After four days of competition, the Texas A&M women’s swimming and diving team captured a program-best third place in the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday.
A&M took third place with 292.5 points, finishing only behind Stanford (526.5) and California (366). With a finish in third, the Aggies snapped their streak of four-straight fourth place finishes in the NCAA Championships.
Aggie head coach Steve Bultman said he was proud to see his team accomplish a goal they set as a group.
“One of our goals after finishing fourth was to move up a spot or even higher,” Bultman said to 12thman.com. “To do that is really rewarding and it means a lot to the team and to the program. It’s a goal that this team had from day one. Third in the country is pretty darn good.”
The maroon and white jumped into third place thanks to a big day on Friday. Sophomore Sydney Pickrem had a record-breaking swim of 3:59.36 in the 400 IM and took second place in the event. Pickrem’s swim beat the previous school record of 4:01.56 set by Camille Adams in 2012 and was the eighth-fastest time ever, according to USA Swimming.
“Getting under four minutes just shows that the hard work is paying off,” Pickrem said to 12thman.com on Friday. “To go a best time is always a pretty awesome thing, but to break a barrier like four minutes is definitely more rewarding. To finally get that school record and get under four minutes, I was pretty excited.”
Junior Bethany Galat contributed points in the 400 IM with a fourth place finish, as did sophomore Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo with a 15th place finish in the race. When the Aggies wrapped up Friday, they had scored 101 and jumped from fifth place into the top-three.
On the final day of action, Pickrem (2:05.23) and senior Ashley McGregor (2:06.99) helped the Aggies secure third by finishing in fourth and seventh place in the 200m breaststroke. The duo’s 36 points in the 200m breastroke kept the Longhorns and Bulldogs in fourth and fifth.
Both Pickrem and McGregor earned All-American Honors — Pickrem for the 200/400 IM and the 200m breastroke and McGregor for the 200m breaststroke, 400m free relay, 200m medley relay and 400m medley relay.
The Aggies saw plenty of other All-Americans in the NCAA Championships — junior Bethany Galat was recognized in the 200/400 IM, junior Beryl Gastaldello in the 100m freestyle, senior Sarah Gibson in 100/200 fly and sophomore Claire Rasmus in the 200m freestyle.
Gastaldello and Galat also earned Honorable Mentions for their efforts in the 50m free and 200m breaststroke.
Other Honorable Mentions included —  junior Lisa Bratton (200 IM/200 back), junior Kristine Malone (200m IM), junior Jorie Caneta (100m breast) and Gonzalez-Hermosillo (400m IM, 200m free relay and 800m free relay).