Women's Recruiting - #10 Texas A&M

Four years ago Steve Bultman transformed Texas A&M from a good team into one of the pre-eminent programs in the nation. Triin Aljand, Kristen Heiss, Marissa Jasek and Christine Marshall and Julia Wilkinson led the Aggies to a pair of Big XIII titles and trio of top-ten finishes. Such success typically breeds more success, but the recruiting landscape in the Lone Star state is a lot tougher than it was just four years ago.

Steve Bultman and Tracy Duchac went north of the border to the land that gave him Julia Wilkinson four years ago. An early investment in Kendra Chernoff is already paying dividends. "We recruited Kendra primarily as a sprint flyer but her 200 is really starting to come around." She medaled at the Junior Pan Pacs and her strength off the walls should translate to yards easily. Tess Simpson is a similar budding star. Primarily a sprint backstroker, Simpson’s development into a more-rounded swimmer could prove a huge boon to the Aggies.

Chernoff is the star of the class, but the rest of it demonstrates that Bultman has earned his stripes within the Texas coaching community. Maureen McLaine of Plano and Lizzie Nelson of The Woodlands are a pair of Lone Star distance prospects with a lot of upside.

"As a Texas girl, Maureen has been on our radar for a couple of years now," Bultman said. "She is somebody that has been improving quite a bit. We feel like she has a lot of potential. Liz is a very hard worker and in the last six months it has been really been paying off for her. "

Allyson Sweeney is another Texas native, though her most recent stop was with Swim Atlanta. Other Texas pick-ups include Kristina Kontrimas, Jaclin Rehring and Meagan Hairston. None of the three overwhelms you on paper, but some of that, dare we say might be a result of the suits. Each showed promise in the pre-speed suit era, and with the NCAA returning to the days when the swimmers, not the suits mattered, these three should grade better. The same can be said for the final member of the class – Colorado’s Jackie Cromer. The backstroker’s range could allow A&M to focus Simpson on more sprinting, though we’ll leave that up to who has clearly demonstrated he knows what to do.

Chernoff, Kendra	78.75	12	Saskatoon, Canada
McLaine, Maureen	67.19	67	Plano, TX
Sweeney, Allyson	66.79	69	Snellville, GA
Nelson, Lizzie	59.39	152	Woodlands, TX
Kontrimas, Kristina	57.93	179	Houston, TX
Cromer, Jackie	56.6	205	Monument, CO
Rehring, Jaclin	56.03	213	Allen, TX
Hairston, Meagan	53.39	249	Plano, TX
Simpson, Tess	45.97	351	Ingleside, Canada

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