Women's 200 Medley Relay
The Stanford women win the first event of the evening going away with a national-leading, NCAA 'A' time of 1:35.99 while Texas A&M now ranks second nationally with a clocking of 1:38.10. Simone Manuel of the Cardinal turned in yet another eye-opening split, anchoring the relay in 21.21. LSU (1:38.87) and the Stanford 'B' squad (1:38.98) completed the top four team finishers.
Men's 200 Medley Relay
Stanford's men jumped out to an early lead thanks to a 21.29 split from David Nolan and pressed the pace all the way to the end, resulting a national leading time of 1:26.11. LSU (1:27.98) eked past one of the best efforts in TCU history (1:28.09) for third while Arizona State (1:28.89) escaped Stanford's 'B' (1:28.93) squad for fourth.
Women's 400 Individual Medley
Texas A&M's Sarah Henry wins her third individual race in two days by scorching her way to an national-leading NCAA 'A' time of 4:04.92. The Aggies weren't done there however as freshmen Bethany Galat (4:09.58, second nationally) and Lisa Bratton (4:11.08, fourth nationally) provided the Aggies with a sweep of the medals. LSU's Kara Kopcso (4:12.23) was the first non-A&M finisher to hit the wall, taking fourth.
Men's 400 Individual Medley
Max Williamson of Stanford came into the Art Adamson already as the national leader and he did not disappoint to say the least. Williamson was two seconds clear of the field at the 200 and nearly five seconds clear at the 300. Williamson eventually hit the wall in 3:43.36, nearly eight seconds ahead of second-place teammate Curtis Ogren. Danny Thomson (3:52.47) made it a clean sweep of the podium for the Cardinal.
Women's 100 Butterfly
Stanford's Janet Hu (52.27) led from start to finish in posting the second fastest time in the country this year. LSU senior Amber Carter (52.33) and Boise State sophomore Brittany Aoyama (52.40) claimed the second and third spots.
Men's 100 Butterfly
Stanford's Gray Umbach (46.99) used a superior back half to pass teammates Connor Black (47.34) and Andrew Liang (47.49) to get the victory and lead Stanford to a second straight sweep of the top three spots in the men's competition.
Women's 200 Freestyle
Stanford's Julia Anderson won the 'B' heat in 1:45.93 so you knew there had to be smoke coming in the big girl final. Her teammate Simone Manuel did indeed bring it, missing Dana Vollmer's pool record set at the 2009 NCAA Championships by .02 with a blazing fast 1:42.03. Lia Neal was a clear second in 1:44.52 while A&M's Ellen Quirke was third (1:46.25).
Men's 200 Freestyle
The 200 free was an all-out war all the way to the final wall between Stanford's Drew Cosgarea, Tom Kremer and Thomas Stephens. Cosgarea (1:36.35) won the battle, just scraping by Kremer (1:36.41) and Stephens (1:36.46).
Women's 100 Breaststroke
For the first time in seemingly forever, a non-A&M swimmer won a 100 breaststroke in the Aggies' pool as Stanford freshman Heidi Poppe (59.21) outlasted teammate Sarah Haase (59.31). The Aggies' Sycerika McMahon took third in 1:00.45, just ahead of SMU's Rachel Nicol (1:00.57).
Men's 100 Breaststroke
In one of the better men's races of the entire meet, Arizona State's Thibaut Capitaine (53.97) broke free from the pack on the final 50 to top LSU's Silas Dejean (54.30) and Grand Canyon's Mantas Auruskevicius (54.53).
Women's 100 Backstroke
After a lengthy interruption due to power failure, Stanford's Janet Hu (52.22) wins ahead of teammate Ally Howe (52.53). A&M's Bery Gastaldello and Claire Brandt finish 3-4 in 53.12 and 53.39.
Men's 100 Backstroke
Stanford's David Nolan (47.32) exploded over the final 25 to break open a tight race with TCU's Cooper Robinson (48.20) and Cardinal teammate Andrew Liang (48.27).
Women's 800 Freestyle Relay
The Stanford women took the bull by the horns from the get go, punishing the rest of the field to the tune of 7:01.22. The host Aggies (7:09.32) were all by their lonesome in second, about a half a pool length behind the Cardinal while LSU (7:16.51) was equidistant behind A&M for third. Simone Manuel threw downa 1:42.96 on the anchor for the Cardinal.
Men's 800 Freestyle Relay
Plain and simply, Stanford belittled the field in this event. A 1:35.96 leadoff leg by David Nolan and a 1:35.66 anchor by Tom Kremer allowed Stanford to punish the rest of the A final field to the tune of 6:26.77. To make matters worse for the rest of the schools, the Stanford B finished second in the A final in 6:33.67, just holding off LSU squad (6:35.65). But wait: there's more. Stanford's 'C' team swam so fast in consols that they would have finished second in the A final after posting a time of 6:33.64.
Stanford holds a humongous 1,107-410 lead over LSU with the host Aggies third at 306. Things are much closer on the women's side with host A&M holding a 836.5-733.5 advantage over Stanford. LSU leads Boise State for third, 386-256.
Texas A&M
Texas A&M senior Sarah Henry guaranteed her spot at the 2015 NCAA Championships with an NCAA “A” cut in the 400-yard IM to highlight the No. 1-ranked Aggies’ second day at the Art Adamson Invitational on Friday.
It was another strong day for the Aggies, who maintained their spot atop the team standings with 836.5 points and posted 24 NCAA qualifying cuts. Stanford is second in the team standings with 733.5 points, followed by LSU, Boise State, Arizona State, SMU, Grand Canyon and TCU.
Henry, from Garner, N.C., led a 1-2-3 Texas A&M sweep in the race as she touched first in a season-best 4:04.92. That time was nearly three seconds faster than the nation’s fastest entering the weekend. Henry was challenged by a pair of freshman teammates – Bethany Galat and Lisa Bratton. Galat took second in 4:09.58, while Bratton was third in 4:11.08.
Also logging an individual victory was sophomore diver Madison Hudkins, who took the win in the one-meter dive. Hudkins, from Murrieta, Calif., out-distanced the field with a score of 320.20.
The Aggies opened the meet with a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with the foursome of senior Kelli Benjamin, sophomore Sycerika McMahon, freshman Beryl Gastaldello and senior Sammie Bosma touching in an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:38.10.
The Aggies logged a trio of NCAA “B” cuts in the 100 fly with Gastaldello finishing fifth in 52.69, Bosma taking eighth in 53.67 and senior Emily Neubert taking 10th in 54.13.
Four of the eight Championship finalists in the 200 free were Aggies with senior Ellen Quirke taking third in 1:46.25, junior Meredith Oliver and Bosma sweeping fifth and sixth and Henry taking eighth.
Three-time NCAA Champion Breeja Larson finished her eligibility after the 2013-14 season, but the Aggies remain strong in the 100 breaststroke. The Aggies put four swimmers in the 100 breast Championship final with McMahon taking third in 1:00.45, sophomore Franko Jonker and junior Ashley McGregor finishing 5-6 and Galat taking eighth.
In the 100 backstroke, Gastaldello was the Aggies’ top finisher at third in 53.12, followed by Claire Brandt in fourth, Benjamin in seventh and Bratton in eighth.
The Aggies closed out the meet with second-place finish in the 800-meter free relay with the quartet of sophomore Sarah Gibson, Oliver, Quirke and Henry touching in 7:09.32.
For the second straight day, Texas A&M redshirt freshman diver Tyler Henschel flirted with a huge upset but settled for runner-up honors in the three-meter dive at the 2014 Art Adamson Invitational on Friday.
The Aggies climbed to third in the team standings with 306 points, trailing Stanford (1,107 points) and LSU (410). Rounding out the field is Grand Canyon, Arizona State, SMU and TCU.
Henschel, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, went toe-to-toe with Stanford’s Kristian Ipsen, but the three-time NCAA diving champion emerged victorious. Ipsen took the win with a 415.90 point total, while Henschel took second with a score of 404.15. Sophomore teammate Zachary Stockton took sixth with a score of 336.15.
In the pool, senior Hayden Duplechain, from College Station, earned an NCAA “B” cut while placing sixth in the 400 IM in a time of 3:54.33.
Also earning spots in Championship finals, in addition to Duplechain, were junior Antoine Marc in the 200 free (5th, 1:37.87) and junior Alexandros Theocharidis in the 100 back (5th, 49.17).
The Aggies opened the meet with an eighth-place finish in the 200 medley relay with the foursome of freshman Brock Bonetti, Marc, freshman Justin Morey and sophomore Jacob Gonzales finishing in 1:30.34. A&M closed the day with a sixth place finish in the 800 free relay with the quartet of sophomore Turker Ayar, junior Mateo Muzek, senior Luke Shaw and Marc touching in 6:36.69.
Stanford
No. 10 Stanford cushioned its lead at the Art Adamson Invitational with a number of impressive performances Friday, winning seven of eight events at the fall finale hosted by Texas A&M.
Stanford (1,107) leads the seven-team field with LSU (410) and Texas A&M (306) rounding out the top three.
The first of two relay wins came during the 200-yard medley version in 1:26.11. Stanford ended the evening by going 1-2-3 in the 800-yard freestyle relay with respective times of 6:26.77, 6:33.64 and 6:33.67.
The Cardinal managed to post a number of NCAA B-cuts, including wins in the 400-yard individual medley by Max Williamson (3:43.36), 100-yard butterfly by Gray Umbach (46.99), 200-yard freestyle by Drew Cosgarea (1:36.35) and 100-yard backstroke by David Nolan (47.32).
Daniel Le’s sixth-place 55.25 was the fastest Cardinal time in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Kristian Ipsen made it a sweep of the diving events with a 3-meter win. Ipsen totaled 415.90 points in the event.
LSU
Sophomore Kara Kopcso set the school record in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:12.23 on day two of the Art Adamson Invitational. Kopcso’s record-breaking time is the second of the midseason meet for the Lady Tigers.
“After Kara’s 200 IM we knew there was the potential for her to have a great swim in the 400 today. She put together a great race and was able to come right under our team record,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said.
The LSU women’s team goes into the final day of competition in third place behind Texas A&M and Stanford with 441 points. The men’s team sits in second place behind Stanford with 410 points.
“Our meet is getting better as the sessions move one,” Geyer added. “We are way ahead of where we were last year at this time and that is really promising for the second part of our season. We had a number of season and lifetime bests today, and we look forward to carry that momentum into our final day.”
For the divers, Alex Bettridge led off day two with a second-place finish on one-meter with a score of 314.65. In addition to Bettridge, Cassie Weil finished fifth (295.20), Allie Alter finished sixth (275.70) and Madison Sthamann finished eighth (268.60)
“We had a really solid performance,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “The women’s one-meter was a really competitive event. There were five girls who were right at the 300 mark in points, which is really solid list in competitors.”
On the men’s side, Daniel Helm finished fourth on three-meter with a score of 370.85. Andrew Suchla also finished 11th with a final score of 261.
“For the men, I think Andrew struggled a little bit and got out of place on one of his dives,” Shaffer said. “Daniel threw a pretty solid list and he’s definitely making progress in the right direction. We are really excited for tomorrow to perform on platform.”
LSU’s team of Caley Oquist, Colleen O’Neil, Amber Carter and Leah Troskot led off with a third-place finish in the 200-medley relay (1:38.87). The men’s team of Logan Rysemus, Silas Dejean, Frank Greeff and Marco Gonzalez finished second in the medley relay event with a time of 1:27.98.
Kopcso’s record-breaking time was enough for fourth in the championship final of the 400 IM. Sophie Weber also touched the wall sixth in the championship final with a time of 4:17.28.
Brandon Goldman also reached the championship final of the 400 IM. The sophomore finished fourth with a season-best time of 3:53.63.
Carter posted another personal-best time at midseason. This time it was in the 100 fly (52.33) for a second-place finish in the championship final. Also in the 100 fly, Kate Zimmer finished fourth in the ‘D’ final with a time of 56.20.
Three men qualified for the championship final of the 100 fly. Rysemus led the way for the Tigers in fourth place (47.95). Greeff (48.36) and Alex Linge (48.59) followed in fifth and sixth place.
Six Lady Tigers reached the finals of the 200 free. Megan Cox finished fourth in the ‘B’ final with a time of 1:47.60. In the ‘C’ final, Devon Dabney (1:48.85) finished fourth and Troskot (1:49.33) finished fifth. Stacey Stanfield posted a personal-best time of 1:48.42 on her way to the win in the ‘D’ final.
In the men’s 200 free, Greeff touched the wall fifth in the ‘B’ final with a time of 1:39.47. Elliot Dewlen, Matthew Schaefer and Braydon Bergeron also grabbed the four through six spots in the ‘D’ final.
O’Neil finished second in the ‘B’ final of the 100 breast with a time of 1:01.76. Taryn MacKenzie also took home the win in the ‘C’ final with a time of 1:03.28.
Dejean touched the wall second in the championship final of the 100 breast with a time of 54.30. In the ‘C’ final, Devin McCaffrey (57.29) finished second and Garrett House (57.68) finished fourth. Ryan Cade also finished third in the ‘D’ final with a time of 58.95.
The LSU women had a strong showing in the 100 back by winning two out of four finals. Kate Zimmer (56.15) touched the wall first in the ‘D’ final and Danielle Stirrat (53.90) touched the wall first in the ‘C’ final. Oquist also finished sixth in the championship final with a time of 53.49.
Day two concluded the individual events with the men’s 100 back. Rysemus finished fourth in the championship final with a time of 49.01 and Young finished seventh with a time of 49.29. Grant Grenfell also won the ‘C’ final with a time of 50.04.
To conclude the session, LSU’s team of Cox, Stirrat, Kopcso and Troskot finished fourth overall in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 7:16.51. The men’s team of Linge, Damen Pheiffer, Jake Markham and Greeff finished fourth with a time of 6:35.65.
TCU
The TCU men’s & women’s swimming and diving teams finished day two of their three day split invitationals on Friday, Nov. 21, with a new school record. The swimming teams took part in the Art Adamson Invitational in College Station, while the diving squads competed at the UT Diving Invite in Austin.
The Horned Frogs set the program standard in the men’s 200 medley relay with a time of 1:28.09, edging the previous best by 0.04 seconds. The team of Cooper Robinson, Ford Story, Garrett Hills and Josh Mangus achieved the feat en route to a third-place finish in the event.
The previous best was set last season by Robinson, Story, Mangus and Corey Nix.
Story earned TCU’s first NCAA “B” cut time in both the men’s 100 breast finals and prelims with times of 54.97 and 55.17, respectively. He finished fifth in the championship round and the team’s fastest time this season.
Robinson followed suit in the men’s 100 back, placing third in the prelims and second in the championship round with times of 48.26 and 48.20, respectively, for the third and fourth “B” cut times of the day.
In the women’s 200 medley relay, the team of Ashley Alspaugh, Devin Newton, Emily Gibson and Julia Sanders posted the team’s top mark, clocking in at 1:45.13.
Junior Carley Stevens placed 10th in the women’s 400 IM prelims and fourth in the consolation round with the same time in both races at 4:20.41.
On the men’s side, senior Mitch Adshead and freshman Carlos Hunnicutt finished back-to-back in the 400 IM prelims in seventh and eighth-place, with times of 3:57.02 and 3:57.50, respectively. In the finals, the duo flipped their finishing spots and recorded times of 3:57.10 and 3:57.57.
Freshman Emily Gibson posted the team’s top time in the women’s 100 fly prelims at 55.21 and finished fifth in the consolation round with a mark of 55.57.
Hills racked up a time of 49.09 in the men’s 100 fly prelims and placed third in the consolation round at 49.25.
In the women’s 200 free prelims, junior Mikayla Winkler clocked in at 1:51.23. She placed fourth in her respective heat in the night session, improving her time to 1:50.65.
On the men’s side, senior Sebastian Arispe recorded the team’s best mark with a time of 1:39.95 in the 200 free prelims. He notched the top mark in the bonus round heat at 1:38.44.
Freshman Devin Newton notched the team’s best in the women’s 100 breast with a time of 1:02.82. In the consolation round, she placed sixth with a mark of 1:03.52.
Alspaugh also posted a time of 56.44 in the women’s 100 back prelims and improved her time in the bonus round to 56.14.
The team of Stevens, Winkler, Mackenzie Schuler and Sanders recorded the team’s best mark in the women’s 800 free relay with a time of 7:35.23. In the men’s race, Carlos Hunnicutt, Thor Stenfjord, Arispe and Owen Pink claimed 10th, clocking in at 6:47.23.
The final day of the Art Adamson Invitational begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22.
In Austin, senior Ricky Bradley led the team for the second-straight day and fourth time this season, finishing with the top score in the men’s 3-meter dive with a score of 258.30. Seniors Curtis Muller and Evan Folan finished right behind Bradley with marks of 249.55 and 149.50, respectively.
On the women’s side in the 1-meter dive, freshman Ty Sides recorded the team-best score at 209.70. It was her first time to lead the team in an event this season. The other Horned Frogs competing included: Courtney Cheek (202.35), Taylor Gould (201.70), Kristen Connolly (199.45) and Lauren Mikulecky (163.55).
