Photo Credit: Peter H. Bick<\/p>\n
COLLEGE STATION – Sycerika McMahon and Luke Shaw won three individual events each to lead the Texas A&M swimming and diving teams past LSU in their final home dual meet of the season. The Aggie women downed the Tigers 166-128, while the men posted a 166-121 win.<\/p>\n
The No. 4-ranked Texas A&M women\u2019s swimming and diving team rolled to a 166-128 dual meet victory over the LSU Tigers on Senior Day at the Student Recreation Natatorium on Saturday.<\/p>\n
With the victory, the Aggies improved to 9-0 in dual meets and wrapped up its second straight undefeated dual meet season. The win in the Aggies\u2019 final swimming tune-up before the 2015 Southeastern Conference Championships also improved the Aggies\u2019 unbeaten streak to 22 consecutive dual meets.<\/p>\n
As one would expect on Senior Day, the seniors led the way against Tigers. Sarah Henry posted a pair of victories with wins in the 200 freestyle (1:47.93) and the 500 freestyle (4:49.25), while Sammie Bosma swept the 50 free (22.84) and the 100 free (49.80). Bosma also had a remarkable anchor leg on the 400 medley relay. The senior hit the water trailing by over a second but threw down a 48.97 split to reel in the Tigers for the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a great way for the seniors to go out,\u201d Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said. \u201cIt seems like we were just recruiting them and now they just swam their final home meet. They\u2019re a great group of young people and I\u2019m very proud of what they\u2019ve been able to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore Sycerika McMahon posted a trio of individual victories and also swam the breaststroke leg on the medley relay. McMahon won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.05), the 200 breaststroke (2:12.34) and the 200 IM (2:00.13), and contributed a 1:01.27 split on the medley relay.<\/p>\n
Also tallying individual victories were junior Colleen Konetzke in the 1,000 free (10:02.55), freshman Beryl Gastaldello in the 100 backstroke (54.14) and freshman Lisa Bratton in the 200 backstroke (1:58.35).<\/p>\n
The Aggies swept the relays with the 400 medley relay of junior Claire Brandt, McMahon, Gastaldello and Bosma touching first in 3:39.70 and the 200 free foursome of senior Kelli Benjamin, senior Liliana Ibanez, senior Emily Neubert and Gastaldello hitting the wall in 1:33.33.<\/p>\n
Texas A&M senior Luke Shaw (San Antonio, Texas) won three races and had a hand in a relay victory to lead the Aggies to a Senior Day destruction of the LSU Tigers on Saturday at the Student Recreation Center.<\/p>\n
Bolstered by Shaw\u2019s career-best performance, the Aggies improved to 6-3 in dual meets with a 166-121 victory over the Tigers. The Aggies, who earned a No. 16 national ranking by the College Swim Coaches Association of America earlier this week, won 15 of 16 possible events in the landslide victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of hard work and dedication came to fruition today for us,\u201d Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. \u201cIt was great to see all their hard work starting to pay off. There\u2019s still a lot of work to be done and lots of things we can improve before we\u2019re ready for the SEC Championships in a few weeks, but I was proud of the way we competed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two of the Aggies\u2019 three seniors earned victories on Senior Day with Shaw and Hayden Duplechain combining to win four races. A&M\u2019s third senior, diver Ford McLiney, has been injured all season and did not compete against the Tigers. Shaw won the 100 free (43.64), the 200 free (1:36.10) and the 100 butterfly (47.56), and also swam the third leg on the winning 200 free relay. Duplechain looked strong on his way to an easy victory in the 400 IM in a time of 3:53.35.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the day for the Aggies came from a freshman when Mauro Castillo shocked the crowd with a school record swim in the 200 breaststroke, marking the first time an Aggie has broken a school record in a regular season meet since 2011. Castillo stroked to victory in a time of 1:55.65, which broke the old record of 1:56.55 set by Bryan Snowden in 2011 by nearly a second. Earlier in the meet, Castillo had lopped off nearly three seconds on his season best while winning the 100 breaststroke in 53.78 (No. 5 in school history).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of what Mauro was able to accomplish today,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cHe came here as a very good swimmer but he\u2019s done absolutely everything that Coach (Ryan) Mallam has asked him to do since he arrived on campus and his improvement was shown today \u2013 just a great, great swim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Aggies grabbing victories against the Tigers were junior Mitch Glander in the 1,000 free (9:18.64), freshman Brock Bonetti in the 100 back (48.69), junior Cory Bolleter in 50 free (20.04), freshman Tyler Henschel in the 1m dive (352.80) and 3m dive (391.35), junior Alexandros Theocharidis in the 200 back (1:45.61) and freshman Gonzalo Carrazo in the 500 free (4:28.32).<\/p>\n
The Aggies swept both relays with the 400 medley relay of Bonetti, Castillo, freshman Justin Morey and Bolleter stopping the clock in 3:13.91 and the 200 free relay of Bolleter, sophomore Jacob Gonzales, Shaw and Morey touching in 1:19.84.<\/p>\n
Diver Alex Bettridge and swimmer Kara Kopcso each earned two wins, but it wasn\u2019t enough as the LSU Swimming and Diving team fell to Texas A&M Saturday afternoon at the Texas A&M Rec Aquatic Center.<\/p>\n
The No. 20 LSU women\u2019s team dropped the dual meet finale to No. 4 Texas A&M 166-121. Kopcso had another great meet with wins in the 100 fly (53.81) and 200 fly (1:59.34). The sophomore also finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.88.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great thing about coming to Texas A&M is that you know what you\u2019re going to get,\u201d LSU assistant coach Jeana Kempe said. \u201cThey are a really good coached team from top to bottom. Anytime we can go and compete against a top-five team in the country and compete in every event is something positive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior Amber Carter finished second in all three individual events. Carter finished the 50 free in 22.88, the 100 free in 50.45, and the 100 fly in 53.82.<\/p>\n
Junior Caley Oquist also added a pair of second-place finishes in the 100 back (54.51) and 200 back (1:59.29).<\/p>\n
Devon Dabney, Megan Cox and Colleen O’Neil also touched the wall second for the women\u2019s team. Dabney finished second in the 1000 free with a time of 10:11.37. Cox did it in the 200 free with a time of 1:48.69. O\u2019Neil also notched a second-place finish in the 100 breast (1:02.16).<\/p>\n
Bettridge swept both springboard events for the Lady Tigers. The senior notched a score of 310.20 on three-meter and a score of 300.67 on one-meter. Cassie Weil also finished second on one-meter (293.40) and third on three-meter (283.15). Allie Alter notched a third-place finish on one-meter with a score of 252.31.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross the board we had some good performances,\u201d LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. \u201cWe have to be sharper and execute better. I think we were tired from our weeks of training but our spirits and competitive drive were good. Overall, we responded well but moving forward we have to execute better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The men fell to 2-5 on the year in the 166-121 loss to Texas A&M. Senior Frank Greeff grabbed the lone win for the Tigers in the 200 fly with a time of 1:46.76. Greeff also finished second in the 100 fly (48.91).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stepped up and raced hard across the board today,\u201d LSU assistant coach Chase Kreitler said. \u201cWe had a lot of in-season best times and put ourselves in a great position going into SEC Championships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore Elliot Dewlen provided a pair of second-place finishes in the distance events. Dewlen finished second in the 1000 free (9:24.79) and the 500 free (4:30.38).<\/p>\n
Silas Dejean finished second in the 100 breast (55.47). Brandon Goldman also added two second-place finishes in the 200 fly (1:48.81) and 200 back (1:48.37).<\/p>\n
Matthew Schaefer also finished third in the 1000 free (9:36.54) and Logan Rysemus finished third in the 100 fly (49.85).<\/p>\n
On the diving side, Daniel Helm finished second on one-meter (351) and third on three-meter (306.53). Andrew Suchla also second on three-meter (337.20) and third on one-meter (330.53).<\/p>\n
To start the meet, the women\u2019s team of Oquist, O\u2019Neil, Carter and Leah Troskot finished second in the 400-medley relay with a time of 3:40.33. The men\u2019s team of Rysemus, Dejean, Greeff and Alex Linge also finished second with a time of 3:16.00.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s team of Troskot, Dabney, Danielle Stirrat and Cox also finished second in the 200-free relay with a time of 1:34.76.<\/p>\n
The LSU women\u2019s team returns to action next Friday and Saturday for a quad meet against Houston, Tulane and Rice. Competition begins Friday at 5 p.m. for Ladies Night where the first 100 fans will receive an LSU Swim and Dive tote bag. Saturday\u2019s events begin at 11 a.m. and the first 200 fans will receive \u201cPack The Nat\u201d t-shirts.<\/p>\n
For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter @LSUswimdive.<\/p>\n