Texas A&M swimming and diving was swept by No. 1 Texas men and No. 2 Texas women at the Cotton Holdings Lone Star Showdown on Senior Day at the Texas A&M Student Recreation Center Natatorium on Friday, Jan. 30.
Although top national rankings bolstered the Longhorns, the Aggies maintained a competitive posture both from the springboards and in the lanes. In the women’s 1-meter diving event, senior Joslyn Oakley finished second with a season-best score of 303.45. Oakley also stuck a season-best 330.23 score to secure third-place in the women’s 3-meter diving competition.
Freshman Emilio Trevino brought the Aggies a first-place finish in the men’s 1-meter diving event with a score of 350.78, followed by sophomore Jaxon Bowshire in third with a score of 331.28. Senior Matthew Aigner logged a personal best claiming second in the 3-meter at 366.15, beating his previous record by over 33 points. Sophomore Charles Reuter placed third in the 3-meter with a score of 357.90 to conclude the diving events.
“I thought this was a challenging meet, and we as a team had decided to come in with as much energy and own the pool deck the way we did with Alabama,” director of swimming and diving Blaire Anderson said. “I was really proud of the energy that they provided for each other and the way that they fought.”
Sustained success was few and far between, and the victories were merely moral for the Maroon and White, with only four first-place finishes. A&M men fell 230-70 to Texas, while the No. 24 women were trounced 207-92 by the Longhorns.
The meet kicked off with A&M finishing second and third in the women’s 200-yard medley with fifth year Kaitlyn Owens, sophomore Ella McQuinn, junior Ava Whitaker and freshman Eloise Williamson logging a time of 1:36.66. Following shortly behind them was the quartet of junior Halina Panczyszyn, seniors Claire Gass and Corbyn Reyes and freshman Reagan Sherrard, who tagged in at 1:39.54.
The men placed third in the medley relay with a time of 1:26.80, led by junior Logan Brown, senior Lane White, junior Ben Scholl and sophomore Ben Sytsma.
“I’m really hoping to be top three in the SEC,” Owens said. “I just want to put it all out there for my team and have a blast for my last [season] representing Texas A&M.”
Owens made a splash between the lanes with the top finish in the 100-yard back, clocking in at 51.65. McQuinn made her presence known, earning the Aggies a top finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.72. Junior Hannah O’Leary and freshman Lillie Sczech moved in tandem to take the top two spots in the 200-yard breaststroke, logging times of 2:10.85 and 2:11.11, respectively. Gass was shadowed by Sczech in the 100-yard breaststroke for second- and third-place finishes with times of 1:01.70 and 1:01.73, respectively. Whitaker logged a pair of third-place finishes in the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly with times of 53.84 and 1:56.73, respectively. Senior Giulia Goerigk placed third in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:59.91.
A&M fifth-year Munzy Kabbara continued his hot streak with a pair of personal bests, coming in
third-place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:42.91, and second-place in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:43.81. Scholl touched in at third-place for the Aggies in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.48. Sytsma rang in a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.43.
“My performance is the best it’s been in all five years,” Kabbara said. “Best training, best recovery, best everything. You can see every week, it’s getting better and better, so we’re just sharpening the tools that we’ve got and getting ready for SECs in two weeks.”
The Fightin’ Farmers gave it their all through the final events, with both the men’s and women’s 400-yard freestyle relays coming in third. The women’s team of McQuinn, Owens, Williamson and Sherrard clocked in at 3:18.15, while the men’s team of Sytsma, Scholl, freshman Alejandro Michelena and Brown logged a 2:53.42.
The Maroon and White will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, for the three-day Southeastern Conference Championship on Feb. 16-21.
