COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team closed out day four in style at the 2016 SEC Championships with a comeback victory in the 400-yard medley relay on Friday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The Aggie foursome of sophomore Lisa Bratton, sophomore Jorie Caneta, junior Sarah Gibson and sophomore Beryl Gastaldello used a strong second half to overcome the field for the win in a season-best and NCAA "A" time of 3:30.15. With tonight's effort, the 2016 relay moved to third-fastest in school history.
"Winning that relay was huge because it's such a point swing," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "There were four teams battling right there until the end, so to get in there for the win was really big. That was huge getting that win."
The Aggies' win in the 400 medley relay extended Texas A&M's lead in the team standings entering the final day of SEC Championships on Saturday. The Aggies lead the way with 847.5 points, followed by Tennessee (828.5), Georgia (815.5), Missouri (545) and Auburn (538) to round out the top five.
"Tomorrow's prelims will be very important to get yourself in the finals at night," Bultman said. "If we're going to have any chance to hold off Georgia and Tennessee, we've got to take care of business in the morning."
Gibson, from Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas, continued her remarkable performance in the SEC Championships with a runner-up finish in the 200-yard butterfly in a lifetime best time of 1:53.75. Gibson lopped over three seconds off her pre-SEC meet best time and she now ranks as one of just three Aggies under 1:54 in school history (the others are Cammile Adams and Caroline McElhany). For the meet, Gibson has produced a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in individual races.
"To see her improvement from freshman year when she didn't even make the conference team to now has been amazing," Bultman said. "She's changed incredibly from freshman year to junior year and it's been a lot of fun to watch that progress."
Sophomore transfer Jorie Caneta, from Bakersfield, Calif., via Arizona State, also made an impact in a Championship final with a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 59.97.
A pair of Aggies won consolation finals with sophomore Laura Norman winning the 100 backstroke B final in a lifetime best 52.70 and junior Sycerika McMahon taking the 100 breast B final in 1:00.41. Other Aggies contributing individual points were freshman Tiffany Futscher (18th, 1:58.40) and sophomore Caitlyn Moon (24th, 2:00.27) in the 200 butterfly; senior Claire Brant in the 100 backstroke (13th, 53.57); and sophomore Esther Gonzalez in the 100 breast (16th, 1:02.05).
The Aggie foursome of sophomore Lisa Bratton, sophomore Jorie Caneta, junior Sarah Gibson and sophomore Beryl Gastaldello used a strong second half to overcome the field for the win in a season-best and NCAA "A" time of 3:30.15. With tonight's effort, the 2016 relay moved to third-fastest in school history.
"Winning that relay was huge because it's such a point swing," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "There were four teams battling right there until the end, so to get in there for the win was really big. That was huge getting that win."
The Aggies' win in the 400 medley relay extended Texas A&M's lead in the team standings entering the final day of SEC Championships on Saturday. The Aggies lead the way with 847.5 points, followed by Tennessee (828.5), Georgia (815.5), Missouri (545) and Auburn (538) to round out the top five.
"Tomorrow's prelims will be very important to get yourself in the finals at night," Bultman said. "If we're going to have any chance to hold off Georgia and Tennessee, we've got to take care of business in the morning."
Gibson, from Reagan High School in San Antonio, Texas, continued her remarkable performance in the SEC Championships with a runner-up finish in the 200-yard butterfly in a lifetime best time of 1:53.75. Gibson lopped over three seconds off her pre-SEC meet best time and she now ranks as one of just three Aggies under 1:54 in school history (the others are Cammile Adams and Caroline McElhany). For the meet, Gibson has produced a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in individual races.
"To see her improvement from freshman year when she didn't even make the conference team to now has been amazing," Bultman said. "She's changed incredibly from freshman year to junior year and it's been a lot of fun to watch that progress."
Sophomore transfer Jorie Caneta, from Bakersfield, Calif., via Arizona State, also made an impact in a Championship final with a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 59.97.
A pair of Aggies won consolation finals with sophomore Laura Norman winning the 100 backstroke B final in a lifetime best 52.70 and junior Sycerika McMahon taking the 100 breast B final in 1:00.41. Other Aggies contributing individual points were freshman Tiffany Futscher (18th, 1:58.40) and sophomore Caitlyn Moon (24th, 2:00.27) in the 200 butterfly; senior Claire Brant in the 100 backstroke (13th, 53.57); and sophomore Esther Gonzalez in the 100 breast (16th, 1:02.05).