforts focus on creating a strategic sustainability plan, specific to Athletics, to support the 2018 Campus Master Plan goals. Leading a working group of over 60 cross-functional members, the plan aims to efficiently, deliberately, and responsibly preserve the environmental, social, and economic resources of Texas A&M Athletics for future generations.