No. 9 Texas A&M Women Hooks No. 11 Texas, 174-125

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, November 3. THE ninth-ranked Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team proved the validity of its top 10 ranking with an impressive 174-125 win over the University of Texas in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on Friday night.

The Aggies got out to a fast start, both literally and figuratively, winning the first five events while having multiple swimmers record NCAA automatic qualifying times.

"The girls were very fired up for this meet," A&M head coach Steve Bultman said. "This is a big win for us. It was one of our goals this season and it feels great to accomplish it."

A&M won 11 of the 16 events contested, including eight of the first nine races, which proved more than enough to hold off a small surge by the Longhorns towards the end of the meet.

"I told the girls that if we concentrate on racing that the times would take care of themselves," Bultman said. "It's not like we tapered or shaved for this meet. We're still working very hard in practice. They are just so determined and so focused right now."

Sophomore Julia Wilkinson (Stratford, Ont.) won three individual events for the second straight meet for the Aggies. Wilkinson started her day off by getting A&M out to a lead in the 400-yard medley relay with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 54.14 in the 100 backstroke. Two events later, Wilkinson swam the 100 back again, lowering her automatic qualifying time to 54.03, the second-fastest time in A&M history. She then transferred her backstroke success to the 100 freestyle, winning in a time of 49.54, just .05 off the NCAA automatic qualifying standard. The four-time All-American closed her spectacular day by winning the 200-yard individual medley 2:01.17, an NCAA consideration standard.

Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) was a double winner against Texas, taking first in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Aljand clocked her first sub 23-second 50 free of the year, cruising to a win in 22.87 while winning a very tight 100 fly race in 54.15 over teammate Christine Marshall (54.28) and Texas' Connie Brown (54.33).

Freshman Alia Atkinson (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) clipped a full second off the A&M all-time record in the 100-yard breaststroke, defeating five-time Big 12 champion Elizabeth Tinnon with a lifetime best and NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:00.17. Tinnon finished second in 1:00.45. Atkinson set a second lifetime-best mark in a runner-up finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.91).

The Aggies jumped out of the gates quickly with the second-fastest 400 medley relay in school history. A&M just missed the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 3:38.02 with a first-place time of 3:38.11. Texas grabbed second in 3:41.94.

Junior Jenni Stratton (Portland) battled her way to a moving win in the 1,000-yard freestyle with the second-fastest time in school history. Stratton swam in third position behind Texas' Susana Escobar and Macie Garrett for much of the race before making her move with around 100 yards to go to finish in 9:55.08. She is only the fourth A&M swimmer ever to the wall in less than 10 minutes while wearing the maroon and white.

Co-Big 12 Swimmer of the Year Codie Hansen showed why she's a first team All-American in the 200-yard freestyle by earning the win in a solid consideration time of 1:49.09. Junior Erin Mahoney (Wichita, Kan.) closed like a freight train to snatch second place in an NCAA consideration time of 1:49.76.

Sophomore All-American Kristen Heiss (Casper, Wyo.) continued a very strong fall by setting a lifetime-best in a win in the 200-yard backstroke. Heiss' winning time of 1:58.21 is less than a half-second away from the NCAA automatic qualifying standard. Freshman Emily Neal (Plano) also earned a lifetime-best in the 200 back at 1:58.93 to finish right behind Heiss.

A&M closed the meet by going one-two in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The group of Codie Hansen (Arlington), Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia), Rebecca Sturdy (Anacortes, Wash.) and Christine Marshall (Newport News, Va.) grabbed the win in 3:22.82, .01 off the Aggies' season best time.

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