Aggie Women Overtake Houston, 169-116

HOUSTON, Texas, January 19. THE fifth-ranked Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team defeated the University of Houston 169-116 at the Campus Recreation Center & Wellness Natatorium on Friday.

The Aggies won 13 of 16 events, including taking each of the top four places in both relay races. A&M grabbed the top two spots in 11 of the 16 contests. The Aggies' youth was also on full display Friday as all 11 individual event victories were by underclassmen.

"For the most part a lot of the girls were able to swim some different events than they are normally used to but we had a few swim regular events," A&M head coach Steve Bultman said.

Leading the way for the Aggies against the Cougars was freshman Emily Neal (Plano). Neal was the sole double winner for the Aggies, taking first in both the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard individual medley. Neal recorded an NCAA consideration time of 4:21.09 in leading the Aggies to a 1-2-3 finish in the 400 IM while coming nearly within a second of her lifetime best in the 200 fly by clocking in at 2:05.45. Freshman Melissa Hain (Kingwood) turned in an NCAA ‘B' standard of 4:22.95 in the 400 IM as well.

"We put our normal 400 IMers up to get one last race in that event before the Big 12 meet," Bultman said. "Emily had a real nice 400 IM. She and Melissa had some good performances for us there."

Neal and Hain weren't the only freshmen standouts in the pool for the Aggies on Friday. Renee Iserman (Spring) earned her first win of the season by taking the top spot in the 100-yard breaststroke. Iserman's time of 1:05.45 was just over a second off her lifetime best equaled at the Art Adamson Invitational in November.

Freshman Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) won her second 50 freestyle of the season, hitting the wall in 23.69. Freshman Kasia Dulian (Raciborz, Poland), who joined the team on Jan. 5, outlasted the field in the 200 breast, finishing in 2:21.85.

A&M's sophomore class accounted for each of the other six individual wins. All-Americans Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) and Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ont.) each recorded NCAA consideration times in their victories. Aljand grabbed the top spot in the 100 back (56.02), an event that Wilkinson ranks No. 2 nationally in. Wilkinson led a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 freestyle, hitting the NCAA ‘B' standard on the nose at 1:50.30.

Sophomore Sally Ranzau (Alpharetta, Ga.) grabbed her first 1,000 freestyle win of the season by taking first place in 10:13.62.

Sophomores Codie Hansen (Arlington), Kristen Heiss (Casper, Wyo.), and Marissa Jasek (San Antonio) all earned wins in events they rarely contest. Hansen won the 200 back in 2:01.79, just off the NCAA consideration standard of 2:01.32. Heiss, competing in the 100 free for the first time all year, grabbed first place in 51.62. Jasek, swimming the 500 freestyle for the first time as an Aggie, jumped out to a big early lead and cruised in for the win in 5:02.13.

A&M opened the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay. The group of Heiss, Dulian, Aljand, and Hain earned first place in 3:50.33.

The Aggies' put an exclamation point on the win as Hansen, Aljand, freshman Leslie Dlugopolski (Mequon, Wis.), and junior Erin Mahoney (Wichita, Kan.) led a 1-2-3-4 A&M finish in the 200 free relay in 1:36.30.

The Aggies will close out their dual meet season at home on Saturday at noon against Louisiana State (3-3) looking to complete the first undefeated dual meet season in Texas A&M history. Admission is free.

For those not able to attend, free live video streaming of the A&M-LSU dual meet will be available at www.AggieAthletics.com.

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