The No. 25 Texas A&M women’s swim and dive team faced off against No. 2 Texas and unranked Georgia Tech Friday afternoon. The Maroon and White won 192-103 against the Yellow Jackets but fell short versus the Longhorns, 148-114.
Despite the first team loss of the season to UT, it was a day that included a new A&M record, podium sweeps in swim and dive and new qualifiers for the NCAA Zone Championship.
Sophomore Hayden Miller set a new all-time A&M record in the 1000-yard free at 9 minutes and 33.45 seconds to take second place, while UT’s junior Erica Sullivan finished first with a time of 9:31.77. Sophomore Joslyn Oakley’s diving performance swept first in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards, while freshman Chloe McKnight’s 3m score earned her a ticket to the NCAA Zones Championship.
Also shining bright in the lights were athletes freshman Miranda Grana and senior Chloe Stepanek. Grana earned two first-place finishes and set new top times of the season with a 52.01 in the 100-meter back and 1:53.30 in the 200-meter back. Stepanek broke her personal best with a 1:44.15 to finish first in the 200m free.
The women’s 400-meter medley relay team consisting of Grana, senior Bobbi Kennett, senior Olivia Theall and Stepanek earned first with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:30.31.
The Aggies added four more B cuts during the breaststroke and backstroke. Kennett’s second-place finish in the 100m breast (1:00.01) and senior Charlotte Longbottom’s time (1:00.50) qualified in the same event. Senior Abigail Ahrens and junior Aviv Barzelay both hit qualifying times of 1:55.41 and 1:56.77 in the 200m back.
Oakley’s diving performance swept first in the 1m and 3m springboards, scoring 306.15 on the 1m, a new personal best, and 349.58 on the 3m. McKnight competed in the 3m as well, tallying a career-high of 286.73 that earned her a ticket to the NCAA Zones Championship.
The Aggies will host the annual Art Adamson Invitational at the Rec Center Natatorium with LSU, Utah, Washington State, Houston and San Diego State all traveling to College Station on Nov. 15-17.
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Kolton Becker is an agricultural communications and journalism junior contributing this from the course JOUR 359, Reporting Sports, to The Battalion.