A well rounded attack from the Texas A&M women led to their third dual win in two days, and extend their unbeaten streak to 20 dual meets in a row. They did tie with Georgia in 2014. Meanwhile, the Alabama men, led by Connor Oslin and Kristian Gkolomeev, downed the A&M men, who were also coming off a double dual meet.
Final Scores:
Men: Alabama 162 – Texas A&M 138
Women: Texas A&M 178 – Alabama 120
Full results are available on the Meet Mobile App.
Women’s meet:
The Texas A&M women produced a strong showing all the way through the dual meet that featured 200 yard relays and both 100’s and 200’s of non-freestyle strokes, as well as the mile. Alabama won just three events.
The A&M team of Beryl Gastaldello, Sycerika McMahon, Sarah Gibson, and Sammie Bosma won the 2oo medley relay in a dominant 1:40.65. Carolina Korst, Kaylin Burchell, Justine Panian, and Bailey Scott took second for the Tide in 1:42.45. The difference came largely on the backstroke and butterfly legs, where Gastaldello out split Korst 25.61 to 26.94, and Gibson out split Panian in 22.47 to 22.82. A&M’s B relay took third in 1:43.18.
Following the medley relay, Sarah Henry won the mile in 16:36.76 for A&M. Henry was the only swimmer under 17 minutes for either team. Alabama’s Bonnie Macdonald took second in 17:08.15. Caitlyn Moon was third for A&M in 17:16.95.
Gibson then outdueled Alabama’s Emma Saunders in the 200 freestyle 1:49.06 to 1:49.19. They were the only two swimmers to touch under 1:50. Gibson out split Saunders 26.62 to 26.82 over the last 50 and won despite sitting in second at the 50. Kelli Benjamin was third for A&M in 1:52.31.
Gastaldello, Lisa Bratton, and Katherine Huff combined to sweep the 100 backstroke for the Aggies. Gastaldello touched in 55.62, Bratton touched in 55.82, and Huff touched in 56.95.
Alabama scored its first win of the meet with Kaylin Burchell’s victory in the 100 breaststroke. Burchell edged McMahon 1:01.38 to 1:01.65. Franko Jonker was third for the Aggies in 1:03.12.
Ashley McGregor got the Aggies back on track with a 2:02.13 in the 200 fly. She out did Alabama’s Mia Nonnenberg who led at the 150 yard mark 1:30.58 to 1:30.79. Nonnenberg faded over the last 50, however, touching in 2:02.50. Emily Neubert finished in 2:03.04 for third for the Aggies.
The 50 freestyle’s top two spots belonged to the Aggies, as Bosma and Lili Ibanez Lopez finished in 22.82 and 23.40, respectively. Scott took third for Alabama in 23.68, and was followed in by her teammate Panian in 23.87.
Alabama’s second win of the evening came from Temarie Tomley in the 100 freestyle. Tonley opened her 100 in 24.60, over .4 tenths of a second ahead of Ibanez Lopez and the rest of the field. She was able to hold on for a 51.26 to 51.33 victory. Scott finished third for Alabama in 51.58.
Claire Brandt took the 200 backstroke for A&M in 1:58.22 after developing a lead of almost a second and half on Saunders during the third 50. Saunders finished in 1:59.32. Henry took third in 2:03.26.
McGregor kept the A&M momentum rolling in the 200 breaststroke, denying Burchell a second victory of the meet. McGregor, in her second victory, finished in 2:13.95 to Burchell’s 2:14.36. Esther Gonzalez Medina took third for A&M in 2:16.48.
McMahon added another victory with her win in the 500 freestyle. Her 4:52.04 was good for almost a four second margin of victory over her teammate Colleen Konetzke who touched at 4:55.92. Paige Matherson of Alabama was third in 5:00.36.
Gibson won the 100 fly in 54.78. Bosma, swimming exhibition, posted a 54.86. Officially, Leah Bird and Brittany Gilbert finished second and third in 56.34 and 56.66, respectively.
Nonnenberg took second again in the 400 IM. Bratton won for A&M in 4:14.45, while Nonnenberg finished in 4:14.60. Nonnenberg led until the freestyle, where she faded over the first 50. Bethany Galat posted a 4:19.48 as an exhibition swimmer, while Karolina Szczepaniak was third officially in 4:22.17 for Alabama.
Alabama got its third win of the meet in the last event of the day. Scott, Saunders, Tomley, and Panian touched in 1:33.41 in the 200 freestyle relay. Gastaldello, Gibson, Meredith Oliver, and Laura Norman finished second from exhibition in 1:33.55. Officially, Burchell, Brittany Gilbert, Bridget Blood, and Maddie Kamman touched in 1:37.85 in second for the Tide.
Men’s Meet:
The men’s meet was less one sided in the team score, although it was dominated by two athletes from Alabama, Kristian Gkolomeev and Connor Oslin.
Gkolomeev and Oslin combined for five individual event wins and were on one of Alabama’s two winning relays.
Gkolomeev won the 50 freestyle in 19.94, the only swimmer under 20 seconds. Second place went to Cory Bolleter of A&M in 20.28. Third fell to Brett Walsh of Alabama, who went 20.54.
The 100 freestyle produced more of a challenge for Gkolomeev. Splits indicate that Gkolomeev trailed 34.17 to 33.31to Jacob Gonzales of Texas A&M at the 75 , but closed in an impressive 10.97 to Gonzales’ 11.92. Gkolomeev edged out Gonzales 45.14 to 45.23. Alex Gray finished in 45.52 for third for Alabama.
Oslin’s first win came in the 100 backstroke in 47.93, almost a two second margin of victory over Alabama teammate Luke Kaliszak. Kalisak touched in 49.81. Crews Wellford completed the Alabama sweep with a 50.37 for third place.
Then, Oslin dominated the 200 backstroke with a 1:47.04. Brock Bonetti of Texas A&M finished in 1:49.71 for second. Wellford finished third again in with a 1:50.20.
Another victory came in the 100 fly with a 49.09, and again Oslin was not challenged. Luke Shaw finished in 49.49 for A&M. Turker Ayar finished in third with a 49.58 for A&M.
Oslin and Gkolomeev were joined on the 200 medley relay by Anton McKee and Walsh in the breaststroke and butterfly respectively. The Foursome jumped out to a lead early and finished in 1:29.08. Alabama’s B relay of Luke Kaliszak, Pavel Romanov, Abbas Qali, and Alex Gray finished second in 1:30.67. The A&M A relay finished third in 1:31.09.
Brian Westlake won the mile for the Tide in 15.47.74, his teammate, Travis Kerner, finished third in 15.56.36. Mitch Glander Finished second for Texas A&M in 15:48.80.
It was Alex Gray in the 200 freestyle in 1:39.93 for Alabama, the only swimmer under 1:40. Shaw and Mateo Muzek took second and third for A&M in 1:40.16 and 1:40.25, respectively.
A&M’s Mauro Castillo Luna won both the 100 breaststroke, in 56.36, and 200 breaststroke, in 2:03.03. He beat McKee in both events. McKee touched in 56.52 in the 100, and 2:03.03 in the 200 breaststroke.
Hayden Duplechain of Texas A&M helped his team’s cause with a win in the 200 butterfly in 1:49.91. Taylor Charles of Alabama was second, exactly .1 tenth behind, in 1:50.01.
A&M did manage a sweep of the 500 freestyle. Gonzalo Carazo Barbero, Hunter Funk, and Muzek finished in 4:33.66, 4:35.28, and 4:36.51, respectively.
Duplechain doubled up with a 400 IM win in 3:58.45. Barbero was second in 4:00.52. Alabama’s Ian Decker was third in 4:03.09.
Alabama won the relay with a 1:20.79 finish from Gray, Walsh, Kaliszak, and Gkolomeev. Gkolomeev split the fast with a 19.60.
