Texas A&M's women's swim team knew coming in it was going to have to win the close races if it was going to extend its string of two straight victories in dual meets over No. 3 Texas.
So when the Longhorns started by winning the 400-yard medley relay by one-hundredth of a second, the No. 8 Aggies had some catching up to do.
It proved to be too much of a task as Texas (6-1) defeated the Aggies 169-131, handing A&M its first loss in eight dual meets in front of a near-capacity crowd at the A&M Rec Center Natatorium.
"That first relay was really important, important that we win that, and to lose by .01 to start off was tough.," A&M women's swim coach Steve Bultman said. "Both relays we just got touched out and that is huge, a 14-point difference if it goes the other way and all of a sudden it's a whole different meet."
Texas won 11 of the 16 events, with freshmen Karlee Bispo and Olympian Kathleen Hersey claiming three first-place finishes each -- two in individual events and one on a relay.
Hersey won the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley, and Bispo took the 100 and 200 freestyles.
"There was some good racing tonight and I figured it would be," Bultman said. "There were two good teams out there racing with good swimmers that want to win and want to compete, and that is exactly what we saw."
The only other double-winner was A&M's Alia Atkinson, who won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Atkinson made the 200 look easy, winning by more than four seconds (2:12.17) and gaining an NCAA qualifying time.
"Basically throughout the whole race I was going out saying we need this win, so I'm just going to go for it," Atkinson said of the 200. "I knew the two beside me are great breaststrokers. The first 100 I was just keeping my pace and the last 100, no matter what it was, I have to do this and I have to win it."
Atkinson, who swam for Jamaica in the Olympics, was also a part of the individual medley relay team that fell just short. Atkinson said the result didn't discourage the Aggies, but after the 200 freestyle (the third event) A&M was down 41-16.
"They are a good team and they've gotten a lot better. They were great last year as well, but this proves that we can still do what we have to do," Atkinson said. "This meet made us see where our kinks are and see what we have to improve on, so the Big 12 [meet] will be all or nothing."
The Aggies also got firsts out of Estonian Olympian Triin Aljand in the 50 freestyle (22.64), Emily Neal in the 200 backstroke (1:57.85) and Jaele Patrick in the 1-meter diving (308.62).
Neal also had a second in the 100 backstroke, flip-flopping with Texas' Katie Riefenstahl, another member of the Longhorns' strong freshman class. Patrick did the same with NCAA champion Jessica Livingston, placing second in the 3-meter dive with a 339.75 total that ranks second-best in school history.
Despite the loss, Bultman was pleased with the overall effort and times of his swimmers, especially those that he believes can help down the road in the Big 12 meet.
"A couple girls that didn't necessarily get firsts or seconds, like Ella Doerge, Hannah Kinder, Rebekah Love, a couple of the freshmen, Rita Medrano and Lauren Clifford swam well," Bultman said. "[I'm] very pleased with how the girls raced and where the times are now compared to where they were this time a year ago."
A&M won the Big 12 meet last season and finished a best-ever fourth at the NCAA championships.
In Friday's final event, the 400 freestyle relay, the Aggies and Longhorns were never more than an arms-length apart before Bispo got to the wall .15 ahead of Marissa Jasek.
"This was a dual meet, this was not make or break," Bultman said. "Yeah, we wanted to win, get a point in the [Lone Star Showdown] series and everything, but ultimately we want to do well and swim fast at the end of the year, and based on how we're swimming right now I'm very pleased with where we are."
Texas leads the State Farm Lone Star Showdown 4.5-1.5 going into Saturday's men's basketball game at Texas. Nine points are needed to win the showdown.
The Aggies return to the pool at noon Saturday when the men and women go up against LSU in dual meets.
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