NCAA Div. I: Aggies Dominate Texas A&M Invite

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Nov. 18. Texas A&M dominated both the men's and the women's competition this weekend at the Texas A&M Swimming and Diving Invitational.

The eighth ranked Aggie men's swimming and diving team took first place in the men's competition with 1,896 points in the Texas A&M Swimming and Diving Invitational held at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.

"This is probably one of the best meets that we have ever had," head men's swimming coach Mel Nash said. "People around the country will see the times and think that we were shaved down for this, but we
only had one guy fully shaved and another shaved from the knees down."

In the final event of the evening, freshman Matt Rose, senior David Morrow, junior Riley Janes and senior Keven Kehlenbach swam an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 2:55.32 in the 400-yard freestyle relay. This
ensures A&M's 400-free relay a spot at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held in College Station March 22-24.

In the 1650-free, sophmore Patrick Dideum took second place with a time of 15:35.09. Teammate Patrick Kennedy, a junior from Toledo, Ohio, took first place in the 200-yard backstroke with a consideration time of 1:47.40.

The Aggies took the top four spots in the 100-free. Janes took first place with a consideration time of 44.64, Rose took second with a consideration time of 44.77, Morrow took third with a consideration time of 44.79 and Kehlenbach took fourth with a time of 45.16.

Devin Howard, a senior from Klein, Texas, swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a consideration time of 1:48.17. Teammate Michael Greene took third place in a time of 1:48.89.

"Everyone swam well and swam above most people's expectations," Nash said. "I was very impressed."

The 25th-ranked Aggie women's swimming and diving team took first place in the women's competition with 2,550 points. "Winning the meet is great," head women's swimming coach Steve Bultman said. "Our depth carried us and diving helped out as well."

"We had some very good swims from our walk-ons, which is exciting for the future," Bultman said.

To begin the meet, junior Shannon Steel took first place in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:08.67. Teammate Kimarie Durso came in third with a time of 17:14.86.

Sharrise Blau, a sophomore from Mesa, Arizona, took fourth place in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.60). In the 200-yard breaststroke, freshman Alex Baldree took fifth place with a time of 2:23.16.

Clara Ho swam to a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:03.10.

On the platform event, junior Meghan Zack took first place with a score of 390.70. Teammate Callie Petroff was right behind Zack with a score of 383.70.

In the 400-yard free relay, the team of Blau, Michelle Bird, Steel and Ho took third place with a time of 3:31.40.

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