COLUMBIA, Mo. --- The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team extended its lead at the Big 12 Championships on Thursday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The Aggies posted a pair of first-place finishes with senior Janie Potvin winning in the one-meter dive and junior Maureen McLaine grabbing gold in the 500-yard freestyle as A&M opened up a 46-point lead over the second-place Texas Longhorns 342-296. Looking up at the Aggies and Longhorns were Missouri (225), Kansas (128) and Iowa State (121).
Potvin was the top qualifier coming out of the morning prelims, but a slow start had her playing comeback from the start. Potvin never led until she grabbed the lead on the final dive of the competition when she scored 53.30 points for the winning total of 303.50. It was Potvin's second career Big 12 title, but her first on the springboard.
"It's definitely weird for me to win a springboard event, and even more so on the one-meter," Potvin said. "It's really who's 'on' that day, and I'm really happy that I was the one. I bombed my second dive so I had to work very hard to get back into the mix. I hit every single dive after that one and worked my way back from eighth to first."
Potvin's final dive pushed her ahead of teammate Rebecca St. Germain, who finished second with 297.80 points. Also contributing to the Aggies 60-point assault in the event were seniors Jaele Patrick (7th, 271.55) and Jo Thibodaux (8th, 268.90).
McLaine out-dueled teammate and school record holder Cammile Adams for the victory in the 500 with a time of 4:41.19, which matched her lifetime best from the prelims. McLaine and Adams went stroke-for-stroke for the first 450 yards before McLaine threw down a 26.81 final 50 for the win. It was also McLaine's second Big 12 title of her career after winning the mile in 2011.
"Cammile is a great competitor and we push each other in practice every day," McLaine said. "I knew I would be able to keep up with her, but I didn't know if I would be able to beat her. The last 50 I basically just closed my eyes and sprinted to the wall. Neither one of us is fully rested or shaved, so, for now, we're really happy with that."
The Aggies scored 65 total points in the 500 free as sophomore Ashley Adams finished fourth in 4:45.76 and senior Alyssa Conner placed sixth in 4:49.54 in the "A" final.
Led by sophomore Kim Pavlin's runner-up finish in the 200 IM, the Aggies also scored big with 62 points in the race. Pavlin took second in a lifetime best of 1:56.63, and she was trailed by teammates Paige Miller (4th, 1:58.69), Erica Dittmer (5th, 1:58.71) and Rita Medrano (8th, 2:01.22) in the Championship final. Senior Anna Heller was fourth in the consolation final with a time of 2:00.96.
The Aggies scored 42 points in the 50 free with sophomore Caroline McElhany taking fifth in 22.86 and freshman Sammie Bosma placing sixth in 22.88 in the A final. A&M went 1-2 in the consolation final with sophomore Breeja Larson touching first in 23.01 just ahead of freshman Kelli Benjamin in 23.14.
A&M opened the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 free relay with the foursome of McElhany, Bosma, Benjamin and Dittmer touching in a season-best 1:29.81.
The Aggies posted a pair of first-place finishes with senior Janie Potvin winning in the one-meter dive and junior Maureen McLaine grabbing gold in the 500-yard freestyle as A&M opened up a 46-point lead over the second-place Texas Longhorns 342-296. Looking up at the Aggies and Longhorns were Missouri (225), Kansas (128) and Iowa State (121).
Potvin was the top qualifier coming out of the morning prelims, but a slow start had her playing comeback from the start. Potvin never led until she grabbed the lead on the final dive of the competition when she scored 53.30 points for the winning total of 303.50. It was Potvin's second career Big 12 title, but her first on the springboard.
"It's definitely weird for me to win a springboard event, and even more so on the one-meter," Potvin said. "It's really who's 'on' that day, and I'm really happy that I was the one. I bombed my second dive so I had to work very hard to get back into the mix. I hit every single dive after that one and worked my way back from eighth to first."
Potvin's final dive pushed her ahead of teammate Rebecca St. Germain, who finished second with 297.80 points. Also contributing to the Aggies 60-point assault in the event were seniors Jaele Patrick (7th, 271.55) and Jo Thibodaux (8th, 268.90).
McLaine out-dueled teammate and school record holder Cammile Adams for the victory in the 500 with a time of 4:41.19, which matched her lifetime best from the prelims. McLaine and Adams went stroke-for-stroke for the first 450 yards before McLaine threw down a 26.81 final 50 for the win. It was also McLaine's second Big 12 title of her career after winning the mile in 2011.
"Cammile is a great competitor and we push each other in practice every day," McLaine said. "I knew I would be able to keep up with her, but I didn't know if I would be able to beat her. The last 50 I basically just closed my eyes and sprinted to the wall. Neither one of us is fully rested or shaved, so, for now, we're really happy with that."
The Aggies scored 65 total points in the 500 free as sophomore Ashley Adams finished fourth in 4:45.76 and senior Alyssa Conner placed sixth in 4:49.54 in the "A" final.
Led by sophomore Kim Pavlin's runner-up finish in the 200 IM, the Aggies also scored big with 62 points in the race. Pavlin took second in a lifetime best of 1:56.63, and she was trailed by teammates Paige Miller (4th, 1:58.69), Erica Dittmer (5th, 1:58.71) and Rita Medrano (8th, 2:01.22) in the Championship final. Senior Anna Heller was fourth in the consolation final with a time of 2:00.96.
The Aggies scored 42 points in the 50 free with sophomore Caroline McElhany taking fifth in 22.86 and freshman Sammie Bosma placing sixth in 22.88 in the A final. A&M went 1-2 in the consolation final with sophomore Breeja Larson touching first in 23.01 just ahead of freshman Kelli Benjamin in 23.14.
A&M opened the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 free relay with the foursome of McElhany, Bosma, Benjamin and Dittmer touching in a season-best 1:29.81.