The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team overpowered longtime rival SMU in a 132-104 dual meet victory on Friday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
The Aggies, who improved to 5-3 in dual meet action, dominated from start to finish in the 70th all-time meeting between the two former Southwest Conference member schools. It was also A&M’s third-straight victory over the Mustangs which is the Aggies’ second-longest winning streak over SMU since the 1950s.
Texas A&M won 10 of 13 events, including both relays. The Aggies opened the meet with a victory in the 400-yard medley relay with the foursome of freshman Brock Bonetti, freshman Mauro Castillo, senior Luke Shaw and junior Cory Bolleter hitting the wall in 3:13.31. A&M closed the night with a win in the 400 free relay with the quartet of Shaw, Bolleter, sophomore Jacob Gonzales and freshman Justin Morey touching in 2:57.45.
“My main message to the team prior to the meet was getting off to a fast start in the medley relay,” Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. “We wanted to make a statement by really hammering that relay and that’s exactly what we did. After that everything fell into place for us. I was really happy with the way the team competed today, but we still have a long way to go to be ready for SECs and the NCAA Championships.”
Showing their depth, the Aggies had 1-2-3 finishes in four races – the 50 free, 200 IM, 100 free and the 200 back. In the 50 free, Bolleter led the way with a time of 21.13 followed by Gonzales (20.31) and Morey in 20.59). In the 200 IM, junior Antoine Marc won in 1:49.11 followed by senior Hayden Duplechain (1:49.40) and Bonetti (1:51.84). In the 100 free, Gonzales won in 44.94 trailed by Morey (45.35) and Marc (45.36). In the 200 back, Bonetti was victorious in 1:45.21 followed by junior Alexandros Theocharidis (1:47.86) and Cameron Kerr (1:49.63).
The Aggies also 1-2 finishes in two events. Aggie divers Tyler Henschel and Zachary Stockton went 1-2 in the one-meter dive with Henschel winning with 364.43 and Stockton right behind with 333.53, while Castillo won the 200 breaststroke in 1:58.18 followed by freshman Jonathan Tybur (2:04.58).
Other Aggies grabbing victories were junior captain Mitch Glander in the 1,000 free (9:17.44), sophomore Turker Ayar in the 200 butterfly (1:49.02).
