No. 11 Aggies Add Medals, Multiple Top Times on Day Five of SECs
Feb 23, 2024 | Women's Swimming and Diving
AUBURN – The No. 11 Texas A&M women's swimming & diving team made two trips to the podium and tallied a number of top times Friday night at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center, moving up to third place in SECs with a total score of 664.5.
Miranda Grana continued her remarkable freshman campaign by setting a new school record in the 100 back with an NCAA A-cut time of 50.65. The Guadalajara, Mexico native claimed bronze in the event for her second medal of the meet. Kaitlyn Owens (52.21) and Jordan Buechler (52.77) both cut time in the B-final placing 12th and 14th, respectively. Additionally, Abigail Ahrens recorded a personal-best time of 52.98 to finish 18th overall.
The Aggies added big points in butterfly competition with a pair of top-10 finishes. Olivia Theall set a season-best time of 1:55.01 to finish fifth, and freshman Katie Walker clocked a 1:56.46, finishing 10th overall. Sarah Holt recorded a season-best time of 1:56.85 to take fourth in the B-final and place 12th overall.
Bobbi Kennett (59.13) and Charlotte Longbottom (59.91) lowered their top times in the 100 breast prelims to earn their spots in the finals. Kennett battled in a close A-final race to place seventh with a time of 59.49. Longbottom ended her night tied for third place in the B-final, clocking a 1:00.00 to finish 11th overall.
The night ended with the quad of Grana, Kennett, Theall and Chloe Stepanek clocking a 3:28.61 in the 400 medley relay to earn bronze. The group's time ranks as the third-fastest in program history.
Prior to the meet, Stepanek was honored for the second year in a row as SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, highlighting her outstanding efforts in the classroom and in the pool.
The final day of the SEC Championships continues Saturday. The meet will be streamed on SEC Network+ and live results can be found on the Meet Mobile App. Results for the diving portion can be found here.
POST MEET QUOTES
Head coach Steve Bultman on the team's performance...
"It went well, we've been stringing together some good sessions. I was really pleased this morning, we got a number of swimmers back for finals, and most of them went faster than what they did this morning and kept the trend going. It helped us move up from fifth to third, which is really exciting. The team is really fired up about it and we just need to keep plugging away in the morning."
Coach Bultman on preparations for the final day of championships...
"We've talked about how it's a long meet. In four and a half days, people get tired, we've talked a number of times about how important that last morning is to get your people in the finals in the morning which makes it that much easier at night."
Remaining Schedule:
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.
Players Mentioned
