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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1998)
i Friday • March 6, 1998 The Battalion Sdodtq I ^9 Swimming and diving teams compete in Bevo Invitational By Katie Mish Staff ivriter The Texas A&M Men’s and Women’s swim teams travel to Austin this weekend to compete in the 1998 American Short Course Championship, also called the Bevo Invitational, today and tomorrow. The invitational is the last meet be fore off-season starts for the Aggies. Lauren Buckalo, a junior on the women’s team, said the invi tational is an enjoyable meet for the Aggies, but that it is still taken very seriously. “It’s a fun tournament because there is not as much pressure,” Buckalo said. “We're competing in our off events, events we usually don’t get to swim. The races are a lot faster, and we get to compete in events like the 50 breast, which isn't an actual event. There are never 50s in college meets, but in this meet there are 50s for all the strokes, and other than the 50 free, you never get to swim just a 50 in a race.” Buckalo said the meet is a wrap-up before off-season starts, and is a reward of sorts for the hard work of the season. She said that even though many of the swimmers are not competing in prime events, it is a last chance to get some good swims in before the start of off-season. “You’ve come this far and you’ve worked so hard, and now it’s pay back time,” she said. “You’ve got conference, and now we have one more time to get some big swims in and make it all worthwhile.” Sophomore Michael Colligan on the men’s team said the invita tional is exciting because of the off events. He said he thinks the dif ferent races will make the swim mers race faster. “Events like the 50 breast, 50 fly and 50 underwater dolphin kick aren’t real events in United States competition,” Colligan said. He said these events give the swimmers a chance to speed up their time because the races are shorter distances. Colligan said that the men have to have a more serious approach to the meet than die women because they are still trying to make the cut for the National Championships, and since the time for the women to make the NCAA cut has already passed, they can afford to take a lit tle more relaxed stance in the meet than the men can. “The women that are going, are going to swim different events,” Colligan said. “Some of the guys that are going, are going because they need to push the barriers.” Track and field tea starts outdoor seas# Pii *//////////, vvvvvvvy\,v\x\- *////*////////*///// Tf »J K * t f I}t s S »*M UIJ //////////, RYAN ROGERS/The Battalion Junior Mark Naftanel will lead the Aggies into Austin after an impressive showing at the Big 12 Championships. By Michael Ferguson Staff writer After wrapping up the indoor sea son in impressive fashion this past weekend at the Big 12 Indoor Con ference Championships in Ames, Iowa, the Texas A&M Track and Field Team will travel to San Antonio to compete in the Alamo Early Bird. With the NCAA Indoor Champi onships still one week away, this meet will serve more as preparation to start off the outdoor season. Coach Ted Nelson alluded to this fact. “It’s sort of a low-key meet to kick off the new outdoor season,” Nelson said. “It’s not a very high profile meet.” Other teams competing in the meet includeTexas-San Antonio, Pan American and the University ofTexas. In fact, according to Nelson, many of the athletes who have already qualified for Nationals will not even be competing in this meet. “Most schools will be like Texas A&M,” Nelson said. “They’ll be com peting against the people that prob ably aren’t going to the National Championships. That takes a lot of good athletes out of the meet.” Nonetheless, the meet should serve as good practice for many of the athletes and give them a chance to once again become accustomed to an outdoor track. For those not com peting, it will serve as a chance to rest and stay focused for the indoor championships next weekend. The Aggies are coming off their most successful indoor season in years. The men’s team improved from 11th place to 2nd place, while the women doubled their point total, with senior Adrien Sawyer accounting for over half of the points. Coach Nelson mentioned the transition from the in door season to the outdoor season, as well as his expectations of the meet. “We went really hard indoors; tiM •6 RYAN A Junior Larry Wade and other Aggies who have qualified forM Championship meet to be held next weekend, will sit out theAl^ probably as hard indoors as we’ve gone since I’ve been here," Nelson said. “So we’re kind of taking a week off as far as really looking to go over and do a lot of things.” Following themeei nio, those athletesfc head to Indianapolis NCAA Championship; take place on March It mmammmasmKmammmm Have you sgai studl □ Picked up or purchased your '97 Aggieland? \ If you ordered a 1997 Aggieland yearbook and haven't picked it up, stop by roof 015 (basement) of the Reed McDonald Building between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.n Monday through Friday. Please bring your Student ID. If you did not order a '9fe book, you may purchase one for $35 plus tax in 015 Reed McDonald. The 1997;! Aggieland is an 848-page record of the 1996-97 Texas A&M University school ye? r Cash, Check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. j PICK UP YOUR 7 997 AGGIELAND HERE jR£1 Blocker, Reel IcDonald' NO Halbouty &
