No. 4 Men’s Swimming Travels to San Antonio

Monday, December 16

San Antonio, Texas

12:30 PM

Texas A&M

Incarnate Word

Dec 15, 2019 | Men's Swimming and Diving

By: Kyle Kirkland, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The newly ranked, No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies men's swimming team returns to action from a 22-day break from competition, as it sets its course to San Antonio, Texas to battle Incarnate Word and Trinity University in the Holiday Invitational at the Palo Alto Pool on Monday, December 14. Being ranked at No. 4 by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) marks the team's highest ranking since 2001 when the team climbed as high as third before sitting in fourth prior to the conference championships.

So Far, So Good
Texas A&M has barreled through the fall schedule, starting with the season-opener takedown of No. 5 Ohio State. The Maroon & While claimed victories over Boston University and Harvard, and most recently, dominated the Art Adamson Invite. Eight Aggies have individually recorded times that rank in the top 30 nationally, while A&M also ranks in the top five in all five relay events. Junior Mark Theall, Sophomore Shaine Casas and freshman Andres Puente hold top-six times in multiple events, as Casas leads the group with the nation's fastest times this season in the 100 back (44.48) and 200 IM (1:40.16).

Aggies in the Top 30

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Kaloyan Bratanov	200 IM	1:45.19	24th
Shaine Casas	100 Back	:44.48	1st
Shaine Casas	200 IM	1:40.16	1st
Shaine Casas	200 Back	1:37.35	2nd
Shaine Casas	100 Fly	:45.26	3rd
Shaine Casas	200 Free (Relay Leadoff)	1:33.67	9th
Shaine Casas	100 Free	:42.94	25th
Adam Koster	100 Free	:42.26	5th
Adam Koster	50 Free	:19.49	16th
Tanner Olson	100 Breast	:52.68	15th
Andres Puente	200 Breast	1:52.48	6th
Andres Puente	100 Breast	:52.49	12th
Andres Puente	400 IM	3:46.75	20th
Luke Stuart	1650 Free	15:06.58	28th
Mark Theall	500 Free	4:12.19	3rd
Mark Theall	200 Free	1:32.96	5th
Benjamin Walker	200 Breast	1:53.33	10th

Scouting the Competition
This will be the ninth time the Maroon & White will face Incarnate Word this decade, posting an 8-0 head-to-head record. The Cardinals started hot this season with two dual meet victories and a tri-meet victory, but recently finished fifth in the SMU Invite and fell to TCU. CollegeSwimming.com ranks the Trinity Tigers at No. 22 in Division III men's swimming & diving. Trinity's Beau Tipton recently won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 26 for his performance in the Tiger Invitational, where the men's team finished third.

Texas A&M enters the Holiday Invite with a 3-2 dual meet record, but most recently prevailed in the Art Adamson Invite, placing first in the three-day, five-team competition. The Aggies take the pool at 1 p.m..

Follow the Action
Check 12thMan.com and follow @AggieSwimDive on Twitter for results.