The Texas A&M men's swimming and diving team ended their five-day Florida excursion wiping out Indian River State College 209.5-89.5 and bringing their season record to 3-1.
The men won the meet taking first and second in 8 of the 15 events. "I am very proud of how well our guys raced today," head coach Jay Holmes said.
The Aggies started off with a strong win in the 200 medley relay by junior Alexandros Theocharidis, freshman Mauro Castillo, freshman Justin Morey, and sophomore Jacob Gonzales taking first with a 1:32.52. Senior Hayden Duplechain took the 200 butterfly by a full three seconds with a 1:53.02. Led by Theocharidis, the Aggies took the top three spots in the 200 backstroke by two seconds. Theocharidis finished first with a 1:51.51 followed by freshmen Brock Bonetti (1:54.33) and Cameron Kerr (1:54.54). Theocharidis also took first in the 100 back with a 50.21. The Aggies finished the meet with the 400 freestyle relay taking the top two spots. The relay of Gonzales, Morey, junior captain Cory Bolleter, and senior captain Luke Shaw finished first with a 3:05.80 and Marc, sophomore Turker Ayar, junior Mateo Muzek, and junior Hunter Funk took second with a 3:07.31.
Also tallying individual wins were freshman Jacob Gonzales (50 free, 20.57; 100 free, 45.56), junior captain Mitch Glander (1,000 free, 9:39.12), junior Antoine Marc (200 free, 1:41.23), freshman Mauro Castillo (100 breaststroke, 57.15), and freshman Miha Bernat (500 free, 4:42.17).
Texas A&M kept a strong hold of the diving leaderboard through the course of meet. For the third consecutive time, freshman Tyler Henschel and sophomore Zach Stockton swept the top two positions. Henschel took first on the 1-meter springboards with a score of 344.60 and Stockton was runner-up with a 303.85. On the 3-meter springboards, Henschel took first with a 352.45 and Stockton finished with a 329.95. The divers tallied NCAA qualifying scores on both boards.
"I'm very happy our divers' performances," said diving coach Jay Lerew. "The conditions proved to be a true test for us. Doing complex dives outside with 60 degree temperatures and winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour was definitely difficult but, as true Aggies, they handled it well."
Overall, the trip to be a great success for the team. "This whole trip was a great experience for our guys," Holmes said. "We had two great wins and got to spend a good amount of time with each other. Every meal we ate together, we travelled together, and we toured together. Everywhere we went we went together. Through all this time, our guys got to know each other more and in the end we have become a much closer team."
The Aggies will return home and have a short break before taking part in the Art Adamson Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, on November 20-22 at the Texas A&M Student Rec Center Natatorium.
