No. 11 Aggies Medal in Every Event On Day Four of SECs

AUBURN – It was a thrilling night at the pool Thursday as the 11th-ranked Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team earned medals in all four events of the SEC Championships. The Aggies maintained fifth place in the meet with 453 points through day four. 

The Aggie divers were nothing short of impressive, with Joslyn Oakley and Mayson Richards cracking top-10 finishes. Oakley claimed the first medal of her career with a dominant performance in the 1-meter, scoring 325.65 and winning gold. Richards recorded a score of 283.20 in the consolation final and placed 10th overall. 

The Maroon & White got the night started in a big way, as Giulia Goerigk held a steady third place in the 400 IM to claim her second consecutive bronze medal in the event, clocking a 4:06.79. Abigail Ahrens (4:13.66) and Joelle Reddin (4:16.18) each notched career-best times, placing 11th and 18th, respectively. 

Success kept building the Aggies' way when freshman Miranda Grana secured bronze in the 100 fly, clocking a team-best time of 51.32. Olivia Theall added big points for the women's squad, recording the sixth-fastest time of the evening, 51.86, to win the B-final. Additionally, Sarah Holt registered a season-best 52.97 to finish 22nd overall. 

Chloe Stepanek capped off the swimming events by tacking on the third medal of the night for A&M, and the fourth of her career in the 200 free. Stepanek earned bronze with a season-best time of 1:42.41, just 0.01 shy of her school record. With her performance, the senior medaled in the event for the fourth consecutive year. Fellow seniors Jordan Buechler (1:44.79) and Abby Grottle (1:46.35) recorded personal-best times to boost the team's total score with Buechler finishing 11th and Grottle at 20th. 

SEC Championships action continues Friday and will be streamed on SEC Network+. Live results will be posted on the Meet Mobile app and diving results can be found here. 

POST MEET QUOTES 
Head coach Steve Bultman on the team's performance ...
"We had nine swims tonight and every one of the them had better times than they went this morning which was is something we really like to see people do. It doesn't always work like that, but it did tonight and that was super to see. Then with Joslyn [Oakley] winning the 1-meter, that was really outstanding.

"Tonight's performance moved us up in the team race to fifth but we are pretty close to being able to move up a couple spots. It was good to see, we had some solid swims this morning, some of them lifetime bests, and then they came back at night and went lifetime bests again.

"In this meet there are nine sessions and five of them are down so you don't want to get too high or too low. You want to be able to maintain, but I think the fact that we are in the team race with an opportunity to move up is something that has already excited the team. I think they will dig a little deeper when they are racing to close this out."

Head diving coach Jay Lerew on Joslyn Oakley's performance ...
"After the 3-meter the other day, she buckled and almost hurt herself, it was really tough on [Joslyn Oakley's] brain. So Jeff [Bro] and I got together, calmed her down, he worked on the technical stuff with her and she learned to smile and relax and she did it. It was a really good list for her tonight and we are really proud of her."

Complete Schedule: 

Friday, Feb. 23 

Prelims – 9:30 a.m. 

Diving Prelims – 11:30 a.m. 

Finals – 5:30 p.m. - 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast, 400 medley relay 

Saturday, Feb. 24 

Prelims – 9:30 a.m. 

Diving Prelims – 11:30 a.m. 

Finals – 5:30 p.m. - 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, platform, 400 free relay 

Visit 12thman.com for more information on Texas A&M women's swimming & diving. Fans can keep up to date with the Aggies Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter/X by following @AggieSwimDive.