A Texas show down saw the A&M Aggies win their season home opener against the North Texas Mean Green this weekend 180-110.
A&M took first place finishes in 15 of the 16 events that were contested on the day. In the last event of the meet, the 200 free relay, A&M exhibitioned all of their relays, giving the Mean Green a symbolic event win at the close of the meet.
The Aggies started the meet off strong going 1-2 in the 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ team of Beryl Gastaldello, Jorie Caneta, Sarah Gibson and Kristin Malone touched at 1:41.29. They were followed by teammates Lisa Bratton, Sycerika McMahon, Bethany Galat, and Lexie Lupton.
The Aggies then had a strong showing in the 1000 free, where they took the top three spots with Caitlynn Moon (10:20.44), Alexandra Buscher (10:30.31), and Jessica Sloan (10:31.01).
The 200 free saw the first top 3 individual event finish for the Mean Green, with Isabelle Morris ( 1:52.68) touching behind Lupton (1:50.30) and Colleen Konetzke (1:51.29).
It was more of the same as the Aggies took top honors in the 100 back and 100 breast; Bratton touching in 56.51 and Caneta touching in 1:02.43, respectively.
Other Aggie event winners included:
- Mcmahon- 200 fly (2:00.44), 200 breast (2:14.07)
- Claire Brandt– 50 free (23.58), 100 fly (55.82)
- Madison Hudkins– 3 meter dive (337.13), 1 meter dive (317.48)
- Gastaldello- 100 free (50.69)
- Sydney Pickrem– 200 back (2:00.32)
- Konetzke- 500 free (4:57.02)
- Galat- 400 IM (4:15.04)
This strong showing from the nationally ranked Aggies moved them to a 9th consecutive home win record. They also advanced their over all record against North Texas to 16-0. The Aggies finished 4th at NCAA’s last year, edging the Virginia Cavaliers out of that spot in the last session. Last year, North Texas did not score at NCAA’s
Although the Mean Green came away from the meet without any individual event wins, there were multiple swimmers that accomplished personal best times. These included:
- Barbara Wasilewska– 500 free, 1000 free
- Haley Goertz– 500 free, 1000 free
- Caroline Culpepper– 200 fly
- Sarah Manning, Natalia Kwiatowska – 200 back
- Claudia Kitching – 200 breast
- Kelsey Opiela, Sydney Buckley, Ashley Payne – 100 fly
- Natalia Kwiatkowska – 200 IM
Both teams return to action on the 30th. The Aggies will host Incarnate Word and University of Miami. Meanwhile, the Mean Green will travel to Houston to compete against the Rice Owls.
