Texas A&M swim and dive returned to College Station to compete in the annual Art Adamson Invitational from Wednesday, Nov. 20 to Friday, Nov. 22. The women’s team secured 1,223.5 points and the men’s scored 1,134 points, over the entire competition.
The Fighting’ Farmers started off strong in both the men’s and women’s 200 yard freestyle relay on Wednesday, finishing first place. The lineup of graduate Chloe Stepanek, senior Kaitlyn Owens, freshman Kailey Kennedy and 5th year Olivia Theall secured a time of 1:29.10 while the men’s side of junior Connor Foote, sophomore Ben Scholl, 5th year Collin Fuchs and junior Baylor Nelson finished at 1:16.95.
The Aggies continued to perform at home as in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, junior Hayden Miller took home first place finishing 4:40.93 while Stepanek followed up in second at 4:43.41. The women’s 200-yard individual medley saw the Aggies take the top-three spots with junior Giulia Goerigk, sophomore Hannah O’Leary and Theall, with respective times of 1:57.96, 1:58.53 and 1:58.55. In the men’s 200-yard individual medley, Nelson and senior Munzy Kabbara secured first and second with times of 1:42.78 and 1:43.87. Owens secured a first place finish in the women’s 50-yard freestyle in 22.18, while Foote and Scholl secured first and second in the men’s 50-yard freestyle, finishing 19.10 and 19.30.
The final two events saw the Aggies place top-three in both the men’s and women’s 400-yard medley relay. The lineup of Owens, Theall, Stepanek and 5th year Bobbi Kennett got first with a time of 3:31.63. The second group Aggies, consisting of 5th year Jordan Buechler, 5th year Charlotte Longbottom, sophomore Katie Walker and freshman Ella McQuinn secured third finishing at 3:38.16.
The men’s line up of Nelson, Foote, Scholl and freshman Travis Gulledge notched a first place result of 3:05.21 and the second men’s line up of freshman Jacob Wimberly and the 5th year trio of Fuchs, Alex Sanchez and Thomas Shomper finished second with 3:07.40, concluding the first day of competition.
Day two was a big day for the Aggies, as they competed in 13 different events. Both men and women’s 200-yard medley relay secured first place results. Owens, Kennett, Theall and Stepanek finished 1:36.76 for the women’s. The men’s side of Shomper, Gulledge, Foote and Scholl set a time of 1:23.74.
The Maroon and White continued to secure top-three finishes throughout the day. In the 100-yard butterfly, Theall and Walker finished first and third, with times of 51.51 and 53.79 on the women’s side, while Foote finished first for the men’s at 45.17.
Goerigk, O’Leary and junior Kaylee Coffey finished first, second and third in the women’s 400-yard individual medley, with times of 4:10.11, 4:14.22 and 4:16.70. Nelson and Kabbara finished top-two on the men’s 400-yard individual medley, with respective times of 3:39.35 and 3:44.47. The women’s 200-yard freestyle saw the Aggies secure another top-three finish, as Stepanek, Buechler and Miller had times of 1:45.01, 1:45.95 and 1:46.81.
In the women’s 100-yard breaststroke, Kennett and McQuinn finished in second and third, with times of 1:00.32 and 1:00.69. The men had similar results in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke, with Gulledge and Sanchez also finishing in second and third, on 51.86 and 52.07. Gulledge missed first place by 0.02 seconds to TCU senior Jadon Wuilliez. Owen finished first in the women’s 100-yard backstroke, clocking in at 51.79. On the men’s side, Shomper and senior Tyler Hulet secured top-two finishes, with times of 46.31 and 46.49.
Day two concluded with the 800-yard freestyle relay for the Aggies. On the women’s side, Theall, Buechler, Miller and Stepanek finished with times of 7:08.96, securing first. Another women’s group of Walker, O’Leary, senior Aviv Barzelay and McQuinn finished second in 7:16.21. On the men’s side, Wimberly, Nelson, Scholl and Kabbara secured first with a time of 6:24.64.
Day three saw the Maroon and White finish the meet strong. Kicking off the final day, Miller brought home first in the women’s 1650-yard freestyle at 16:08.03. Senior Trey Dickey was able to secure a second place finish in the men’s 1650-yard freestyle in 15:00.12. Both athletes were able to earn B-cut qualifications for their performance.
In the women’s 200-yard backstroke, Barzelay secured first, with a personal best time of 1:55.03. The duo of Shomper and Hulet continued their dominance, placing first and second while also recording personal best times of 1:41.75 and 1:42.03. In the women’s 100-yard freestyle, Stepanek and Owens also maintained the top-two spots, with times of 48.40 and 49.39. The men secured the top-four spots in the men’s 100-yard freestyle, with Foote setting the new 2024 Invite Time by 0.01 seconds, clocking in at 42.18. Scholl, senior Seth Reno and Fuchs followed up with times of 43.06, 43.26 and 43.43.
O’Leary finished in fourth, but maintained a NCAA B-cut qualification in the women’s 200-yard breaststroke at 2:13.04. Sanchez set the new 2024 Invite Time in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, finishing first with 1:51.87. Nelson and 5th year Vincent Ribeiro also maintained B-cut time in the top-three spots, clocking at 1:53.77 and 1:54.61 respectively.
Theall continued her spectacular performance in the women’s 200-yard butterfly, finishing first and setting the new 2024 Invite Time with 1:54.09. Sophomore Roberto Bonilla Flores finished second in the men’s 200-yard butterfly at 1:44.37.
In the last event, both the men and women squads for A&M were able to reach NCAA B-cut times, in the 400-Yard freestyle relay. The women’s lineup consisting of Stepanek, Owens, Buechler and McQuinn secured first at 3:15.22, while the men’s team of Foote, Scholl, Reno and Nelson also secured first at 2:49.90.
The Aggie will stay home and compete against two SEC opponents, Florida and LSU in a two-day match in the new year from Jan. 17-18, at the Rec Center Natatorium.
