After five days of competition, the Texas A&M women’s team are SEC Champions for the second-straight year, while the men’s team finished in seventh in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The women led throughout the entire span of the competition and finished with a school-record total of 1,304 points. Georgia took second place with 1,113 points.
With a win in the 2017 SEC Championships, this marked the sixth title in program history and the sixth under A&M head coach Steve Bultman.
The 200m breastroke saw the team score 163 points which helped them secure first place. A&M swept the podium — sophomore Sydney Pickrem won the race in 2:06.66, senior Ashley Mcgregor (2:07.54) took second and junior Bethany Galat (2:08.09) finished in third.
Senior Franko Jonker (2:10.02) finished in 5th place, followed by her teammate junior Esther Gonzalez (2:10.11) in 6th place. Junior Jorie Caneta and sophomore Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo, finished first and second in the C final in 2:10.10 and 2:11.50, respectively.
Juniors Lisa Bratton and Laura Norman along with freshman Sara Metzsch, combined to score 36 points in the 200m backstroke. Bratton placed fifth in the B final — with Metzsch and Norman finishing in 19th and 20th place, respectively.
The 100m freestyle helped the A&M score 79 points, with the best finishes coming from juniors Beryl Gastaldello and Kristine Malone. Gastaldello finished in fourth in 48.02 and Malone captured seventh in 48.82.
The women closed out the night with a second place finish and season’s-best time in the 400m freestyle relay. Senior Sarah Gibson, Gastaldello, Malone and freshman Amy Miller turned in a time of 3:13.37 — the fourth-fastest in school history.
The men’s team finished in seventh place with a total of 759 points. Florida (1170.5) won the meet and Georgia (932) took second place.
Senior Brock Bonetti broke his own record in the 200m backstroke in a time of 1:41.77, while taking 6th place.
Both teams will return to action at home Feb. 23-26 for the Speedo Sectionals at the student Rec Natatorium.
