Eight Aggies in Georgia for NCAA finals
A&M hoping for top 20 finish in championship
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
A&M senior diver Jesse Even, shown here competing against Auburn, will
compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform diving competitions.
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
The No. 15 Texas A&M
men’s swimming and diving
team will be sending seven
swimmers, four relays and one
diver to the University of
Georgia to compete in this week
end’s NCAA Championships.
“Coming in we’ve been
ranked 19th most of the year,”
said A&M head coach Mel
Nash. “So I think if we can fin
ish in the top 20, that would be
the big goal.”
Leading the way for A&M
are the relay swimmers, which
have the potential to score most
of the Aggies’ points.
In both the 200- and 400-
yard freestyle relays, the
Aggies rank No. 8. In the 200-
yard medley, they rank seventh
and in the 400-yard medley
relay they are No. 12.
Both freestyle relays are
looking to jump into the top
five while the 200-yard medley
relay is looking to bring home
the gold. They trail the leader,
the University of Minnesota, by
only .64 of a second. This race
will be a battle because the top
eight are within one second of
each other.
“[Relays] have always been
our strength,” Nash said. “We
qualified four of the five relays
with people on them unshaved.
That’s encouraging because we
still have people who can come
in and drop some time and
hopefully put some relays in
the top eight.”
On the individual front, sen
ior Patrick Kennedy will be
leading A&M in the pool.
Kennedy qualified in the No. 24
spot in the 200-yard freestyle
and the No. 20 spot in the 200-
yard backstroke. In the freestyle,
Kennedy swam a time of
1:37.22 at the Big 12
Championships, breaking the
Texas A&M record.
u
So I think if we
can finish in the top
20, that would be the
big goal
— Mel Nash
A&M swimming coach
“He has just looked so good
all year and is already breaking
the school record in the 200-
(freestyle),” Nash said. “He real
ly has raised his performance to
another level.”
Also competing for the
Aggies is sophomore Matt Rose.
Rose is currently No. 20 in the
50-yard freestyle. No. 15 in the
100-yard freestyle and No. 25 in
the 100-yard backstroke.
Sophomore Scott Mueller
will compete in the 400-yard
individual medley, in which he
is the reigning Big 12 champion,
and the 500-yard freestyle.
Mueller’s school record time of
3:51.1 1 in the medley is 27th in
the nation.
Freshman Alfredo Jacobo will
also represent the Aggies. Jacobo
is currently No. 22 in the 100-
yard breaststroke and No. 37 in
the 200-yard breaststroke.
Senior All-American Nik
Tate and freshmen Robbie
Taylor and Dan Blanchard will
lend a hand on the relay teams.
Senior diver Jesse Even will
compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter
and platform diving competi
tions. Even placed fourth in the
Zone D Championships to quali
fy for the NCAA Championships.
One glaring omission from
the team is Senior Riley Janes,
who was dismissed from the
team for undisclosed reasons.
Janes was set to compete in both
medley relays and the 100-yard
backstroke. Janes had the fifth-
best time in the nation in the 100-
yard backstroke and recently
won his first Big 12 champi
onship in the backstroke over
rival Tommy Hannan of the
University of Texas.
“We don’t have Riley Janes,”
Nash said. “That has an impact
on the team because he is a great
swimmer. It needs to be
addressed that we will be with
out him, but he was dismissed
from the team.”
The NCAA Championships
will run from Thursday through
Saturday at the Gabrielsen
Natatorium in Athens, Georgia.
Preliminaries start at 11 a.m., and
finals are set for 7 p.m. each day.
Rose set to renew rivalry with Crocker
By Troy Miller
THE BATTALION
The word “rivalry” means only one thing to stu
dents at Texas A&M: the University of Texas
Longhorns. Whether it is football, basketball, base
ball or any other sporting event, games and match
es with Texas bring out the most heated battles.
In men’s swimming and diving, the rivalry
has been lopsided. The two-time defending
National Champion Longhorns have won 23
straight dual meets with A&M dating back to
1979. On an individual level, the edge has been
apparent over the past years — until now.
Aggie sophomore Matt Rose has been out
standing this season, leading the Aggie sprinters.
See Rivalry on page 2B
GUY ROGERS • THE BATTALION
A&M sophomore Matt Rose will continue his budding
rivalry with UT sophomore Ian Crocker in Georgia.
.. 11
Northgate Parking...No Problem
Northgate Parking Rates Have Been Slashed!!
Some of it is even free!
r<P)i
10 Bars
(R) 1
any
8 Restaurants
ANY
TIME
ALL IN ONE BLOCK
TIME
. —ifc.
713 PARKING SPOTS IN THE COLLEGE MAIN GARAGE
and now easy to use
PARKING LOT BEHIND NORTHGATE
NOW EASY AND CHEAP TOO!!!
NORTHGATE, TEXAS
“Where Aggie Tradition Lives”