Texas A&M
NCAA Championship
Texas A&M tallies third-straight 4th-place NCAA finish
Mar 21, 2015 | Women's Swimming and Diving
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- With NCAA hardware in the balance, Texas A&M was at its best on the final day of the 2015 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships on Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatics Center.
The Aggies entered the final race of the three-day meet – the 400-yard freestyle relay -- trailing Virginia for fourth place and the final NCAA team trophy by 22 points. Seeded seventh coming out of the morning prelims, the Aggies rose to the occasion with a fourth-place finish in a season-best 3:13.20 to overtake the Cavaliers, who were in the consolation race and finished 14th overall. The 24-point swing pushed the Aggies past the favored Cavaliers into fourth place by two points, 231 to 229.
"Unbelievable," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "I really don't know that you could have scripted it any better. We needed some things to happen for us to have a chance, and then we did a tremendous job of taking advantage of that opportunity. I couldn't be prouder of the way the team responded to the challenge.
It was a strong final day push for the Aggies, who scored points in five of six races on the day, including top eight finishes by senior Sarah Henry, junior Ashley McGregor, freshman Beryl Gastaldello and the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Aggies were fourth behind California (513), Georgia (452) and Stanford (363).
The Aggies got the evening off to a strong start with another impressive performance from Henry, who posted three top eight individual efforts including the 400 IM national title. Henry, from nearby Garner, N.C., placed fourth in the 1,650 freestyle in a season-best time of 15:46.83, which was just off her own school record but still faster than anyone else in school history.
Gastaldello, from Miramas, France, continued her strong first NCAA meet with a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 47.73. While also swimming legs on four relays, Gastaldello earned honorable mention All-America honors in the 50 free and broke her own school record in the 50 free with a blistering 21.76 leadoff leg on the 200 free relay.
McGregor, from Pointe-Claire, Québec, posted the third top eight NCAA finish in the 200 breaststroke of her career with a seventh-place finish in a season-best 2:08.67. McGregor was eighth in the race as a freshman and fifth last year.
Also contributing consolation final points were freshman Lisa Bratton (Richland, Wash.) and senior Sammie Bosma (Marietta, Ga.). Bratton lowered her own school record in the 200 backstroke while placing 11th overall in 1:52.11, while Bosma tied for 15th in the 100 free in 48.38.
