Texas A&M takes third straight SEC 800 free relay crown
By:Brad Marquardt, Athletics Communications
ATHENS, Ga. — The Texas A&M women’s 800-yard freestyle relay won its third-straight conference title in school record fashion to highlight the three-time defending champion Aggies’ first day at the 2019 Southeastern Conference Swimming & Diving Championships on Tuesday at the University of Georgia.
The foursome of junior Katie Portz, senior Claire Rasmus, senior McKenna DeBever and senior Sydney Pickrem took control midway through the race and cruised to victory in a time of 6:54.47, which lopped more than a second off the old record set at last year’s SEC meet. It was old hat for Portz, Rasmus and Pickrem, who were also on the winning relays in 2017 and 2018.
“It feels really good,” Pickrem said. “We always try to start this meet with a bang with this relay so being able to do it three years in a row is great way to motivate the team to finish out the meet.”
Added Rasmus. “I just wanted to swim for my girls. We came here to win the whole meet so we wanted to get team going for tomorrow.”
The Aggies grabbed a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay with the foursome of freshman Amanda Armstrong, junior Anna Belousova, freshman Emma Carlton and junior Raena Eldridge touching in a season-best and NCAA “A” cut time of 1:35.86.
The Texas A&M dive crew contributed big points as the Aggies received three top 12 efforts as junior Haley Allen, sophomore Charlye Campbell and Alais Kalonji placed 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively. Allen led the way with a score of 300.40, while Campbell totaled 295.65 and Kalonji scored 287.90.
After one day of action, the Aggies were in second place in the team standings with 162 points. Florida took the day one lead with 165 points. Looking up at the Gators and Aggies were Arkansas (139), Georgia (132), Auburn (126), Tennessee (123), Kentucky (122), LSU (118), Missouri (113), South Carolina (105), Alabama (97) and Vanderbilt (60).
Texas A&M men break two school records on SEC Day 1
By:Brad Marquardt, Athletics Communications
ATHENS, Ga. — The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team broke two school records and made two trips to the award podium to highlight its first day at the 2019 Southeastern Conference Championships on Tuesday at the University of Georgia.
Divers Sam Thornton and Kurtis Mathews got the Aggie men out to a fast start by placing second and fourth, respectively, in the 1-meter dive. Thornton took the silver medal with a lifetime best score of 421.40, while Mathews grabbed fourth with a 385.20 point total.
“I was able to put together six really good dives for a personal best, which I was really happy about,” Thornton said. “(SEC 1m dive champion) Juan (Hernandez from LSU) is a really good competitor and we face him a lot. It’s always good competition and good fun.”
Highlighting the action in the pool was the third-place finish by the 800-yard freestyle relay, which was the Aggies’ highest place in the race since joining the SEC. The foursome of freshman Clayton Bobo, sophomore transfer Mark Theall, senior Steven Richardson and freshman Shaine Casas took nearly four seconds off the old school standard set earlier this season. Tonight’s race featured the two fastest 200-yard free splits in school history as Theall posted a time of 1:32.30 and Casas anchored in 1:33.61.
Texas A&M also took down the school record in the 200-yard medley relay with the foursome of Casas, junior Ben Walker, senior Angel Martinez and junior Adam Koster touching in 1:23.67, which took nearly a quarter of a second off the old record. Koster’s anchor leg 50 free split of 18.54 was the fastest in school history.
After one day of action, the Aggies were in second place with 158 points. Tennessee led the way with 187 points. Looking up at the Volunteers and Aggies were Missouri (146), Kentucky (142), Alabama (135), Florida (123), Auburn (121), South Carolina (117), LSU (115) and Georgia (94).
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics