TEXAS A&M VS. SMU
- Results
- Friday, January 27th
- Hosted by SMU
- 25 yards
- Dual meet format
FINAL TEAM SCORES
- Texas A&M- 133
- SMU- 95
The Texas A&M men rallied to pull off their 5th straight victory over in-state rival SMU in Friday, winning with a score of 133-95. Sprinter Cory Bolleter put up another strong performance, winning the individual 50 free to help the team beat SMU. Bolleter was the only man to break 20 seconds, as he won the race in 19.98 ahead of SMU’s Ziga Cerkovnik (20.61).
Freshman Anthony Kim had a standout swim for the Aggies in the 200 back. He battled closely with SMU’s Bartosz Krzyzaniak and teammate Duncan Mulleady through the front half, as all 3 swimmers flipped inn the 52-range. Kim held on to his slight lead to win in 1:47.39, while Krzyzaniak was a half second back in 1:47.87 for 2nd place. Mulleady hung on for 3rd with his 1:49.52.
SMU’s Jonathan Gomez was one of the top performers of the day for the Mustangs, winning 3 individual events. He collected his first pair of wins with a 3:52.34 in the 400 IM and a 1:45.86 in the 200 fly. Gomez closed out his schedule in the 500 free, clocking a 4:31.84 to lead a 1-2 with teammate Lucas Schenke (4:33.19).
PRESS RELEASE – TEXAS A&M
MANSFIELD, Texas – The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team closed out the regular-season portion of its 2016-17 season with a hard-fought 133-95 win over longtime rival SMU on Friday at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium.
The victory improved Texas A&M’s dual meet record to 5-1 as the Aggies logged their fifth straight win over the Mustangs. Next up for the Aggies will be the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championships, which will be contested Feb. 14-18 at the University of Tennessee.
The Aggies were in an early hole after dropping the first three races of the day, but the team rallied to win six of the final eight events of the day, including both springboard dives and the 400 freestyle relay to end the meet.
“It wasn’t pretty in places but the guys were able to come through when it counted to win the meet,” Aggie head coach Jay Holmes said. “Sprints and diving really made the difference in this meet. SMU swam its best meet of the year and really pushed us. They won the first three races and that put us in a hole. We basically circled the wagons at the first diving break and had a frank discussion on what we were up against. The team didn’t blink and never panicked, and I’m proud of the way we found a way to get it done.”
Holmes pointed to freshman Anthony Kim‘s win in the 200-yard backstroke as the decisive moment in the meet. Kim led from start to finish as he touched in a time of 1:47.39, which was nearly a half-second ahead of SMU’s Bartosz Krzyzaniak.
“Anthony Kim‘s win in the 200 back was a real turning point in the meet,” Holmes said. “The way that he raced and competed gave the entire team a real confidence boost – just a great job by a freshman.”
Junior diver Tyler Henschel was the lone Aggie with multiple individual victories as he swept the one- and three-meter springboard dives. Henschel won the one-meter with a score of 375.52 and the three-meter with a 323.77 point total.
Other Aggies taking individual wins were senior Cory Bolleter in the 50 freestyle (19.98), freshman Adam Koster in the 100 free (44.90) and junior Mauro Castillo in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.63).
Texas A&M closed the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay with the foursome of Koster, senior Jacob Gonzales, freshman Raiz Tjon-A-Joe and Bolleter reaching the wall in 2:59.36.
PRESS RELEASE – SMU
MANSFIELD, Texas (SMU) – The SMU men’s swimming and diving team dropped a 133-95 decision to Texas A&M on Friday evening at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium. With the loss, the Mustangs fall to 3-1 in dual action this season, while the Aggies improve to 4-1.
The Ponies posted six event wins, including wins in back-to-back races by junior Jonathan Gomez, who also came back to win the 500-yard freestyle to triple for SMU.
“Overall, it was a good meet for us,” head coach Eddie Sinnott said. “As our last real prep meet before conference, it put is in a good position to determine how to set ourselves up for end of season success.”
Gomez paced the field in the 400-yard individual medley (3:52.34), 200-yard butterfly (1:45.86) and 500-yard freestyle (4:31.84), posting NCAA B cuts in the IM and fly, and season-bests in all three. The junior had previously registered provisional standards through converted meter times in both events.
Sophomore Lucas Schenke also competed in the 500 free earning runner-up honors and posting a season-best effort of his own at 4:33.19. Schenke won the 1,000-yard freestyle earlier in the evening touching in 9:28.03, his best time of the 2016-17 season.
The 200-yard freestyle went to junior Christian Scherubl (1:39.97), followed by sophomore Carson Klein (1:40.28), while senior Ziga Cerkovnik (50 free, 20.61) and Bartosz Krzyzaniak (200 back, 1:47.87) finished second in their respective events.
Krzyzaniak, Cerkovnik, Simon Golczyk and Nick Badsky combined for the win in the 400-yard medley relay to open action, posting the best time for the Mustangs this season by nearly seven seconds at 3:17.34. The final relay of the evening went to the Aggies, who touched ahead of SMU’s 400-yard freestyle A relay of Krzyzaniak, Ralph Koo, Badsky and Cerkovnik.
“We won six events tonight and even had a few surprises,” Sinnott added. “In all, it helped us to really start defining our team top to bottom and was a good meet to see guys compete for spots on the conference scoring team.”
In swimming events only, the Mustangs fell 107-95, but the Aggies earned maximum points in diving, as the Mustangs were not represented, to bring their overall event score to 133.
The Mustangs host a pre-conference time trial event Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. in Southlake, Texas. The event will serve as senior day for five student-athletes. American Athletic Conference action kicks off Feb. 15 and runs through Feb. 18 at the University of Houston’s CRWC Natatorium.
“I want to also thank the Mansfield ISD Natatorium for hosting home events for us this season,” Sinnott concluded. “They do a great job of taking care of us and running meets.”