Texas A&M
SEC Championship
No. 5 Texas A&M places second at SEC Championships
Feb 21, 2015 | Women's Swimming and Diving
The Aggies were runners-up at the SEC meet for the third straight season to the six-time defending conference champion Georgia Bulldogs, and the two teams were the only two teams to surpass the 1,000-point plateau. Texas A&M scored 1,166 points but couldn't catch the Bulldogs, who piled up 1,450 points over the five-day competition. Rounding out the team standings behind the Bulldogs and Aggies were Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
The Aggies opened the fifth day of action by scoring 70 points in the 1,650 freestyle with a trio of of top 11 finishes. Leading the way was senior Sarah Henry with a bronze medal effort in 15:53.43, while sophomore Sarah Gibson placed 10th in 16:20.47 and junior Colleen Konetzke took 11th in 16:22.14.
Freshman Lisa Bratton kept the strong start going by taking down the school record in the 200 backstroke. Bratton touched the wall in 1:52.60 to break the old mark of 1:52.84 by Paige Miller from the 2014 NCAA Championships while placing third in the Championship final. Also contributing points in the race was junior Claire Brandt with a 15th place finish in 1:55.84.
Texas A&M had five swimmers in the 100 free finals and the group combined to score 64 points. Senior Sammie Bosma led the way with a sixth place finish in 48.96, followed by senior Lili Ibanez (12th, 49.01), freshman Kristin Malone (14th, 49.09), junior Meredith Oliver (18th, 49.37) and senior Kelli Benjamin (20th, 49.55).
The Aggies scored their biggest point total of the day with an impressive 74 points in the 200 breaststroke. Two Aggies were in the Championship final with junior Ashley McGregor grabbing fourth in 2:09.20 and sophomore Franko Jonker placing seventh in 2:11.00. In the consolation final, freshman Bethany Galat placed 14th in 2:12.15 and sophomore Sycerika McMahon was 15th in 2:12.16.
The Aggies closed out the night with a third-place finish in the 400 free relay with the foursome of freshman Beryl Gastaldello, Malone, Ibanez and Bosma touching the wall in 3:14.57. Gastaldello led off with a 100 free time of 47.59, which makes her the third-fastest in school history.
Players Mentioned
