Texas A&M
The Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team lived up to its No. 1 ranking with a strong first day at the 2014 Art Adamson Invitational on Thursday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The Aggies, who earned the No. 1 spot in the CSCAA Div. I Rankings on Wednesday, were led by eight-time All-American Sarah Henry, who grabbed a pair of individual wins in the 500-yard freestyle and the 200 IM. Henry sped away from the field in the 500 free with a time of 4:38.99, and then took the win in the 200 IM with a time of 1:56.40. Both of Henry’s winning times were season-bests and were the nation-leading times (entering Thursday’s action).
In the evening finals alone, the Aggies logged one NCAA “A” cut (400-yard medley relay) and 18 “B” cuts.
A&M opened the meet with a strong effort in the 200 free relay with the foursome of senior Sammie Bosma, freshmen Bethany Galat, Kristin Malone and Beryl Gastaldello taking second behind Stanford in a time of 1:29.66.
In the 500 free, in addition to Henry, the Aggies had four more swimmers in the top eight with sophomore Sarah Gibson taking second (4:43.46) and junior Colleen Konetzke, senior Ellen Quirke and freshman Nancy Schuchardt sweeping the 4-6 spots.
The Aggies actually swept the top four spots in the 200 IM. Chasing Henry were Galat (1:56.51), sophomore Sycerika McMahon (1:57.27) and freshman Lisa Bratton (1:57.54). Taking fifth and sixth place were Malone (1:59.41) and junior Ashley McGregor (2:00.05).
Texas A&M had a trio of swimmers in the Championship final of the 50-yard freestyle with Bosma grabbing fourth in 22.17, Gastaldello finishing fifth (22.26) and Galat taking seventh (22.57).
In the three-meter dive, the Aggies took fourth and fifth with sophomores Courtney Hattie (304.55) and Madison Hudkins (304.55).
A&M closed out the night with a runner-up finish in the 400 medley relay with the foursome of Bratton, McMahon, Gastaldello and Bosma touching the wall in 3:33.62.
Texas A&M redshirt freshman diver Tyler Henschel’s runner-up finish in the one-meter dive highlighted the Aggie men’s swimming and diving team’s first day at the 2014 Art Adamson Invitational on Thursday.
Henschel, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, dueled three-time NCAA Champion Kristian Ipsen of Stanford, but couldn’t pull off the upset as Ipsen took the win with a score of 413.55 and Henschel was second with a 381.10. Aggie sophomore Zach Stockton took sixth with a score of 319.40.
In the pool, junior captain Cory Bolleter took fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a season-best time 20.13, which was an NCAA “B” cut. Sophomore Jacob Gonzales placed 12th in 20.50.
Junior Mateo Muzek finished seventh in the 500 freestyle in 4:30.05 in the “A” final, while junior Antoine Marc was 13th (4:29.05) and freshman Gonzalo Carazo was 14th (4:30.30) in the “B”.
Marc won the consolation final in the 200 IM with a time of 1:49.38, while Carazo was 15th in 1:51.48.
The Aggies closed out the day with a seventh-place finish in the 400 medley relay with the foursome of junior Alexandros Theocharidis, Carazo, senior Luke Shaw and Bolleter touching in 3:18.24.
LSU
Junior Caley Oquist set the program record with a time of 1:57.32 in the 200 IM and Cassie Weil tallied a score of 352 to win three-meter on the first day of the Art Adamson Invitational.
The LSU women’s team sits in third place behind Texas A&M and Stanford with 212.5 points. The men’s team is in second place behind Stanford with 177 points.
“It was exciting because we had two highly competitive teammates push each other to great performances,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said of the 200 IM. “Caley had just enough to hold on for the win and the school record but those were both incredible performances.”
Oquist set the record and sophomore Kara Kopcso touched the wall second in the ‘B’ final of the 200 IM. Kopcso’s time of 1:57.40 is the second-fastest time in program history.
“We took another step forward in the process,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We had some very good individual performances today. As a team, everybody reaching the finals in the competition is a really good sign and indication that the work we are doing is paying off.”
“Overall, it was a long first day,” Geyer added. “A majority of our performances were faster than they were a year ago. We have to improve and get better during the morning session because that’s what it takes to excel at SEC Championships and NCAA Championships.”
The Lady Tiger team of Amber Carter, Leah Troskot, Danielle Stirrat and Oquist got things started in the 200 freestyle relay with a third-place finish (1:30.44). The men’s team of Joao Mescolote Marco Gonzalez, Devin McCaffrey showed a strong second-place finish with a time of 1:19.91.
Megan Cox (5:51.93) and Stacey Stanfield (4:57.06) finished fourth and eight respectively in the ‘B’ final of the 500 free. In the prelims, Stanfield posted the sixth-fastest time in program history (4:49.97). Danielle Stirrat also finished fourth in the ‘C’ final of the 500 freestyle (4:55.81).
For the men, senior Matthew Schaefer touched the wall sixth in the ‘C’ final of the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:37.26.
In the men’s 200 IM, Frank Greeff finished sixth in the championship final with a time of 1:47.61. Logan Rysemus (1:49.44) touched the walls second in the ‘B’ final for the tenth-fastest time in program history. Brandon Goldman finished third in the ‘B’ final (1:50.05). Jake Markham (1:51.83) finished fifth in the ‘C’ final and Garrett House (1:52.23) also finished second in the ‘D’ final.
Carter finished eighth in the championship final of the 50 free. In prelims, Carter swam to a career-best time of 22.49 for the third-fastest time in program history. Troskot also tied for fourth in the ‘B’ final of the 50 free with a time of 22.97.
Gonzalez then wrapped up the individual events with a sixth-place finish in the 50 free (20.36).
Weil took first on three-meter and Alex Bettridge followed in second with a final score 317.25. In addition to taking the top two spots, Allie Alter finished sixth (294.50), Madison Sthamann finished 10th (265.40) and Katie Lagarde finished 12th (251.15).
Daniel Helm and Andrew Suchla led off the finals session with a fifth and seventh place finish on one-meter. Helm finished with a final score of 324.40, while Suchla finished with a score of 304.60.
In the women’s 400-medley relay, the team of Oquist, Colleen O’Neil, Carter and Troskot finished third with a time of 3:37.83. Troskot had a huge showing in the final 100 yards to beat out Boise State and finish third.
The men’s team of Rysemus, Silas Dejean, Greeff and Gonzalez wrapped up the first day with a third-place finish in the 400-medley relay (3:14.13).
TCU
The TCU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up day one at their respective invites on Thursday, Nov. 20. The swimming squads were at the Art Adamson Invitational in College Station, while the diving teams competed at the UT Diving Invite in Austin.
Freshman Devin Newton left an immediate impact on the record books, as her mark in the women’s 200 IM bonus round placed her second all-time at 2:01.28. It also gave her and TCU’s first NCAA “B” Cut time of the day.
Her time was only 0.24 behind senior Ali Bleasdell’s time of 2:01.04 set last season. Earlier in the day during the prelims, Newton had a time of 2:01.99.
Senior Cooper Robinson recorded a pair of seventh-place finishes in the men’s 200 IM prelims and finals, with times of 1:49.45 and 1:48.35, respectively. His championship round mark also met the standard for a “B” Cut time.
In the women’s 500 free prelims, junior Carley Stevens posted the team’s top time, clocking in at 4:57.45. It’s the fastest by a Horned Frog this season.
On the men’s side, seniors Thor Stenfjord and Sebastian Arispe finished back-to-back in the 500 free. They hit times of 4:30.57 and 4:31.07, respectively.
In the consolation round, the duo swapped finishing spots as Arispe finished first in the heat and ninth overall and Stenfjord placed third and 11th, with times of 4:25.99 and 4:28.49, respectively. Before the day began, Stenfjord held the best marks by TCU this year.
Sophomore Julia Grace Sanders led the women’s team in the 50 free prelims and bonus round with times of 23.31 and 23.02, respectively. She owns the three fastest times this season and was shy of a “B” Cut time by 0.03.
In the men’s 50 free prelims, sophomore Garrett Hills and junior Corey Nix placed 0.02 apart, with times 20.69 and 20.71, respectively. The duo was only about a half of a second from reaching the “B” Cut time of 20.19 during the prelims.
In the bonus round, the duo kept the same order and finished with times of 20.71 and 20.74, respectively, en route to third and fourth-place finishes in the heat.
The women’s 200 free relay squad notched a time of 1:40.79. It is the same time, and tied for team-best, the Horned Frogs reached earlier in the season against UT-Permian Basin.
On the men’s side, the team of Ford Story, Jake Powell, Ryan Whelan and Jonah Beri clocked in at 1:26.90 in the men’s 200 free relay. Their time was also a team-best this season.
In the women’s 400 medley relay, the Horned Frogs recorded a time of 3:46.41. The team consisted of Lyndsie Gibson, Newton, Emily Gibson and Sanders.
On the men’s side, the team of Beri, Evan Schmitzberger, Cameron Rattray and Whelan led the way for the Frogs with a time of 3:27.91.
It was the first time TCU had competed in the 400 medley relay this season.
