2020 Art Adamson Invite Day 3 Prelims: Casas Down, Stepanek Wins 2 for A&M

2020 Art Adamson Invite

• Wednesday, November 18 – Friday, November 20
• Teams: Texas A&M, LSU, Incarnate Word
• 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

Texas A&M junior Shaine Casas was expected to qualify for the A final in the 200 back after winning the 100 back last night in 43.87 and becoming the 3rd-fastest man in the history of the event. This morning, he was seen wearing a walking boot on the pool deck. He did swim the 200 back, placing 10th overall and posting a time of 1:53.85. This 17 second time add still places Casas as the 2nd seed in the B final tonight, but with a possible injury it is unknown whether he will compete or how much it will effect his swimming. This was his only event for the prelims session.

LSU freshman James Henderson took over the 200 back, winning the event in a time of 1:47.28 and dropping nearly 3 seconds from his best time. Incarnate Word’s Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz also posted a best time, placing 2nd at 1:48.31. Casas’ A&M teammate Ethan Gogulski stepped up to place 3rd (1:49.01), after placing 2nd behind Casas in the 100 back last night. None of the swimmers made the 200 back NCAA ‘B’ cut during prelims.

The women’s 200 back was a tight race with Texas A&M freshman Chloe Stepanek touching 1st at 1:55.97, only .02 ahead of LSU’s Summer Stanfield. This 4.8 second time drop for Stepanek comes after her 200 free win last night where she swam her 2nd personal best in the event that day. Stepanek’s previous best, 2:00.83, was from the 2020 TYR Senior Mets Winter Championships in February. Stanfield’s swim (1:55.99) is now the 5th fastest 200 backstroke in LSU program history. Both women cruised under the 200 back NCAA ‘B’ cut. The largest time drop came from A&M’s Emma Carlton who dropped 9.5 seconds for 3rd place this morning at 1:57.77, half a second away from the ‘B’ cut. Stepanek and Carlton were a power duo on A&M’s winning ‘A’ 200 medley relay last night, posting the fastest splits in their disciplines.

Stepanek went on to claim 1st in the 100 free with yet another best time of 48.56. This keeps her under the NCAA ‘B’ cut by .95. LSU’s Katarina Milutinovich was almost exactly 1 second behind her, touching 2nd at 49.53, less than one-tenth of a second off of the NCAA ‘B’ cut. LSU’s Olivia Taylor and Hannah Bellina touched 3-4, giving LSU 3 swimmers in the ‘A’ final tonight.This is a significant event as the relay tonight will be the 400 free relay and top sprinters may race the event twice in the same session.

Brooks Curry snagged 1st in the men’s 100 free for LSU at 43.65. This was not a best time for Curry, but he was the only swimmer to get under the NCAA ‘B’ cut standard, by .15. Curry snagged an important spot in the ‘A’ final tonight for LSU alongside teammate Jack Jannasch who placed 7th. Texas A&M takes 6 lanes in the ‘A’ final tonight.

Texas A&M’s Kylie Powers, Emme Nelson, and Desirae Mangaoang placed 1st through 3rd, respectively, in the 200 breast, separated by less than 3 seconds. Powers was the only swimmer to make it under the NCAA ‘B’ cut, touching 1st at 2:13.89. Powers’ best time is from the 2018 Art Adamson Invite where she posted a 2:11.47 as a freshman. She also snagged 2nd place last night in the 100 breast ‘A’ final at 1:00.84, and helped A&M’s 200 medley ‘A’ relay to 1st place.

A&M proceeded to claim 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place in the men’s version of the event with sophomore Andres Puente Bustamente touching 1st at 1:53.69. Bustamente beat the NCAA ‘B’ cut by nearly 5 seconds. Last night he placed 2nd in the 100 breast behind his teammate Tanner Olson. This morning the roles reversed and Olson placed 2nd at 1:55.26 while freshmen Vincent Ribeiro claimed 3rd and Alex Sanchez claimed 4th with best times. The top 4 finishers all snuck under the NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Texas A&M senior Taylor Pike followed up her 100 fly win last night by dominating the 200 fly in a time of 1:54.82. Pike’s best time, 1:54.05, places her less than one second off of the NCAA ‘A’ cut in this event. The top 5 finishers this morning qualified for the NCAA ‘B’ cut, including a tie for 4th place between LSU teammates Stanfield and Hannah Bellina.

Jace Brown and Luke Stuart finished prelims by snagging 1st and 2nd place in the men’s 200 fly for Texas A&M, touching the wall at 1:45.53 and 1:45.88 respectively. LSU’s David Boylan broke the 1:50.00 barrier for the 1st time, dropping 1.4 seconds for a 3rd place finish and touching the wall at 1:49.94. Brown and Stuart were under the NCAA ‘B’ cut.