In the last home meet of the season, the Texas A&M swimming and diving team took on LSU capturing wins from both the men’s and women’s teams on Senior Day at the Student Rec Natarioum.
The men’s team returned to College Station after taking second place in the Orange Bowl Classic in Florida with a 173-127 win over LSU, with good performances from their upperclassmen.
The Aggies kicked off the meet against the Tigers with the 200m medley that included juniors Brock Bonetti and Mauro Castillo Luna and seniors Turker Ayar and Cory Bolleter taking first place in 1:27:27.
The Aggies finished in the top four spots in the 50m freestyle with Bolleter taking first at 19.88 at the halfway point of the meet. Following his win in the 50m freestyle, Bolleter closed the meet out with a time of 18.94 a win as the anchor in the 200 freestyle relay.
“He had good starts today, I thought both of them were really good starts…,” head coach Jay Holmes said of Bolleter’s performance. “Him going 18.9 at this time of the year, there’s not too many people around the country that’re doing that. They’re just not.”
Sophomore diver Sam Thornton earned a victory on the three-meter dive with a score of 372.98 with his teammate junior Tyler Henschel winning the one-meter dive at 382.50
After a sweep of SMU on Friday night at home, the No. 7 ranked women’s team defeated LSU 193-103.
The women led off their meet with a win in the 200 medley relay with the team of juniors Beryl Gastaldello, Jorie Caneta, and Kristin Malone and senior Sarah Gibson in 1:39:82.
A former long-distance swimmer, Gibson helped her team win with victories in both of her individual events — the 200m butterfly and the 100m butterfly in 1:58:37 and 54:15, respectively. Sycerika McMahon was another senior who won her event in the 500m freestyle, clocking in at 4:50:17.
Gibson said it hasn’t quite set in that her swimming career at A&M is almost over, but she’s thankful for what her coaches head coach Steve Bultman and associate head coach Tanica Jamison have taught her.
“I think it’s really just starting to hit me that this is the last time that I will get to represent this amazing team and this amazing school in this pool,” Gibson said. “It’s been so special to me and I think I’ve come such a long way and really do owe that to Steve and Tanica and the rest of the staff.”
Bultman said he was not only proud of Gibson, but the seniors as a whole for what they’ve accomplished during their time at A&M.
“They’ve definitely contributed — four of the five swimmers have been numerous times to NCAA’s,” Bultman said. “And a number of them are scorers and at least two of them are top eight scorers. So, They’ve definitely contributed to our success.”
On the diving board, senior Madison Hudkins won the one-meter dive with a score of 303.98 and took second place in the three-meter dive at 317.33.
The men’s team will travel to take on SMU on Jan. 27, while the women’s team will return to the pool Feb. 14-18 for the SEC Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee.
