AUSTIN, Texas – Texas A&M senior Sydney Pickrem broke her own school record and matched her highest finish at the national meet with a runner-up finish in the 400-yard IM on day three of the NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Friday at the Jamail Texas Swim Center.
Pickrem, from Dunedin, Fla., charged in the final 300 yards of the race but couldn't catch her longtime IM nemesis, Ella Eastin of Stanford. Eastin, the American record holder in the 200 and 400 IM, took the win in 3:57.03, while Pickrem took the silver medal with a lifetime best time of 3:58.23.
"My strength is definitely the back 300, that's for sure, so I tried to roll on my backstroke and get into my breaststroke. I know in my freestyle that I can bring it home. I love to race people. I'm happy with it. It brought me to a best time, and you can never be upset with a best time. You can be mad about the place, but in the end if you put together the race you want and you go a best time, you can't be upset."
Pickrem's time moved to No. 6 on the NCAA all-time chart in the 400 IM. During her illustrious Texas A&M career, Pickrem has logged four top four NCAA finishes in the 400 IM, including a pair of runner-up efforts.
"That was an awesome swim," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "Eastin is a little off; she's not clicking 100 percent on all cylinders, so we thought there could be a chance. Ella got enough of a lead and Sydney got close, but couldn't quite catch her."
In other action, the Aggies received valuable points from seniors Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo and Claire Rasmus and junior Anna Belousova. Gonzalez-Hermosillo chipped in a 16th place finish in the 400 IM (4:11.93), Rasmus placed 12th in the 200 freestyle (1:44.17) and Belousova was 11th in the 100 breaststroke (59.09).
After three days of swimming and diving, the Aggies were in 14th place in the team standings with 72.5 points.
Pickrem, from Dunedin, Fla., charged in the final 300 yards of the race but couldn't catch her longtime IM nemesis, Ella Eastin of Stanford. Eastin, the American record holder in the 200 and 400 IM, took the win in 3:57.03, while Pickrem took the silver medal with a lifetime best time of 3:58.23.
"My strength is definitely the back 300, that's for sure, so I tried to roll on my backstroke and get into my breaststroke. I know in my freestyle that I can bring it home. I love to race people. I'm happy with it. It brought me to a best time, and you can never be upset with a best time. You can be mad about the place, but in the end if you put together the race you want and you go a best time, you can't be upset."
Pickrem's time moved to No. 6 on the NCAA all-time chart in the 400 IM. During her illustrious Texas A&M career, Pickrem has logged four top four NCAA finishes in the 400 IM, including a pair of runner-up efforts.
"That was an awesome swim," Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. "Eastin is a little off; she's not clicking 100 percent on all cylinders, so we thought there could be a chance. Ella got enough of a lead and Sydney got close, but couldn't quite catch her."
In other action, the Aggies received valuable points from seniors Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo and Claire Rasmus and junior Anna Belousova. Gonzalez-Hermosillo chipped in a 16th place finish in the 400 IM (4:11.93), Rasmus placed 12th in the 200 freestyle (1:44.17) and Belousova was 11th in the 100 breaststroke (59.09).
After three days of swimming and diving, the Aggies were in 14th place in the team standings with 72.5 points.