NCAA Div. I Women: Texas Aggies Shoot Down the Jayhawks

LAWRENCE, Kansas, Dec. 7. THE 22nd-ranked Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team won its fourth straight dual meet with a 169-129 victory over Big 12 opponent Kansas at Robinson Natatorium on Saturday.

There was no men's meet as Kansas, shameefully killed its men's program in 2001, proclaiming budgetary woes.

The Aggies, (5-2, 2-1) won 10 of 15 events to beat the Jayhawks for the fourth straight season. The win also pushes A&M ahead in the all-time series 5-4.

"You never can tell how meets like this will turn out," A&M head coach Steve Bultman said. "Both teams had big meets two weeks ago then had a break. It's hard to tell how swimmers will respond after a bit of a layoff. I'm real pleased to see how the girls stepped up and performed."

Sophomore Ashley Roark was on fire all day, winning three individual events as well as swimming first leg on the winning 200-yard medley relay. Roark swept both backstroke events and won the 200 individual medley (2:05.78). The Austin native won the 100 back in a seasonal near-best of 57.32 while winning the 200 back in 2:04.43. The 200 medley relay that Roark led off won in a time of 1:46.28.

Fellow soph Katie Fancher kept her own hot streak going with wins in both the 200 and 500 freestyle races. Fancher won the 200 in 1:52.02 while capturing the 500 in 4:59.33.

Freshman Paty Villareal continued to lower her season best in the 1,000 freestyle after winning the race in 10:17.93. Villareal came in second to Fancher in the 500 free as well.

Five additional Aggies turned in individual wins on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Adriana Marmolejo won the 200 breast in 2:20.66 one week after grabbing four gold medals at the Central American Games in El Salvador.

Diver Rosie Whiting returned from injury by winning the one-meter springboard with a score of246.15.

Sophomore Danielle Townsend won the 50 free in a time of 24.48 while Millie Reynolds and Katy Lietzau went one-two in the 100 butterfly. Reynolds grabbed the win in a time of 57.14.

The Aggies will take a month-long break from competition before returning for a training trip to the island nation of Barbados in early January.

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