/'^ni The Battalion
Sports
Page 7
Thursday • March 20, 1997
i&M finishes
iwim season
ith gusto
winning ist Diving
m
ffiicy f v
Ith the season coming
to a close, the Texas
A&M Swimming and
ivingTeams have time to reflect
|n their performances this year
id where they need to go to put
lemselves in a position to creep
Ip in the national rankings.
So Close-
Freshman diver Danielle
Kuaneri was a strength for the
pdy Aggie team this year,
tuaneri’s strength on the ten-
meter tower was evident in both
me Big 12 Conference Champi-
nships and the NCAA Zone
deet. At the conference meet,
tuaneri’s performance showed
|he had improved greatly her
pringboard diving, making her
better diver all around. In ad-
ition to taking third on the 10-
eter tower, Guaneri finaled on
leone-meter springboard and
took third on the three-meter.
“1 was happy with my perfor-
aance on the three-meter
pringboard,” Guaneri said. “I
as not really a springboard div-
|er (at the beginning of the year).”
At the NCAA Zone Meet,
jpuaneri gave a spectacular per
formance on the 10-meter tow-
r, taking third place, and com-
ng very close to qualifying for
he NCAA National meet this
eekend. Guaneri said the new
eight program will make her
stronger for her sophomore
year. Guaneri hopes to continue
rmpmving her springboard per-
brmances, so she can qualify
or the national meet next year.
"lam still getting used to
tompeting in college,” Guaneri
said. "But I hope next year I
svill improve enough to make
NCAAs (nationals).”
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Stellar Performance
The Aggies are taking more
athletes to the NCAA Champi
onships this year. Compared to
the four who went last year, this
year’s team includes seven ath
letes who will compete in the
showdown in Minneapolis. Now
the Aggies must better their per
formance and finish higher
than last year’s tie for 22nd
place. The Big 12 Champi
onships proved each Aggie on
^ the team can perform well in in
dividual events, but the relay
teams seemed to be lacking
some of that competitive fervor.
The Aggies have the chance
to correct that with the 200-me
ter and 400-meter intermedley
relays next week in the national
meet. If every Aggie on these re
lay teams (Jerrod Kappler, Robb
Pantano, Kyle Marden, and
Ryan Slater) swims up to his po
tential, the relay team’s finishes
could bring in many points.
Then Kappler might repeat his
12 Championship perfor
mance in the 50-meter freestyle
and shock more sprinters than
just the Longhorns.
Add to that the expected
powerful performance on the
diving boards from Mark Naf-
tanel, and the Aggies just might
finish in the Top 20. But it all
eeds to start with a solid per
formance from the relay team.
See Lyons, Page 10
A&M gears up for NCAAs
The Lady Aggies head to
Indianapolis this weekend
By Courtney Lyons
The Battalion
The NCAA National Champi
onships are a competition for
which only certain swimmers are
able to qualify. However, the Texas
A&M Swimming and Diving
Teams are sending several com
petitors this year to the men’s and
women’s competitions.
The Lady Aggies will take to the
lanes this weekend in Indianapolis,
Ind. while the men will be in Min
neapolis, Minn., next weekend.
Junior Stacie Karnes qualified
for the meet in three events — the
200-meter and 500-meter freestyle
and the 200-meter butterfly.
Karnes' spectacular first-place fin
ish in the 200-meter fly in a com
petitive field in the Big 12 Confer
ence meet automatically qualified
her for the NCAA meet. Her perfor
mance, a school-record time of
2:00.22, might have surprised her
competitors, but it did not surprise
Karnes or her coach.
Both were expecting her to do
well, and Karnes pulled through,
taking the gold medal in the 500-
meter freestyle as well. Karnes
should compete well in Indi
anapolis, as this is her third trip to
the NCAA meet. Karnes garnered
All-American honorable mentions
at NCAAs her sophomore and
freshman years.
Joining Karnes will be fresh
man Monica Stroman, who will
compete in the 200-meter and
400-meter individual medley
events. Stroman took second in
the 400 Individual Medley during
the Big 12 Championships, and fi
naled in the 200 IM.
Although the Lady Aggies are
taking fewer women to the cham
pionships this year, the two ath
letes who will be competing are
projected to rack up enough points
to put the Lady Aggies back in the
Top 25 nationally.
The men’s competition will be
held next weekend in Minneapolis,
quite a trip in comparison to last
year’s competition in Austin. How
ever, the Aggie Men are sending
more athletes to the competition
this year than last year’s four. The
%
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L. ' m
-
Ryan Rogers, The Battalion
Senior Stacie Karnes competes in the 200-meter freestyle at the Big 12 Championships Feb. 28.
i
Rogge Heflin, The Batealion
Freshman Monica Stroman competes in the butterfly at the Big 1 2
Championships Feb. 28.
Aggies are sending seven athletes
who will be competing in two relays
(200-meter and 400-meter inter
medley) and nine individual events.
The team for the two relays is
comprised of senior Robb Pan-
tano, junior Kyle Marden, sopho
more Ryan Slater and sophomore
Jerrod Kappler.
Head Coach Mel Nash said one
of the goals of the team at the be
ginning of the season was to quali
fy more people for national compe
tition than last year. Now the focus
is to top A&M’s score and place
ment in last year’s NCAAs. Although
the competition is further away,
and there will not be the crowd sup
port of last year’s meet, the Aggies
are not concerned.
“A home crowd won’t make or
break a meet,” Pantano said. “We
know how to compete. Anyone who’s
there has the potential to score.”
The Big 12 competition was a
good preview of the national meet
for the Aggies, as Texas, Nebraska,
Kansas and Iowa State will all be
bringing strong teams to the na
tional championships. The Aggies
expect to score well as individuals in
addition to the relays.
Kappler should score points in
the 50-meter freestyle, freshman
Devin Howard will be strong in
the 200-meter butterfly and the
400-meter individual medley, and
Pantano will be looking to final in
the 100-meter and 200-meter
backstroke events.
And, of course, there will be
sophomore Mark Naftanel on the
diving boards to score points for
the Aggies.
Naftanel impressed the com
petition at the NCAA Zone Meet
last weekend by taking first on the
10-meter and three-meter, and
narrowly missing a sweep by tak
ing second place to Southern
Methodist’s Ali Al-Hasan on the
one-meter board. Naftanel
should be very competitive on all
three boards at the meet, giving
the Aggies an added edge in over
all competition.
The Aggies are looking to this
meet as an opportunity to show
everyone what they are capable of.
“Some of the fastest swimmers in
the world will be there,” Pantano said.
“If you do as well in the meet as you
did to qualify, you will finish well.”
This is Pantano’s fourth and last
trip to the national competition.
As one of three seniors on the
team, Pantano said the team has
improved immensely over his four
years. He said this season has been
a solid one.
“I have no regrets,” Pantano
said. “I’ve made great friends and
had a lot of fun. The team and the
coaches made the sport what it
was for me.”
Campbell traded 'Horns for maroon and white
By Matt Mitchell
The Battalion
I n the world of college athletics, it is not
often an athlete spends years training at
one school and then chooses to attend
its archrival.
But that is how it happened for Tim Camp
bell, a freshman freestyler on the Texas A&M
Men’s Swim Team, who got his feet wet, literal
ly, on the campus of the Aggies’ arch-nemesis.
“My club team practiced at the (University
of) Texas Aquatics center, so I
knew all the swimmers,” Camp
bell said. “I was the biggest
Longhorn fan, I’ll tell you that.
But Tm happy down here.”
It is a good thing because
Campbell has emerged in his
first year as one of the nation’s
top distance swimmers. And
do not think his coaches are
not aware of it.
“We recruited Tim out of
Austin,” Men’s Assistant Head
Coach Jay Holmes said. “Ob
viously, from the time that he
swam at the (Big 12) Confer
ence Championships, he’s good enough to go
there (UT). But he came here and we’re real
ly excited about him.”
As well they should be. But when A&M
coaches first saw Campbell compete, they
were lessfthan blown away. Obviously tired,
Campbell swam poorly, and turned in a less
than scintillating time.
But the coaches kept recruiting him and
their perseverance has continued to pay div
idends this season, as Campbell’s times have
improved virtually each time out.
Campbell gave his most notable perfor
mance during the conference champi
onships, where he swam a 15:20.01 mile, his
specialty. Campbell wowed both coaches and
competition alike, most notably UT Head
Coach Eddie Reese, who was no doubt
lamenting the one that got away.
For those wondering what reasoning
makes a guy train for an event that requires
more hours in the pool than anyone on the
team, only to be overlooked in favor of the
more glamorous sprinters, Campbell has a
simple answer.
“Because I can’t sprint,” Campbell said. “I
have no sprinting ability at all.
I can hold pace hundred after
hundred after hundred, I just
can’t sprint. It takes me about
a hundred just to get going.”
And what does one think
about, lap after monoto
nous lap?
“You think about how you
swim your race,” the stringy
6-foot-l, 155-pounder said.
“In practice, you sing songs
and stuff like that (in your
head). So you can always
think you can sing better
than you actually can, be
cause nobody else hears you.”
Once he gets going and gets a rhythm,
though, look out. And coaches say the biggest
improvement in Campbell’s performance is
his newfound ability to swim fast even when
he is tired, which was admittedly somewhat
slow in coming.
“That’s been a big key,” Holmes said. “Tim
was the guy who had to make the changes.”
Campbell also was the guy who had to
make the decision to swim fast no matter what.
“When we saw him swimming fast even
when he was tired, we knew there were going
to be some great things coming,” Holmes said.
Jfl
“More than any
thing, performing
like this as a fresh
man should give
him confidence. ,,
Jay Holmes
Assistant coach
sT
File Photo
Freshman Tim Campbell dives off the blocks in the 500-meter freestyle at the Big 12
Championships Feb. 28 at the Student Recreation Center.
In addition to his impressive showing in
the mile, which won him consideration for
the NCAA Championships, Campbell
posted a team-best time of 9:16.06 in the
1000-meter freestyle. The freshman’s eye
catching times capped a stellar opening
season and provide a glimpse of what may
be in store.
“More than anything, performing like
this as a freshman should give him confi
dence,” Holmes said. “If he keeps his head
on and keeps swimming with confidence
and puts in the hard work that it’s going to
take, who knows where he’s going to go? But
I know for sure that he is a national caliber
distance swimmer.”