AUBURN, Ala. – Texas A&M freshman Béryl Gastaldello won the Aggies' first championship of the 2015 Southeastern Conference with a record-shattering victory on Thursday at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on the Auburn University campus.
The Aggies strengthened their hold on second place in the team standings with 648 points, which is 101 points ahead of third-place Florida. Two-time defending team champions Georgia leads the way with 804 points, followed by Texas A&M, Florida, LSU (404), Tennessee (389), Auburn (332), Kentucky (300), Missouri (292), South Carolina (255), Arkansas (245), Alabama (240) and Vanderbilt (90).
Gastaldello, just a night after setting the school record in the 50 free, electrified the crowd by breaking the SEC meet record and Texas A&M record with a time of 50.87 while holding off top-seed Elizabeth Bechtel of Kentucky for the win. The French National Team member's time was also the fastest in the collegiate ranks so far this year. Gastaldello, from Miramas, France, broke the A&M record of 51.32 set by Triin Aljand at the 2008 Art Adamson Invitational in College Station.
“That was a heck of a swim…we thought Beryl had a chance to break Triin's record, but 50.87 is even faster than we thought could happen here,” Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. “That's a time that we thought she would get to down the road. It's sweet that it happened here.”
Led by Gastaldello's win, the Aggies rolled up 68 points in the 100 fly. Freshman Laura Norman was third in the consolation final (11th overall) in a lifetime best time of 52.88, which made her the seventh-fastest 100 flyer in school history. Senior Sammie Bosma was eighth in the B final in 53.46, and senior Emily Neubert won the C final with a lifetime best time of 52.87, which made her the sixth-fastest flyer ever at Texas A&M.
With senior Sarah Henry leading the way, the Aggies scored 48 points in the 400-yard IM. Henry, from Garner, N.C., earned All-SEC honors after taking second in the Championship final with a time of 4:04.44 behind Georgia's Hali Flickinger (4:03.42). A few minutes earlier, freshman Lisa Bratton won the consolation final with a lifetime best time of 4:08.09.
The Aggies closed out the night with 90-point effort in the 200 freestyle. A&M had a pair of swimmers in the A, B and C finals. In the Championship final, sophomore Sarah Gibson placed fourth in 1:46.13 and senior Lili Ibanez was sixth in 1:46.41. Junior Meredith Oliver won the consolation final in a lifetime best time of 1:45.70 and senior Ellen Quirke was fifth in the B final in 1:47.24. Rounding out the scoring were senior Kelli Benjamin (20th, 1:47.32) and freshman Kristin Malone (24th, 1:49.07).