2020 Art Adamson Invite Day 3 Finals: Casas Posts 1:36.62 From 200 Back B Final

2020 Art Adamson Invite

• Wednesday, November 18 – Friday, November 20
• Teams: Texas A&M, LSU, Incarnate Word
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
• Prelims/Finals
• Format: Short Course Yards (SCY)
• Prelims: 10AM Central, Finals: 6PM Central
• 2021 NCAA Championship Qualifying Times
• Results Available on Meet Mobile: “Art Adamson Invitational”
• Live Results

After 3 action-packed days of prelims and finals, Texas A&M swept the Art Adamson Invite on the men’s and women’s side at their home pool. The Louisiana State University and Incarnate Word women battled for 2nd place, with LSU ultimately securing 2nd. On the men’s side, Incarnate Word took 2nd place and LSU placed 3rd.

Final Team Scores (Women)

1. Texas A&M – 1612
2. LSU – 883
3. Incarnate Word – 785

Final Team Scores (Men)

1. Texas A&M – 1759
2. Incarnate Word – 902
3. LSU – 650

Women’s 1650 Free Timed Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 15:52.41
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 16:30.59

Texas A&M senior Camryn Toney  left everything in the pool, dropping 37 seconds from her best time, and touching the wall in 1st at 16:15.05 which obliterates the NCAA ‘B’ cut. She set the pace fast, splitting a 56.90 on the 1st 100 and she mainly held 59’s and 58’s for the rest of the race. Her 2nd fastest split was on the final 100 at 58.83. Toney’s previous best, 16:52.75, was from 2016.

In second place was her teammate Mollie Wright who had a very tight race with Incarnate Word’s Ximena Conde Merlos. Wright posted a best time of 16:48.01, out touching Merlos by .04.

Women’s 1650 Free – Last 200 Yards

Men’s 1650 Free Timed Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 14:37.31
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 15:26.19

Freshman Mason Nyboer claimed 1st for LSU with a best time of 15:22.94 and a new NCAA ‘B’ cut. At the 1st 100 he flipped at 52.42 in 2nd place behind Incarnate World’s Sergio Duran Mata who split a 52.38. By the 500 yard mark, where Nyboer split a 4:35.14, Nyboer’s lead was established and he held 55’s and 56’s for the rest of the race.

This was a relatively close field as the top 5 finishers touched the wall less than 10 seconds apart. A&M’s Felipe Rizzo snagged 2nd place at 15:26.43, adding 19 seconds to his best time from the 2018 Art Adamson Invitational. Sergio Duran Mata touched in 3rd place with an 8 second time drop at 15:27.84.

Women’s 200 Back Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 1:50.50
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 1:57.11

The #2 seed going into the final, LSU’s Summer Stanfield, won the event with nearly a 2 second lead over A&M’s Emma Carlton. Stanfield touched the wall at 1:55.62 , establishing herself as the 4th fastest 200 backstroker in LSU program history. Carlton finished at 1:57.41, also posting a best time. For Stanfield her previous best (before her 1:55.99 this morning), 1:57.47, was swam exactly one year ago at the Florida Spring Senior Championships.  Kara Eisenmann claimed 3rd for the Aggies at 1:58.16.

The top seed going into the finals heat was A&M’s Chloe Stepanek who chose not to compete in the final. Her absence made room for LSU freshman Sydney Roycraft who snagged 5th place in 1:59.78.

Women’s 200 Back ‘A’ Final

Men’s 200 Back Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 1:39.16
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 1:45.04

What you didn’t see in the ‘A’ final was A&M junior Shaine Casas posting a 1:36.62, dropping 17 seconds from his prelims time, and setting a new pool record. This time would have won the event by nearly 8 seconds if he had not competed in the ‘B’ final. Despite suffering from some sort of foot or ankle injury, as he was seen wearing a walking boot during prelims, Casas was only .08 off of his best time.

In the ‘A’ final, sophomore Ethan Gogulski claimed another victory for the Aggies despite going into the final ranked 3rd. He touched the wall 1st at 1:44.51, about 3 seconds off of his best time from the 2019 SEC Championships. Incarnate Word’s Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz snagged 2nd place with his second best time of the day, 1:46.46, dropping nearly 2 seconds today in total. A&M freshman Collin Fuchs touched the wall 2rd at 1:47.01.

Men’s 200 Back ‘A’ Final

Women’s 100 Free Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 47.18
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 49.51

After being absent from the 200 back final, A&M’s Chloe Stepanek crushed the 100 free final, dropping .72 seconds for a 1st place finish at 47.84. LSU’s Katarina Milutinovich also maintained her rank going into the final, touching in 2nd at 49.38. Her teammate Olivia Taylor held onto her 3rd place entry rank, touching the wall at 50.50 after a close race with A&M’s Bobbi Kennett. For each of the top 3 swimmers, this was their 2nd best time in the event today.

Women’s 100 Free ‘A’ Final

Men’s 100 Free Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 41.71
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 43.80

LSU sophomore Brooks Curry pulled away in the 100 free, touching the wall at 42.06 ahead of a wave of Texas A&M men. Curry finished with a substantial .56 second lead over Kaloyan Bratanov who placed 2nd at 42.62. His A&M teammate Mark Theall was close behind at 43.49. All 3 men posted faster times than they swam this morning and Curry was .25 seconds away from his best time that he posted at last year’s SEC Championships.

Men’s 100 Free ‘A’ Final

Women’s 200 Breast Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 2:06.84
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 2:13.97

Texas A&M’s Kylie Powers was pushed by her freshmen teammates Desirae Mangaoang and Emme Nelson in the ‘A’ final. Powers claimed 1st at 2:11.79, knocking 2 seconds off of her prelims time and nearly matching her best time of 2:11.47 from this same meet last year. Mangaoang claimed 2nd place with a best time of 2:12.48, with Nelson touching 3rd with a best time of 2:13.13. Both swimmers earned a new NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Women’s 200 Breast ‘A’ Final

Men’s 200 Breast Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 1:52.61
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 1:58.43

A&M’s Andres Puente Bustamante defended his top seed rank going into finals, dropping .95 from his seed time and touching 1st at 1:52.74. He finished with a 2 second lead over his teammate Tanner Olson who placed 2nd at 1:54.72. A&M freshman Vincent Ribeiro claimed 3rd place with a best time of 1:55.95. Today Ribeiro dropped a total of 3.06 seconds and lowered the NCAA ‘B’ cut that he swam in prelims.

Men’s 200 Breast ‘A’ Final

Women’s 200 Fly Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 1:53.20
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 1:59.23

Texas A&M’s Taylor Pike went out fast, splitting a 55.11 on the 1st 100 yards. She maintained that lead and claimed 1st with a lifetime best of 1:53.91. This race takes .14 off of her previous best from 2018 and gets her within striking distance of the NCAA ‘A’ cut for her final collegiate season. Her teammate Jing Quah touched the wall 2nd at 1:57.05, adding slightly to her prelims time. Emma Stephenson secured 3rd place for the Aggies in a time of 1:58.42, despite going into the final ranked 8th. This crushes her previous best time of 2:00.29 from 2019, and secures her a new NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Women’s 200 Fly ‘A’ Final

Men’s 200 Fly Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 1:40.76
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 1:46.69

After his victory in the 100 fly last night, Texas A&M’s Jace Brown took 1st place again in the 200 fly. He gained a significant 3 second lead on the last 100 of this race and touched the wall at 1:45.41. His teammate Max Hardt snagged 2nd place all the way from lane 8, touching the wall at 1:48.48. This takes over 1 second off of his best time from February. LSU’s David Boylan posted his 2nd best time in the event today, placing 3rd with a time of 1:49.37.

Men’s 200 Fly ‘A’ Final

Women’s 400 Free Relay Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 3:14.61
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 3:16.35

Carlton lead off Texas A&M’s ‘A’ relay in 50.29. Stepanek split the fastest 100 free in the field on the 2nd leg, touching the wall at 47.87, only .03 slower than the time she posted to win the individual 100 free. Kennett took the 3rd leg in 50.32, and Quah anchored the relay in 49.83 for a final time of 3:18.81.

The A&M ‘C’ relay of Stephenson, Olivia Theall, Wright, and Pike snagged 2nd at 3:25.51. The Incarnate Word ‘A’ relay of Cassie Phillips, Merlos, Lauren Gray, and Mariana Ruvalcaba Cruz dropped 1.25 seconds from their entry time for 3rd place with a time of 3:26.74.

Women’s 400 Free Relay ‘A’ Final

Men’s 400 Free Relay Final

• NCAA ‘A’ cut – 2:51.11
• NCAA ‘B’ cut – 2:52.46

The Aggie men took 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the 400 free relay. The A&M ‘A’ relay of Bratanov, Clayton Bobo, Mark Theall, and Kraig Bray touched 1st at 2:51.56 with Bray anchoring in a 43.55. Bratanov and Bobo, who placed 2nd and 4th in the individual 100 free earlier, split a 42.55 and 42.70 respectively. For Bratanov that was .07 faster than his time earlier in the session.

Collin Fuchs anchored the 2nd place A&M ‘B’ relay with the fastest 100 split in the field, 43.45. With the effort teammates Elijah Sohn, Carter Nelson, and David Oderinde the ‘B’ relay touched the wall 2nd at 2:56.38.

The A&M ‘C’ relay of Thad Dickerson, Sean Morey, Jacob Schababerle, and Hudson Smith snagged 3rd with a time of 3:00.40 after a tight race with the Incarnate World ‘A’ relay.

Men’s 400 Free Relay ‘A’ Final