Following a huge win over Arizona, No. 4 Texas (5-1) faces No. 19 Texas A&M for Senior Day in its last regular-season meet Friday. Seniors Jim Robertson, Scott Jostes, Scott Spann, Bryan Collins and Brian Wilson will be honored before the meet.
Last season, the Longhorns defeated the Aggies 141-100.
A&M is coming off a win over LSU. Freestyle specialists John Dalton and Balazs Makany will be tough to beat but Texas’ Jimmy Feigen, who is ranked fourth nationally in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, will be up for the challenge. Swimmer Kyle Troskot and diver Grant Nel will also be tough competition for UT.
At Texas’ last meet, Nick D’Innocenzo and Feigen won two races apiece to contribute to the 186.5-155.5 win.
The freshmen, specifically Will Chandler, Patrick Murphy, Will McCraney and Miles Joye, had an excellent performance last weekend and head coach Eddie Reese expects a similar one in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown on Friday evening.
“I am the eternal optimist, so without a doubt I expect the freshmen to have another great performance,” Reese said. “Their best performance will be on Friday.”
The freshmen have continued resting this week, as they did in preparation for the Arizona meet.
“In three weeks, we start the conference meet,” Reese said. “So it’s real important that they’re rested and that they’re fast at that meet.”
The meet Friday will feature class relays. Each class will pick its best relay team and compete against each other.
“Class relays are fun and fast,” Reese said. “It should be very exciting.”
Although the class relays create a fun atmosphere, this meet is important in getting ready for the Big 12 Championships, which begins on Feb. 23 and takes place at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
“Friday’s meet really helps us prepare for the Big 12,” Reese said. “It gives me another look at the guys on the team. We can’t take everybody on the team to the Big 12. I have to make the selection, and I want as much information as I can get.”
Reese has been impressed with the team’s performance in practice this week. But like every great coach, he sees the opportunity for the team to get better.
“There are some things we need to work on that we noticed during the meet with Arizona,” Reese said. “We need improvement on relay starts, and some people need to work on some turns.”
With conference championships three weeks away and NCAA Championships on March 24, the Longhorns will look to this meet to set the tone for their future meets and begin their defense of the 2010 national title.
