BUIES CREEK -- The North Carolina A&T swimming team faced stiff competition from its Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association conference opponents on Saturday at the Johnson Aquatic Center. They lost to North Florida 216-37 and to host Campbell 221-33.

Despite the loss, the Aggies were able to make great strides in their efficiency in the pool.

"We did better today," said A&T head coach Shawn Hendrix.  "The times didn't reflect that, but we did better focusing on technique and controlling the swim, and having better splits.  It was better as far as overall teamwork and working together as a team." 

The Aggies had two top-5 finishes on Saturday.  In the 200 medley relay, A&T clocked in fifth with a 1:59.10 time from their "A" relay team comprised of sophomore Danielle Jackson, senior Lauren Bowling and freshmen Miranda Jacobs and Niya Ross.   A&T turned in a 4:04.07 time in the 400 free relay on the performance of Jacobs, Ross and freshmen Jade Hill and Kenya Dunn.

Sophomore Danielle Jackson set a new career-best with a time of 2:35.01 in the 200 IM, and junior Christian Hill also turned in her best 200 IM time (2:35.90) with a 10^th place finish.   Hendrix said that freshman Victoria Orr shaved off three seconds and set a new season-best with a time of 1:11.13 in the 100 butterfly.

"That's not even her stroke, so that shows that she's been really working on her technique," Hendrix said of Orr.

The Aggies will not hit the pool in competition again until Nov.  15-18, when they face several conference opponents at the Radford Highlanders Invitational.  The Invitational is formatted just like the CCSA Championships, which will give the Aggies a chance to see where they stack up and give the Aggies a taste of what the competition will be like at the Championships.

The month off will also give the Aggies ample time to polish up their performances in practice.

"It's a reset button," said Hendrix of the break.  "We can take these results and see what we need to work on and where we need to grow.  We will work on consistency in practice.  It's also an opportunity to prepare for the format for CCSA Championships."