Courtesy: Texas A&M Athletics
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M swimming & diving program and head coach Jay Holmes announced the signing of eight student-athletes to National Letters of Intent on Thursday. Swimmers Noah Beladi, Clayton Conklin, Jacob deLagerheim, Trey Dickey, Tyler Hulet, Munzy Kabbara, Seth Reno and Anze Fers Erzen will make up the 2020 signing class.
“We are really excited about this group. It’s been fun for us to see it come together,” Holmes said of the signing class. “Not only do they cover just about every event, they also all have a tremendous upside in what they will bring to our program. Our last couple of classes have brought a distinct amount of synergy to our team. We think this one will keep that tradition going. It’s a very exciting class.”
Noah Beladi – Colleyville, Texas – Breast/IM
Beladi has competed for Keller High School under the direction of coach Linda Shults over the last four years. Beladi finished fifth-or-better at regionals throughout his career, most recently taking third in the 200 IM and first in the 100 breast. Qualifying for the state championship meet as a sophomore and junior, Beladi earned a third-place finish in the 100 breast and finished 10th in the 200 IM in 2020. He holds the school record in the 100 breast with a personal-best time of 55.08. He also adds top times of 2:00.48 in the 200 breast, 1:51.07 in the 200 IM and 4:01.54 in the 400 IM. Beladi has also competed for Lakeside Aquatics Club for five years, boasting team records in the 100 and 200 breast events.
Clayton Conklin – League City, Texas – Back/Fly/Free
Conklin is in his fourth year competing at Clear Falls High School, where he is coached by Aubrey Halford and swims with fellow newcomer Seth Reno. As a junior, Conklin earned top finishes at regionals in the 100 fly and 200 back, and followed up with fourth-place finishes in each event at the state championship meet. He holds three school records with personal-best times of 48.64 in the 100 fly, 49.46 in the 100 back and 1:41.17 in the 200 free. Conklin also spent 11 years swimming for South Shore Sails and was the 2019 Zones Champions in the 200 meter free (1:55.47).
Jacob deLagerheim – Mansfield, Texas – Free
deLagerheim has won three letters and is in his final season at Mansfield High School, coached by Matt Bold. deLagerheim has recorded top times of 1:40.56 in the 200 free, 4:28.43 in the 500 free and 15:59.58 in the 1650 free. As a junior, he earned a pair of third-place finishes in the 200 and 500 free at regionals before finishing among the top 16 swimmers at state championships in the same events. deLagerheim also spent four years swimming for Mansfield Aquatic Club.
Trey Dickey – Richardson, Texas – Distance
Dickey is in his fourth year swimming at Plano East Senior High School for coach Lena Harrington. He was named the team’s Swimmer of the Year as a sophomore and junior. After finishing fourth-or-better at regionals over the last three seasons in the 500 free, Dickey notched a fourth-place finish at the state championship meet as a junior. He has posted top times of 4:23.93 in the 500 free, 9:14.28 in the 1,000 free and 15:16.99 in the 1650 free for his career. Dickey has competed for 12 years for the City of Richardson Swim Team, earning the High Point Award at Sectionals in 2018 and 2019, along with the NCSA High Point Award in 2019.
Tyler Hulet – The Woodlands, Texas – Back/Fly
Hulet is in his fourth year competing for The Woodlands High School under the direction of coach Jeremey Wade. He has helped his team to three straight top finishes at the district and regional meets, and runner-up finishes at each of the last three state championship meets. Hulet is a two-time state champion in the 100 back and improved a sixth-place finish in the 100 Fly as a sophomore to a third-place finish at the state championship meet as a junior. He boasts personal-best times of 48.58 in the 100 fly, 47.81 in the 100 back and 1:43.90 in the 200 back. Hulet has also competed for The Woodlands Swim Team over the last six years.
Munzy Kabbara – Cypress, Texas – IM
Kabbara is in his second year swimming at Cypress Woods High School, where he is coached by Michael Marucci. He helped his team to a district title in 2018-19 and later a second-place finish at regionals that same season. He holds the school record in the 200 IM, 100 back and 100 fly. Kabbara has also competed for the Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club for eight years. He has recorded top times of 1:47.31 in the 200 IM, 3:47.76 in the 400 IM and 1:47.82 in the 200 back.
Seth Reno – League City, Texas – Sprint Free
Reno was coached by Aubrey Halford at Clear Falls High School, where he has competed for the school for two years with incoming classmate Clayton Conklin. As a junior, Reno earned All-America honors for his swims in the 50 and 100 free, along with the 200 and 400 free relays. He won all four events at regionals before a podium finish in the 100 free and fifth-place finish in the 50 free at the state meet. Reno holds the school records in the 50 and 100 free with personal-best times of 20.29 and 44.17, respectively. Reno also swam for South Shore Sails for seven years.
Anze Fers Erzen – Slovenia – Back/IM
Fers Erzen comes to Aggieland after spending two years at the University of Iowa, where he holds the school records in the 200 back (1:41.21), 200 IM (1:46.16) and 400 IM (3:45.76), all set in 2020. He earned CSCAA All-America honors as a sophomore after qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 200 back. He also garnered CSCAA First-Team Scholar All-America honors in 2020, and was the recipient of the Iowa Swimming MVP Award. Prior to competing at Iowa, Fers Erzen also swam for the Slovene Swimming Federation and Gimnazija Bezigrad for coach Tine Pecaver. He competed in the sixth FINA World Junior Championships in 2017, making three ‘A’ finals in the 200 back (2:03.38), 200 IM (2:06.01), and 100 back (57.18).
Gig em forever👍👍