KNOXVILLE, Tenn. --- Four gold medal finishes and 12 NCAA qualifying marks by the Aggies highlighted Texas A&M's first day at the Tennessee Invitational on Wednesday at the Jones Aquatics Center on the UT campus.
The Aggies grabbed a first-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, and received individual wins from sophomore Cammile Adams (500 free) and seniors Jaele Patrick (women's one-meter dive) and Grant Nel (men's three-meter).
The 400 medley relay of junior Tess Simpson, sophomore Breeja Larson, sophomore Paige Miller and sophomore Erica Dittmer closed out the evening session with a winning and NCAA "B" cut time of 3:35.74.
In the 500 free, Adams took the win by .18 of a second over McLaine, 4:41.38-4:41.56, while Ashley Adams placed fifth in 4:47.17. All three times were NCAA "B" cuts.
Patrick moved her diving record to a perfect 5-for-5 with her fifth win in as many tries this season. Patrick took the win with a score of 316.85, while teammates Janie Potvin placed third (295.20) and Rebecca St. Germain was seventh (280.40). All three scores were NCAA zone qualifiers.
Nel grabbed the win in the three-meter with a score of 411.55, holding off a pair of Tennessee divers for the victory. Teammate Hayden Jones took 10th in the final with a score of 298.00, but had an NCAA zone qualifying score of 328.45 in the prelims.
Also nabbing NCAA "B" cuts were Miller and Dittmer in the 200 IM. Miller was second in 1:59.76, while Dittmer was third in 1:59.87.
The 200 free relay of sophomore Caroline McElhany, freshman Kelli Benjamin, Larson and Dittmer placed second with a "B" cut time of 1:31.50.
Since it's an Olympic year, the UT Invitational's morning prelims are being contested at the 50-meter long course distance, and a trio of Aggies earned their U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying cuts in Wednesday's morning session.
Grabbing their Trials cuts were Cammile Adams and McLaine in the 400-meter freestyle, and Dittmer in the 200-meter IM. Adams was the top qualifier in the 400 free with a time of 4:15.55 and McLaine was the No. 3 qualifier in 4:16.97. Dittmer was the No. 2 qualifier in the 200 IM with a time of 2:19.32.