The Aggies continued to duke it out with longtime rival LSU for the top spot in the team standings. Texas A&M edged closer to the Tigers on day two and head into the final day trailing by just 6.5 points, 651-645.5. Following the top two leaders were Arizona State (620.5), TCU (263), Incarnate Word (152), and SMU (133).
All four legs of the Aggies’ 200 medley relay were on point as the foursome of junior Brock Bonetti, junior Mauro Castillo, senior Turker Ayar and senior Cory Bolleter touched the wall in 1:25.13, well ahead of the old record of 1:25.51 set originally in 2009 and matched in 2010.
Each Aggie contributed splits that ranked among the top five in school history. Bonetti led off with a 21.28 backstroke leg (No. 3 in school history), followed by Castillo with a 24.04 breaststroke leg (tNo. 5), Ayar with a 20.84 butterfly leg (No. 5) and Bolleter with a 18.97 freestyle leg (No. 4) to bring it home.
In other action, the Aggies tallied first-place finishes in the 400-yard IM and the 100 breaststroke. Sophomore Angel Martinez won the 400 IM in a lifetime best time of 3:51.32, which was the eighth-fastest time in school history. Castillo was victorious in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.22, which was about a second off his school record but still faster than anyone else in school history.
With the dive crew competing at the Mizzou Invitational in Columbia, Mo., the Aggies also received top-notch efforts from junior Tyler Henschel, sophomore Sam Thornton and senior Colton Haffey, who all earned spots in the three-meter final on Friday. Henschel took third with a score of 394.94, Thornton was fifth with 347.05 and Haffey was 10th with 293.05.
For the day, Texas A&M posted NCAA “B” cuts in four different events, the 400 IM, 100 breast, 100 back and 100 fly. Earning NCAA “B” cuts were Martinez and freshman Ben Walker in the 400 IM; Castillo, Ayar, Bonetti and freshman Mateo Gonzalez in the 100 fly; Castillo in the 100 breaststroke; and Bonetti in the 100 back.
The Aggies closed out the day with a strong third place finish in the 800 free relay with the foursome of Martinez, senior Juan Rocha, freshman Mike Thibert and Ayar reaching the wall in 6:37.18.
News courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.