MINNEAPOLIS – The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team moved into 18th place with a solid performance on the second day of the 2018 NCAA Championships on Friday at the University of Minnesota.
Top 20 Teams in the Standings:
Head Coach Jay Holmes said:
"Everyone is fighting and scrapping for every point and that's the way the NCAA Championships are and should be. We thought we'd be a little bit better today and we definitely could have been. Our best swim was probably the 200 free relay but they just missed out on the finals. Sam (Thornton) did a tremendous job for us in the one-meter dive. He really fought and came through for us – just a great job by him. Our 400 medley relay wasn't great in the morning, but they got a second swim and were able to move up in the standings so that's positive.
"Tomorrow is a good day for us. All of our qualified swimmers are in action and it's probably the best board for two of our divers, so we are in a good position to make a move. We have to take care of our business in the morning prelims and take advantage of our opportunities."
Junior Sam Thornton earns first-team All-America honors:
Junior Sam Thornton got the Aggies on the scoreboard with a sixth-place finish in the one-meter springboard dive. Thornton took the final qualifying spot in the morning flights and moved up to sixth place with a score of 407.45. It was the first first-team All-America effort of Thornton's career.
"It was the best list I have ever put together," said Thornton, who earned honorable mention All-America in the one-meter dive in 2016 and 2017. "I was really happy to get the team on the board, and I'm excited to try to help us keep moving up the rankings."
Aggies close night with 14th place effort in 400 medley relay:
The Aggies closed the night by moving up two spots from prelims to place 14th in the 400-yard medley relay. The foursome of senior Brock Bonetti, senior Mauro Castillo, junior Angel Martinez and sophomore Adam Koster touched in a time of 3:06.00 to earn honorable mention All-America honors.
200 freestyle relay:
The Aggie foursome of Koster, Martinez, senior Duncan Mulleady and junior Steven Richardson turned in a season-best time of 1:17.78 in the 200 free relay but just missed qualifying for the evening finals with a 19th place finish.
200 IM:
In the 200 IM, Bonetti placed 32nd in 1:44.46 and junior Austin Van Overdam placed 44th in 1:46.62.
Friday's events:
Top 20 Teams in the Standings:
| 1 | Indiana | 169 |
| 2 | NC State | 165 |
| 3 | Texas | 159 |
| 4 | Florida | 154 |
| 5 | California | 152.5 |
| 6 | Stanford | 116 |
| 7 | USC | 79 |
| 8 | Michigan | 70 |
| 9 | Georgia | 64 |
| 10 | Louisville | 62 |
| 11 | Auburn | 40.5 |
| 12 | Alabama | 38 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 35 |
| 14 | Harvard | 29 |
| 15 | Arizona State | 28 |
| 16 | Florida State | 24 |
| 17 | South Carolina | 20 |
| 18 | Texas A&M | 19 |
| 19 | Missouri | 18 |
| 19 | Arizona | 18 |
| 19 | Purdue | 18 |
Head Coach Jay Holmes said:
"Everyone is fighting and scrapping for every point and that's the way the NCAA Championships are and should be. We thought we'd be a little bit better today and we definitely could have been. Our best swim was probably the 200 free relay but they just missed out on the finals. Sam (Thornton) did a tremendous job for us in the one-meter dive. He really fought and came through for us – just a great job by him. Our 400 medley relay wasn't great in the morning, but they got a second swim and were able to move up in the standings so that's positive.
"Tomorrow is a good day for us. All of our qualified swimmers are in action and it's probably the best board for two of our divers, so we are in a good position to make a move. We have to take care of our business in the morning prelims and take advantage of our opportunities."
Junior Sam Thornton earns first-team All-America honors:
Junior Sam Thornton got the Aggies on the scoreboard with a sixth-place finish in the one-meter springboard dive. Thornton took the final qualifying spot in the morning flights and moved up to sixth place with a score of 407.45. It was the first first-team All-America effort of Thornton's career.
"It was the best list I have ever put together," said Thornton, who earned honorable mention All-America in the one-meter dive in 2016 and 2017. "I was really happy to get the team on the board, and I'm excited to try to help us keep moving up the rankings."
Aggies close night with 14th place effort in 400 medley relay:
The Aggies closed the night by moving up two spots from prelims to place 14th in the 400-yard medley relay. The foursome of senior Brock Bonetti, senior Mauro Castillo, junior Angel Martinez and sophomore Adam Koster touched in a time of 3:06.00 to earn honorable mention All-America honors.
200 freestyle relay:
The Aggie foursome of Koster, Martinez, senior Duncan Mulleady and junior Steven Richardson turned in a season-best time of 1:17.78 in the 200 free relay but just missed qualifying for the evening finals with a 19th place finish.
200 IM:
In the 200 IM, Bonetti placed 32nd in 1:44.46 and junior Austin Van Overdam placed 44th in 1:46.62.
Friday's events:
- 400 IM – Austin Van Overdam, Ben Walker
- 100 butterfly – Mauro Castillo Luna, Angel Martinez
- 200 freestyle -- none
- 100 breaststroke -- Mauro Castillo Luna, Tanner Olson, Jonathan Tybur
- 100 backstroke – Brock Bonetti
- 3m dive – Tyler Henschel, Kurtis Mathews, Sam Thornton
- 200 medley relay