Texas A&M hosted SMU on Friday for the Aggies’ Senior Day celebration. Texas A&M came out on top on both sides of the meet, out-scoring the Mustangs by 65-points on the women’s side and 81-points on the men’s.
With their victory, the Texas A&M men moved to 9-0 in dual meets, marking their first undefeated season since 1955-56. On the women’s side, this dual meet marked the final with long-time head coach Steve Bultman, who announced that he will be retiring following the conclusion of the season.
Men’s Recap
Leading the Aggies to victory with three individual wins was Baylor Nelson. The sophomore kicked things off with a dominant performance in the 200 freestyle, clocking a 1:34.07 to come within a tenth of his personal best time in the event. He then led a 1-3 Aggie finish in both the 200 backstroke (1:42.44) and 400 IM (3:45.40).
Also contributing multiple wins for Texas A&M was Alex Sanchez, who posted the top time in both breaststroke events. Sanchez, a senior, logged a 53.34 in the 100 to beat his teammate Logan Brown by about half a second (53.89). In the 200, Sanchez recorded a 1:55.02 to win the event by nearly two seconds.
Despite falling short to the Aggies, the Mustangs saw some promising performances from their grad transfers. One of which was Danny Kovac, who set season best times en route to winning both butterfly events. Kovac, a transfer from Missouri, clocked a 1:42.98 in the 200 fly to improve on his season best from January by about five seconds. He also clocked a 46.04 in the 100 fly, which is a second off what he swam at NCAAs in 2022. Both of his swims rank 2nd all-time in SMU program history.
Advertisement
Jack Hoagland, also a Notre Dame transfer, had a fantastic showing in the 1650. Hoagland took down two program records on his way to winning the event, as he split an 8:53.80 at the 1000 on his way to a final time of 14:44.08. Hoagland’s time currently ranks 6th in the NCAA so far this season.
Jack Forrest, who previously held the school record in the 1650, delivered a victory for the Mustangs in the 500. He stopped the clock at 4:23.53, marking his fastest dual meet time of the season in the event.
Other Event Winners:
Texas A&M’s ‘A’ team (Shomper, Sanchez, Foote, Reno) clocked a 1:25.35 to beat their ‘B’ team by (1:26.16) in the 200 medley relay.
Thomas Shomper won the 100 back in 46.87, putting him within a second of his personal best.
Connor Foote was the only athlete in the field to crack 20-seconds in the 50 freestyle with a winning time of 19.93.
Collin Fuchs clocked a season best time of 43.50 to win the 100 freestyle.
Texas A&M’s ‘A’ team (Foote, C. Nelson, Fuchs, B. Nelson) closed the meet with a win in the 200 freestyle relay (1:18.70).
Victor Povzner swept the diving events for Texas A&M with wins on 1-meter (396.98) and 3-meter (443.78).
Women’s Recap
The Aggies won all but two events on their way to beating the Mustangs by a 65-point margin. Senior Abby Grottle kicked off the individual events with back-to-back victories in the 1000 and 200 free. In the 1000, she knocked over five seconds off her previous best time to post a 9:40.14. She then touched 1st in the 200 free at 1:46.75, which also takes her under her previous personal best in the event.
Freshman Miranda Grana was another key piece to Texas A&M’s victory, as she contributed to the team’s 200 medley relay win in addition to her two individual titles. She delivered a 24.88 backstroke split on the 200 medley relay (1:39.77), then swam a 52.95 in the 100 back to win the event by about half a second. Grana then notched a personal best on her way to winning the 100 fly (53.60).
Grana was joined by Bobbi Kennett, Olivia Theall, and Chloe Stepanek on the 200 medley relay (1:39.77). All three also secured individual wins of their own, with Kennett taking the 100 breast (1:01.5), Theall winning the 200 IM (2:00.60), and Stepanek hitting a 1:56.13 to win the 200 back.
Advertisement
Johanna Gudmundsdottir picked up two wins for SMU across the spring freestyle races. The senior got her hand on the wall 1st in the 50 free at 22.95, making her the only swimmer to break the 23-second barrier. She then led a 1-2 Mustang finish in the 100 free, finishing in 49.50 with her teammate Tiffanie Ruan snagging 2nd in 51.04.
Other Event Winners:
Freshman Katie Walker won the 200 fly by nearly four seconds with a time of 1:59.61.
Hannah O’Leary, also a freshman, set a best time by almost four seconds to win the 200 breast in 2:13.19.
Hayden Miller dominated the 500 free with a time of 4:45.90, putting her about two seconds off her season best in the event.
Joslyn Oakley swept the springboard events with scores of 315.83 and 371.55 on 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump just can’t seem to choose among friends in the Texas Senate Republican primary.
So when he travels to the state on Friday for his first post- State of the Union trip, where he plans to promote his energy and economic policies, Trump will have all three candidates in the competitive race join him — just days before his party casts ballots in the primary race.
Sen. John Cornyn is battling for his fifth term and is being challenged by state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a primary fight that has become viciously personal. And all three men, missing the coveted endorsement from Trump, have been trying to highlight their ties to him as they ramp up their campaigning ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
For his part, Trump will be seeking to ride the message of his State of the Union address from Tuesday, where he declared a return to economic prosperity and a more secure America — two centerpiece arguments for Republicans as they campaign to keep their congressional majorities this fall.
Advertisement
Trump’s hesitation to endorse in the Texas Senate primary speaks to the tricky dynamics of the race.
Cornyn is unpopular with a segment of Texas’ GOP base, in part for his early dismissiveness of Trump’s 2024 comeback campaign and for his role in authoring tougher restrictions on guns after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But Senate GOP leadership and allied groups see Cornyn as the stronger general election candidate, in light of a series of troubles that have shadowed Paxton.
Paxton beat impeachment on fraud charges in 2023, and has faced allegations of marital infidelity by his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, is joined by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, left, during a campaign stop in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Credit: AP/Eric Gay
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, have urged Trump to endorse Cornyn. They and allied campaign groups argue that the seat would cost the party hundreds of millions more to defend with Paxton as the candidate.
Advertisement
“It is a strong possibility we cannot hold Texas if John Cornyn is not our nominee,” Scott told Fox News on Wednesday.
Hunt, a second-term Houston-area representative, was a later entry to the race, but claims a kinship with Trump, having endorsed him early in the 2024 race. Hunt campaigned regularly for Trump and earned a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
If no candidate reaches 50% in Tuesday’s primary, the top two finishers will advance to a May 26 runoff.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, arrive before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. Credit: AP/Allison Robbert
Cornyn’s campaign and a half-dozen allied groups have poured more than $63 million into the race since last fall, chiefly trying to slow Paxton but recently attacking Hunt in an effort to keep him from making it to the runoff.
Earlier this month, Trump feinted toward weighing in on the race when he said he was taking “a serious look” at endorsing in the Texas primary. He has since reaffirmed his neutrality.
Advertisement
Still, you wouldn’t know it from watching TV in Texas. Cornyn has been airing ads since last year touting his support for Trump’s agenda, even though his relationship with the president has been cool at times. Paxton and Hunt both have ads airing now featuring them standing with Trump.
“I like all three of them, actually. Those are the toughest races. They’ve all supported me. They’re all good. You’re supposed to pick one, so we’ll see what happens. But I support all three,” Trump said earlier this month.
The GOP battle comes as Democrats have a contested primary of their own in Texas between state Rep. James Talarico, a self-described policy wonk who regularly quotes the Bible, and progressive favorite U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
Trump hasn’t been shy about wading into other contested Republican primaries in the state. Parts of Corpus Christi fall within Texas’ 34th congressional district, where former Rep. Mayra Flores is fighting to reclaim her seat against the Trump-endorsed Eric Flores. (The two are not related.) The winner of the primary will face off against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, long a target of the GOP, whose district was redrawn to make it easier for a Republican to win.
Eric Flores will be at the Trump event at the Port of Corpus Christi, which technically is located in a neighboring district.
Advertisement
Elsewhere in the state, the president has also endorsed Rep. Tony Gonzales, who is fighting calls from his own party to resign from Congress after reports of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fire. Gonzales is refusing to step down and has said that there will be “opportunities for all of the details and facts to come out” and that the stories about the situation do not represent “all the facts.”
Gonzales is facing a primary challenge from Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer who Gonzales defeated by fewer than 400 votes in their 2024 runoff. The White House did not return a request for comment on Thursday on whether Trump stands by his endorsement of Gonzales.
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting his reckless driving caused a head-on collision in rural West Texas that killed Laura Lynch, a founding member of the country music group now known as The Chicks, prosecutors said.
Domenick Chavez, 33, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with Dec. 22, 2023, crash in Hudspeth County, according to a news release Tuesday from El Paso County District James Montoya, who also oversees nearby Hudspeth County.
The news release said Chavez was driving a truck westbound when he tried to pass four vehicles on a two-way undivided highway and collided head-on with Lynch’s eastbound truck. Lynch, 65, of Dell City, was trapped in her vehicle and died. Prosecutors said Chavez was traveling between 106 mph and 114 mph.
Prosecutors said alcohol wasn’t a factor in the crash but that Chavez was driving on a suspended license, which had been revoked due to his failure to comply with DWI-related surcharges and penalties from convictions in 2014 and 2017.
Advertisement
Lynch, along with Robin Lynn Macy and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Strayer, formed The Dixie Chicks in the late 1980s. Lynch and Macy eventually left the band and Natalie Maines joined the sisters. The trio hit commercial fame with their breakthrough album “Wide Open Spaces” in 1998 and have won 13 Grammys. In 2020, the band changed its name to The Chicks.
In a social media post after Lynch’s death, The Chicks said Lynch had “infectious energy and humor” and was “instrumental” in the band’s early success.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Billy Richmond III scored 23 points and No. 20 Arkansas took advantage of Texas A&M’s miscues to beat the Aggies 99-84 on Wednesday night.
Richmond, who shot 8 of 13 from the floor and has scored 20 points or more in the last four games, had 15 points in the first half as the Razorbacks (21-7, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) took a 37-28 lead into halftime.
They carried the advantage in large part because Texas A&M (19-8, 9-6) couldn’t take care of the ball. Thirteen first-half turnovers led to 15 points for Arkansas.
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 22 points for Arkansas, Malique Ewin had 18, Trevon Brazile 14 and Meleek Thomas 13. Acuff, who entered leading the SEC in scoring with 22.2 points per game, had been held to just five points until the final nine minutes as he made his last six of his last seven shots from the floor after a 1-for-12 start.
Advertisement
Sports Roundup
Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Texas A&M forward Rashaun Agee (12) is fouled as he tries to drive past Arkansas defenders D.J. Wagner (21) and Malique Ewin (12) during an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Fayetteville, Ark.
Michael Woods / AP
Advertisement
Zach Clemence came off the bench to score a career-high 29 points for Texas A&M. Rashaun Agee added 17.
After the teams traded baskets to start the game, Texas A&M went on an 11-0 run as Arkansas went more than 4:30 without a field goal, missing seven straight. The Razorbacks followed with a run of their own, scoring 16 straight points over the next 3:28 to take the lead for good.
Texas A&M pulled within five points with 9:21 left on Agee’s layup. But Arkansas countered with a 9-2 run to stretch its lead back to double-digits.
For the game, the Aggies committed 16 turnovers and were outscored in transition 30-13.
Up next
Arkansas plays at No. 7 Florida on Saturday. The Razorbacks have won at Florida just twice in 18 games since joining the SEC ahead of the 1991-92 season.
Advertisement
Texas A&M hosts Texas on Saturday.
Fort Worth’s Ranchbot helps agriculture tap water as Texas grapples with scarcity fears
NCAA women’s basketball bracketology: Where are local teams projected in March Madness?
Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Find more Texas A&M coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
