COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team vaulted to the top of the team standings with a huge day three performance at the 2016 Southeastern Conference Championships on Thursday at the Mizzou Aquatics Cetnter.
The Aggies jumped from third to first in the team standings with 657.5 points after three days of competition, followed by Tennessee (645.5), Georgia (584.5), Florida (426) and Auburn (354.5) to round out the top five.
"There's still a lot of swimming left, but today definitely gave us a chance (in the chase for the SEC team title)," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "Now it's a matter of four more sessions and we just need to keep on battling away."
The Aggies' big night started with a 1-2-3 sweep of the 400-yard IM with freshman Sydney Pickrem taking first, sophomore Lisa Bratton placing second and sophomore Bethany Galat finishing third. Pickrem rallied past Bratton down the stretch to take the win in a pool record and NCAA "A" cut time of 4:05.32. Bratton was right behind with a lifetime best of 4:05.44 while Galat finished in 4:05.77. Also contributing points was sophomore Esther Gonzalez, who won the "C" final in a lifetime best time of 4:13.95.
"It was amazing to finish 1-2-3," Pickrem said. "That's what meant the most to me – not the winning, it was the standing on the podium with two teammates that swim next to you every day. We all train 4-IM and 2-IM together and we're always racing. Every day it's back and forth, back and forth. To be that close, all three of us, and to get on the podium together is amazing."
Texas A&M stayed hot by sweeping the top two spots in the 100-yard butterfly with junior Sarah Gibson rallying past 2015 SEC 100 fly champion and teammate Beryl Gastaldello for the win. Gibson trailed Gastaldello after the first 50 but charged past her teammate to win in a time of 51.17, while Gastaldello touched in 51.46. Gibson was the top seed in the final after posting her lifetime best of 50.99 in the prelims, which made her and Gastaldello the only swimmers in school history under 51 seconds in the 100 fly. Also contributing points in the 100 fly was sophomore Laura Norman, who placed 19th in a time of 53.89.
"Coming from more of a distance background than most of the girls that do the 100 fly, I knew I had to go out with them even though that's not really my strength," Gibson said. "I knew I could finish the race, so I thought if I could go out and hang with them that I'd have the chance to come back and be able to finish. I got to the end of it and I closed my eyes. I saw Beryl (Gastaldello) out there and I knew it was going to be one of us, I just didn't know which. I was thinking, 'we'll get to the wall and see what happens.' It was kind of surprising, to me at least."
Junior diver Madison Hudkins chipped in 11 points with a 16th place finish in the three-meter springboard with a point total of 282.70.
The Aggies closed out the night with a strong effort in the 200 freestyle with three swimmers competing in the Championship final. Senior Meredith Oliver led a 5-6-7 finish for the Aggies with a time of 1:46.34 and she was trailed by sophomore Kristin Malone (1:46.34) and freshman Claire Rasmus (1:46.49).
The Aggies jumped from third to first in the team standings with 657.5 points after three days of competition, followed by Tennessee (645.5), Georgia (584.5), Florida (426) and Auburn (354.5) to round out the top five.
"There's still a lot of swimming left, but today definitely gave us a chance (in the chase for the SEC team title)," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "Now it's a matter of four more sessions and we just need to keep on battling away."
The Aggies' big night started with a 1-2-3 sweep of the 400-yard IM with freshman Sydney Pickrem taking first, sophomore Lisa Bratton placing second and sophomore Bethany Galat finishing third. Pickrem rallied past Bratton down the stretch to take the win in a pool record and NCAA "A" cut time of 4:05.32. Bratton was right behind with a lifetime best of 4:05.44 while Galat finished in 4:05.77. Also contributing points was sophomore Esther Gonzalez, who won the "C" final in a lifetime best time of 4:13.95.
"It was amazing to finish 1-2-3," Pickrem said. "That's what meant the most to me – not the winning, it was the standing on the podium with two teammates that swim next to you every day. We all train 4-IM and 2-IM together and we're always racing. Every day it's back and forth, back and forth. To be that close, all three of us, and to get on the podium together is amazing."
Texas A&M stayed hot by sweeping the top two spots in the 100-yard butterfly with junior Sarah Gibson rallying past 2015 SEC 100 fly champion and teammate Beryl Gastaldello for the win. Gibson trailed Gastaldello after the first 50 but charged past her teammate to win in a time of 51.17, while Gastaldello touched in 51.46. Gibson was the top seed in the final after posting her lifetime best of 50.99 in the prelims, which made her and Gastaldello the only swimmers in school history under 51 seconds in the 100 fly. Also contributing points in the 100 fly was sophomore Laura Norman, who placed 19th in a time of 53.89.
"Coming from more of a distance background than most of the girls that do the 100 fly, I knew I had to go out with them even though that's not really my strength," Gibson said. "I knew I could finish the race, so I thought if I could go out and hang with them that I'd have the chance to come back and be able to finish. I got to the end of it and I closed my eyes. I saw Beryl (Gastaldello) out there and I knew it was going to be one of us, I just didn't know which. I was thinking, 'we'll get to the wall and see what happens.' It was kind of surprising, to me at least."
Junior diver Madison Hudkins chipped in 11 points with a 16th place finish in the three-meter springboard with a point total of 282.70.
The Aggies closed out the night with a strong effort in the 200 freestyle with three swimmers competing in the Championship final. Senior Meredith Oliver led a 5-6-7 finish for the Aggies with a time of 1:46.34 and she was trailed by sophomore Kristin Malone (1:46.34) and freshman Claire Rasmus (1:46.49).