COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 3 Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team won two races on day two of the Art Adamson Invitational on Friday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
Through two days of action, the Aggies have the team lead with 867.50 points. Rounding out the top five teams in the team race are No. 1 Stanford (724 points), Arizona State (256), LSU (184) and Arkansas (183).
Highlights:
Head coach Steve Bultman said:
"I thought we were good tonight. Last night we were a little bit sharper, but we still had some good swims. That first relay (200 yard medley) was really good and exciting. Béryl (Gastaldello) had a great leg at 21.20. That is really good. We finished off with a win, so that was good as well."
Race Recaps:
Through two days of action, the Aggies have the team lead with 867.50 points. Rounding out the top five teams in the team race are No. 1 Stanford (724 points), Arizona State (256), LSU (184) and Arkansas (183).
Highlights:
- Texas A&M tallied victories in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Head coach Steve Bultman said:
"I thought we were good tonight. Last night we were a little bit sharper, but we still had some good swims. That first relay (200 yard medley) was really good and exciting. Béryl (Gastaldello) had a great leg at 21.20. That is really good. We finished off with a win, so that was good as well."
Race Recaps:
- The Aggies won the night's first event, the 200-yard medley relay, as Lisa Bratton, Jorie Caneta, Jing Quah and Béryl Gastaldello clocked a winning time of 1:35.90. Taking fourth was the relay team of Laura Norman, Anna Belousova, Raena Eldridge and Kristin Malone with a time of 1:39.63.
- In the 400 IM, Texas A&M's Bethany Galat led the way with an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 4:02.85 to finish fourth. Other Aggies achieving NCAA "B" cuts were Esther Gonzalez Medina (4:11.41), Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo (4:11.71), Camryn Tony (4:15.27) and Haley Yelle (4:15.65).
- Gastaldello powered the Aggies in the 100 butterfly, finishing second at 51.44. Quah placed fourth at 52.83, while Golf Sapianchai (53.29) and Eldridge (54.18) recorded NCAA "B" cut times.
- Claire Rasmus led the Aggies in the 200 freestyle with a second-place time of 1:44.52, and Katie Portz placed fourth at 1:45.50. Also achieving NCAA "B" cuts were McKenna DeBever (1:46.99), Kristin Malone (1:47.02) and Karling Hemstreet (1:47.46).
- In the 100 breaststroke, Caneta placed second with a NCAA "B" cut time of 59.21, followed by Galat and Belousova, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively with B cut times of 59.49 and 59.58. Also clocking B cut times were Victoria Roubique (1:01.41) and Gonzalez (1:02.37).
- Lisa Bratton was the Aggies' top finisher in the 100 backstroke with a time of 51.65. Laura Norman placed fifth at 53.65 with Sara Metzsch placing sixth at 54.07. Joining the three Aggies with NCAA "B" cut times were Eldridge (54.52), and DeBever (54.76).
- Kaja Skrzek placed sixth in the 1-meter dive, pacing the Aggies. The freshman scored a 281.25, and was followed by Alaïs Kalonji with a score of 272.35, both achieving NCAA zone qualifying scores.
- The Aggies closed out the evening with a win in the 800 Freestyle relay. The foursome of Katie Portz, Gastaldello, DeBever and Rasmus clocked a time of 7:05.27, good for a NCAA provisional time.