COLUMBIA, Mo. – Texas A&M freshman diver Sam Thornton earned a spot on the award stand for the second straight day at the 2016 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships with a third-place finish in the one-meter springboard dive on Wednesday.
A day after winning the three-meter dive, Thornton scored 391.95 points to finish behind Tennessee's Mauricio Robles Rodriguez and Missouri's Clark Thomas on the one-meter board. It was another consistent list for Thornton, who posted 60-point plus dives on five of six dives, including a 76.80 effort on his third dive.
The Aggies scored big points in the pool in the 200 IM with four swimmers combining to score 35 points. Leading the way was sophomore transfer Austin Van Overdam, who was 13th in a time of 1:46.34. Sophomore Brock Bonetti was 15th in 1:46.71, while sophomore Mauro Castillo was 18th (1:46.25) and senior Antoine Marc was 23rd (1:48.02). Castillo's 1:46.25 moved him to No. 2 in school history, while Van Overdam took over the third spot on the school's all-time performers list.
Junior Jacob Gonzales placed 14th in the 50 freestyle in a time of 19.88, after logging his lifetime best in the prelims with a 19.76 clocking, which tied for 10th-fastest in school history. Sophomore Justin Morey was 23rd with a time of 20.15 in the evening finals after also establishing his lifetime best with a time of 20.07 in the prelims.
The Aggies closed out the night with a ninth-place finish in the 200 free relay with the foursome of Morey, freshman Mateo Gonzalez, freshman Steven Richardson and junior Turker Ayar touching the wall in a season-best 1:19.90.
After two days of action, the Aggies stand in seventh place with 260 points. Florida was the day two leader with 504 points, followed by Auburn (497), Georgia (362), Alabama (361), Missouri (312), Tennessee (284) and the Aggies. Rounding out the team standings were South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU.
A day after winning the three-meter dive, Thornton scored 391.95 points to finish behind Tennessee's Mauricio Robles Rodriguez and Missouri's Clark Thomas on the one-meter board. It was another consistent list for Thornton, who posted 60-point plus dives on five of six dives, including a 76.80 effort on his third dive.
The Aggies scored big points in the pool in the 200 IM with four swimmers combining to score 35 points. Leading the way was sophomore transfer Austin Van Overdam, who was 13th in a time of 1:46.34. Sophomore Brock Bonetti was 15th in 1:46.71, while sophomore Mauro Castillo was 18th (1:46.25) and senior Antoine Marc was 23rd (1:48.02). Castillo's 1:46.25 moved him to No. 2 in school history, while Van Overdam took over the third spot on the school's all-time performers list.
Junior Jacob Gonzales placed 14th in the 50 freestyle in a time of 19.88, after logging his lifetime best in the prelims with a 19.76 clocking, which tied for 10th-fastest in school history. Sophomore Justin Morey was 23rd with a time of 20.15 in the evening finals after also establishing his lifetime best with a time of 20.07 in the prelims.
The Aggies closed out the night with a ninth-place finish in the 200 free relay with the foursome of Morey, freshman Mateo Gonzalez, freshman Steven Richardson and junior Turker Ayar touching the wall in a season-best 1:19.90.
After two days of action, the Aggies stand in seventh place with 260 points. Florida was the day two leader with 504 points, followed by Auburn (497), Georgia (362), Alabama (361), Missouri (312), Tennessee (284) and the Aggies. Rounding out the team standings were South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU.