Saturday, January 21
College Station
11:00 AM
Texas A&M
173
vs
127
LSU
Photo by: Russell James/Texas A&M Athletics
Texas A&M men down Tigers on Senior Day
Jan 21, 2017 | Men's Swimming and Diving
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team downed longtime rival LSU, 173-127, on Senior Day on Saturday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The Aggies won 10 of 16 events against the Tigers as they improved their season dual meet record to 4-1. It was Texas A&M's third straight win in the long series between the schools and the Aggies improved their record against the Tigers under head coach Jay Holmes to 10-3. Texas A&M will close out its regular season with a dual meet against SMU next Friday in Mansfield, Texas.
"Obviously we have a history with LSU – we've been swimming these guys for decades," Holmes said. "LSU always brings out the best in us and we probably bring out the best in LSU, so this is always a meet that we look forward to."
With the meet still in the balance, the most senior of the Texas A&M senior class stood tall for the Aggies on Senior Day. After a 1-2 finish by LSU in the 200-yard butterfly had given the Tigers a 57-55 lead after six events, fifth-year senior Cory Bolleter and the Texas A&M sprint freestylers gave the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish.
Bolleter scorched the pool in the 50 free with a time of 19.88 and led a 1-2-3-4 Aggie parade in the race as Texas A&M regained the lead, 71-60, and never trailed the rest of the meet. Finishing behind the Aggies' only fifth-year senior were freshman Adam Koster (20.26), freshman Raiz Tjon-A-Joe (20.29) and senior Jacob Gonzales (20.41).
"Anytime you do a 1-2-3-4 like that, it's a big momentum swing," Holmes said. "Even if you know it's coming, it's still a big momentum swing. We knew it was something that we were capable of but it was still fun to get it done and there's no question that it was a big turning point in the meet."
The Aggies opened and closed the meet with relay victories. The foursome of junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo, senior Turker Ayar and Bolleter surged to victory in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:27.27 in the first race of the day, and the quartet of Koster, Gonzales, Tjon-A-Joe and Bolleter touched first in 1:19.22 to end the day.
Bolleter was dominant on the end of both relays, turning in a 19.08 anchor in the medley relay and a breath-taking 18.94 anchor in the free relay. Bolleter's 18.94 split was a lifetime best and ranks as the third-fastest 50 free split in school history.
Castillo led the way with three individual victories with wins in the 100 breaststroke (54.20), 200 breaststroke (1:59.27) and 200 IM (1:50.09). Also grabbing multiple individual wins were Bonetti in the 100 back (47.81) and 200 back (1:45.94) and sophomore Sam Thornton in the one-meter dive (402.90) and the three-meter dive (372.98).
The Aggies won 10 of 16 events against the Tigers as they improved their season dual meet record to 4-1. It was Texas A&M's third straight win in the long series between the schools and the Aggies improved their record against the Tigers under head coach Jay Holmes to 10-3. Texas A&M will close out its regular season with a dual meet against SMU next Friday in Mansfield, Texas.
"Obviously we have a history with LSU – we've been swimming these guys for decades," Holmes said. "LSU always brings out the best in us and we probably bring out the best in LSU, so this is always a meet that we look forward to."
With the meet still in the balance, the most senior of the Texas A&M senior class stood tall for the Aggies on Senior Day. After a 1-2 finish by LSU in the 200-yard butterfly had given the Tigers a 57-55 lead after six events, fifth-year senior Cory Bolleter and the Texas A&M sprint freestylers gave the Aggies a lead they would not relinquish.
Bolleter scorched the pool in the 50 free with a time of 19.88 and led a 1-2-3-4 Aggie parade in the race as Texas A&M regained the lead, 71-60, and never trailed the rest of the meet. Finishing behind the Aggies' only fifth-year senior were freshman Adam Koster (20.26), freshman Raiz Tjon-A-Joe (20.29) and senior Jacob Gonzales (20.41).
"Anytime you do a 1-2-3-4 like that, it's a big momentum swing," Holmes said. "Even if you know it's coming, it's still a big momentum swing. We knew it was something that we were capable of but it was still fun to get it done and there's no question that it was a big turning point in the meet."
The Aggies opened and closed the meet with relay victories. The foursome of junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo, senior Turker Ayar and Bolleter surged to victory in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:27.27 in the first race of the day, and the quartet of Koster, Gonzales, Tjon-A-Joe and Bolleter touched first in 1:19.22 to end the day.
Bolleter was dominant on the end of both relays, turning in a 19.08 anchor in the medley relay and a breath-taking 18.94 anchor in the free relay. Bolleter's 18.94 split was a lifetime best and ranks as the third-fastest 50 free split in school history.
Castillo led the way with three individual victories with wins in the 100 breaststroke (54.20), 200 breaststroke (1:59.27) and 200 IM (1:50.09). Also grabbing multiple individual wins were Bonetti in the 100 back (47.81) and 200 back (1:45.94) and sophomore Sam Thornton in the one-meter dive (402.90) and the three-meter dive (372.98).
Players Mentioned
Free
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Back/IM
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Breast/Free
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Sprint
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Free
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Diving
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