KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team grabbed the day one lead at the Southeastern Conference Championships with record-setting efforts from the dive crew and the 200-yard medley relay on Tuesday at Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee campus.
The Aggies scored a whopping 188 points in just three events and lead Florida (165.5), LSU (154), Tennessee (144.5), Auburn (128), South Carolina (120), Alabama (119), Kentucky (111), Georgia (104) and Missouri (70).
Texas A&M did the most scoring damage in the one-meter dive with five Aggies combining to score 94 points in the event. It was the most points ever scored by the Aggies in a single event at a conference meet. The Aggies put three divers in the Championship final with junior Tyler Henschel taking third, sophomore Sam Thornton placing fourth and senior Colton Haffey placing sixth. Henschel flirted with the school record before finishing with a career-best 420.65 point total, while Thornton turned in a score of 395.15 and Haffey posted a career-best score of 356.80. Also chipping in points were senior Zachary Stockton (12th, 322.15) and sophomore Skylar Lake (23rd, 269.45).
"It's extremely hard to get three divers in the top eight in a field like we face in the SEC," Aggie diving coach Jay Lerew said. "It's quite an accomplishment. To get into the top eight, you basically couldn't miss a dive and we had three guys do it. I didn't know about the 94 points being a record but it all adds up and it's a great way to start the meet."
The Aggies were electric on their way to a school record and a spot on the award podium in the 200-yard medley relay. The foursome of junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo, senior Turker Ayar and senior Cory Bolleter took more than a second off the school with a time of 1:23.91 while placing third in the race, which was A&M's highest finish in the relay since joining the SEC. The old record was 1:25.13 by the same four swimmers at the Art Adamson Invitational last fall.
"We had circled the 200 medley relay at SECs because we knew we had the personnel to do something special," Aggie swimming coach Jay Holmes said. "But it still comes down to getting here and executing. They came in with a plan and did a great job of executing it. It's nice to be this fast today knowing that there are spots we can improve as we move on to the NCAA Championships."
The Aggies also had a ninth-place finish in the 800 free relay with the foursome of Ayar, sophomore Angel Martinez, freshman Mike Thibert and sophomore Steven Richardson turning in a season-best time of 6:30.71.
The Aggies scored a whopping 188 points in just three events and lead Florida (165.5), LSU (154), Tennessee (144.5), Auburn (128), South Carolina (120), Alabama (119), Kentucky (111), Georgia (104) and Missouri (70).
Texas A&M did the most scoring damage in the one-meter dive with five Aggies combining to score 94 points in the event. It was the most points ever scored by the Aggies in a single event at a conference meet. The Aggies put three divers in the Championship final with junior Tyler Henschel taking third, sophomore Sam Thornton placing fourth and senior Colton Haffey placing sixth. Henschel flirted with the school record before finishing with a career-best 420.65 point total, while Thornton turned in a score of 395.15 and Haffey posted a career-best score of 356.80. Also chipping in points were senior Zachary Stockton (12th, 322.15) and sophomore Skylar Lake (23rd, 269.45).
"It's extremely hard to get three divers in the top eight in a field like we face in the SEC," Aggie diving coach Jay Lerew said. "It's quite an accomplishment. To get into the top eight, you basically couldn't miss a dive and we had three guys do it. I didn't know about the 94 points being a record but it all adds up and it's a great way to start the meet."
The Aggies were electric on their way to a school record and a spot on the award podium in the 200-yard medley relay. The foursome of junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo, senior Turker Ayar and senior Cory Bolleter took more than a second off the school with a time of 1:23.91 while placing third in the race, which was A&M's highest finish in the relay since joining the SEC. The old record was 1:25.13 by the same four swimmers at the Art Adamson Invitational last fall.
"We had circled the 200 medley relay at SECs because we knew we had the personnel to do something special," Aggie swimming coach Jay Holmes said. "But it still comes down to getting here and executing. They came in with a plan and did a great job of executing it. It's nice to be this fast today knowing that there are spots we can improve as we move on to the NCAA Championships."
The Aggies also had a ninth-place finish in the 800 free relay with the foursome of Ayar, sophomore Angel Martinez, freshman Mike Thibert and sophomore Steven Richardson turning in a season-best time of 6:30.71.