Castillo, Bolleter Take Down School Records at SEC Championships

(Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics)
(Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Texas A&M’s Mauro Castillo and Cory Bolleter shattered school records to highlight the Aggie men’s second day at the 2017 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday at Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee campus.

Texas A&M stands in third place after two days of competition with 324 points behind second-day leader Florida (486.5) and Auburn (346). Rounding out the field were Georgia (314), Alabama (287), South Carolina (278), Tennessee (261.5), LSU (199), Kentucky (196) and Missouri (186).

Castillo broke the school record in the 200-yard IM twice on Wednesday and ended up winning the consolation final with a time of 1:44.12. Castillo, who came into the day with a lifetime best of 1:45.88, took down the old standard of 1:45.39 by Simon Frank from the 2014 SEC Championships with a time of 1:45.09 in the morning prelims. Castillo now owns a trio of school records – the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 IM. Junior teammate Brock Bonetti also went under Frank’s old school record with a time of 1:45.08 while placing third in the consolation final (11th overall).

“Mauro actually looked up at the record board earlier this season and said ‘I’d like to have all three of those records,'” Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. “He’s had his heart set on getting the 200 IM record after he got so close last year. It was a great swim and a testament to his heart and hard work.”

Bolleter just missed a spot on the 50 free award stand with a fourth-place finish in a time of 19.22. Earlier in the day, Bolleter obliterated the school standard in the race with a 19.04 clocking that took down the old record of 19.32 by Kyle Troskot at the 2014 American Short Course Championships.

“Cory pretty much destroyed our school record in the 50 free,” Holmes said. “Three-tenths may not seem like a lot to people but it’s a long way to go in the 50 free. Every tenth that you go faster is a big deal. His time in the morning puts him in a pretty elite group of people so that was really fun to see him do that.”

The Aggies also received points from freshman Adam Koster and senior Jacob Gonzales in the consolation final. Koster placed 14th overall in 19.74 while Gonzales placed 16th in 20.00. The trio combined to score 50 points for the Aggies. Koster’s path included a swim-off for the last spot in the B final that resulted in tie (in a career-best 19.70) and required a second swim-off that he won with a time of 19.77.

The Aggies closed out the night with a fifth-place finish in the 200 free relay with the foursome of Bolleter, Koster, freshman Raiz Tjon-A-Joe and Gonzales touching in a season-best time of 1:17.52, which makes them the second-fastest 200 free relay in school history.

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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