Around Aggieland (12/6)

During Monday's edition of TexAgs Radio, Richard Zane joined to take us Around Aggieland and provided updates from the gridiron and beyond as it was a busy weekend for Texas A&M Athletics.

Football (8-4, 4-4 in SEC)
Coming in at No. 25 in the final College Football Playoff Rankings, Texas A&M is headed to Jacksonville to face No. 17 Wake Forest in the 2021 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.

• The Gator Bowl is set for Friday, Dec. 31, and will kick off at 10:00 a.m. CT.
• It will be Texas A&M’s second trip to the Gator Bowl in four years after the Aggies defeated NC State, 52-13, in 2018.
• The matchup will be the second contest between A&M and Wake Forest behind the 2017 Belk Bowl.

On Friday, Tyreek Chappell was named a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander National Freshman of the Year Award.

• Chappell played in ten games this season, making 41 tackles and 31 solo stops. He also had one interception to go along with ten pass-breakups.
• The three finalists for the Alexander Award will be announced on Dec. 21, with the winner being announced on Jan. 10.

Texas A&M held its annual football banquet on Sunday evening in College Station, and senior safety Leon O’Neal received the 2021 Aggie Heart Award, the highest honor a senior player can win.

• Kenyon Green was named A&M’s offensive MVP.
• Micheal Clemons and DeMarvin Leal were named A&M’s defensive MVPs.
• Nik Constantinou was named A&M’s special teams MVP.

The Home Depot College Football Awards ceremony will be held on Thursday night, and tight end Jalen Wydermyer is a finalist for the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end.

• Colorado State’s Trey McBride and Iowa State’s Charlie Kolar are the other finalists.
• The awards show will air on ESPN at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Women's Basketball (8-1, 0-0 in SEC)
No. 17 Texas A&M suffered its first loss of the 2021-22 season, falling to No. 15 Texas at Reed Arena on Sunday afternoon, 76-60.

• Prior to tip-off, Texas head coach and long-time Texas A&M associate head coach Vic Schaefer presented Gary Blair with a pair of custom boots to honor his retirement.

• Sydnee Roby had a team-high 16 points. Destiny Pitts scored 14 points, while Kayla Wells had 13.
• The Aggies turned the ball over 19 times, and Texas held an incredible advantage in points scored off turnovers, 32-0.

Texas A&M is back at Reed Arena on Thursday night when they host Texas Southern.

• Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. CT and will be streamed on the SEC Network+.

Men's Basketball (7-1, 0-0 in SEC)
After having the weekend off, Texas A&M returns to action on Saturday when the Aggies travel to Houston to face TCU in the Battleground 2K21.

• Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network.
• The neutral-site contest will be played at the Toyota Center, home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets.

Track & Field
Texas A&M opened its indoor season this weekend by competing in the Woo Pig Classic in Fayetteville, and Brandon Miller broke an under-20 world record on Friday.

• Running in the 600m, Miller posted a 1:15.49, breaking Mohammad Aman’s under-20 world record of 1:15.60.

• Miller's 1:15.49 is the second-fastest 600m by an Aggie and the sixth-fastest 600m in collegiate history.
• Nine Aggies finished with top-12 marks in Texas A&M history, including seven individual event winners and one relay win.
  • Laila Owens ran a school-record 37.06 in the 300m.
  • Lamara Distin won the women's high jump with a clearance of 1.86m.
  • Deborah Acquah won the women’s long jump with a jump of 6.34m.
  • Wes McPhail won the men’s one-mile run with a time of 4:09.98.
  • Connor Schulman won the men's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.05.
  • The men's 4x400m relay team of Jake Lanier, Ashton Schwartzman, James Smith and Chevannie Hanson won the event with a time of 3:10.10.
  • Carter Bajoit won the men’s high jump with a clearance of 2.10.

The Aggies are off for the remainder of the calendar year and will return to the track on Jan. 7 to compete in the High School Classic in Bryan-College Station.

Swimming & Diving
On Friday, Texas A&M's men’s team defeated Incarnate Word in San Antonio, claiming 10 of the 16 events en route to a 168-126 victory.

• Thomas Shomper competed in six events, winning two of them.
• Jace Brown, Alex Sanchez, Jerard Jacinto and Munzy Kabbara also added first-place victories.
• Texas A&M won two distance relay events.

On Saturday, No. 25 Texas A&M's women's team defeated Rice in Houston, claiming 10 of the 14 events en route to a 159-102 victory.

• Aviv Barzelay, Andrea Perttula, Olivia Theall and Chloe Stepanek combined to win the 200m medley relay with a time of 1:41.80.
  • Stepanek also won the 100m free (49.63) and the 200m IM (2:05.17).
• Abby Grottle won the 1000m free (10:04.95) and 500m free (4:56.36).
• Charlotte Longbottom won the 100m breast with a time of 1:04.40.
• Danielle Hepler won the 200m fly with a time of 2:02.42.
• Bobbi Kennett won the 50m fly with a time of 23.64.
• Ashley Conrad won the 200m back with a time of 1:36.35.
• Emme Nelson won the 200m breast with a time of 2:18.25.

Both the men's and women’s teams will be back in action the first week of January when they face Florida State in Tallahassee on Jan. 6.