COLLEGE STATION, Texas --- Texas A&M sophomore All-American Grant Nel swept both dive events and freshman Omar Enriquez broke another school record but it wasn’t enough to beat the top-ranked Texas Longhorns on Friday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The No. 1 Longhorns lived up to their ranking in the 141-100 victory as Texas improved to 5-1 and the No. 19 Aggies fell to 4-2.
Nel, from Melbourne, Australia, was dominant in the diving events, taking the one-meter board with a season-best score of 353.48 and the three-meter with a 394.43 point total.
Enriquez continued his incredible first season by breaking the school record in the 1,650-yard freestyle in a time of 15:19.67, which broke the old record of 15:20.01 by Tim Campbell in 1997. Earlier this season, Enriquez shattered the school record in the 1,000 free, which had stood since 1983. Enriquez finished second in the 1,650 to Texas All-American Jackson Wilcox, but went on to score a victory in the 500 free in a season-best 4:27.16 and place second in the 400 IM in a season-best 3:58.46.
Including Enriquez’s pair of runner-up finishes, the Aggies placed second in nine races, including both relays. Sophomore Balazs Makany was second in the 100 free (44.94) and 200 free (1:38.77), senior Casey Strange in the 50 free (20.40), junior Boris Loncaric in the 100 fly (48.70) and senior Nathan Lavery in the 100 breaststroke (season-best 55.91).
In the relays, the foursome of senior Nikita Denisyako, sophomore Amini Fonua, Loncaric and Strange were second in the 200 medley relay in season-best 1:29.27, and the quartet of senior Sean Duckworth, freshman Austin Wilson, Lavery and Fonua placed second in the 200 free relay in 1:23.45.