The No. 11 Texas A&M women’s swimming & diving team wrapped up its dual meet slate with a 162-130 win over Arkansas at the Rec Center Natatorium Saturday afternoon.
Texas A&M Press Release
Anna Belousova, Emma Carlton and Jing Wen Quah led the Aggies with two individual wins apiece, while A&M tallied 10 top-finishes and four event sweeps on the day.
The Aggies won the first six events of the day, claiming at least the top three spots in four events before the diving break. After a commanding victory by the 200 medley relay team of Raena Eldridge, Belousova, Carlton and Golf Sapianchai to start the day, Joy Field dominated the 1650 free (16:43.83), touching the wall 15 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.
It was a senior sweep in the 200 free as Katie Portz (1:48.77), Karling Hemstreet (1:50.31) and Sara Metzsch (1:50.36) made it a 1-2-3 finish for the Aggies. A&M continued to stack victories, sweeping each of the next three events with Carlton earning first in the 100 back (54.56), Belousova taking the top spot in the 100 breast (1:01.88) and Quah (1:57.36) claiming the 100 fly.
Eldridge added points for the Aggies with a second-place finish in the 50 free (22.79) just before the diving break.
Portz earned a second-place finish in the 100 free (50.72) before back-to-back A&M wins in the 200 back and 200 breast by Metzsch (1:58.70) and Belousova (2:12.98), respectively. Hemstreet earned second in the 500 free (4:54.98), and the Aggies added a 1-2 finish in the 100 fly from Carlton (54.29) and Sam Siebenaller (55.66). Quah wrapped up individual competition with a victory in the 400 IM (4:15.01).
Charlye Campbell earned second in the 3-meter with a score of 323.78 as A&M claimed the 2-6 spots in the first of the diving events. Alyssa Clairmont took second on the 1-meter board with a score of 280.65.
Head Coach Steve Bultman: “I’m very pleased that the girls swam well. We have some people that are definitely looking better, making improvements and moving in the right direction with SEC’s coming up in a little over three weeks.”
Head Diving Coach Jay Lerew: “I wish we could have done a little better. We were a little flat today, but that’s to be expected. We started running stairs again and started doing a high-conditioning program for a week, then we are going to let off for a couple weeks, so they are a little fatigued today. They did alright, but I’d like to see them do a little better.”
Senior Katie Portz: “Today was great, the times were great, but most importantly it was Senior Day and I got to celebrate with my class. We had a bunch of great swims and I’m just happy to be here with them and to have made it through these four years.”
From Arkansas Press Release
Sprinter Anna Hopkin ended the meet with three first-place finishes and a NCAA ‘B’ cut. The first victory for Hopkin was in the 50 free (22.42). Her second showing was in the 100 free, touching the wall at 49.01 to earn herself a NCAA ‘B’ cut time. Hopkin closed out the meet with teammates Emma Hultquist, Kobie Melton and Molly Moore taking the 400 free relay by over three seconds.
Peyton Palsha had a strong meet, earning podium finishes in all of her events. The distance swimmer started off the meet claiming a second-place finish in the 1650 free finishing the race at 16:58.29. She then swam the 500 free, finishing the event at 4:54.29 to finish first. She capped her day shortly after, snagging a second-place finish in the 400 IM (4:26.35).
Vanessa Herrmann added points for the Razorbacks with a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:19.64) and a third-place finish in the 400 IM (4:28.32).
Estilla Mosena was the sole diver to obtain any podium finishes for the Razorbacks. The Trieste, Italy, native earned two first-place finishes for the Razorbacks in the 3-meter (287.93) and the 1-meter (337.05).
Head Coach Neil Harper: “We came here to compete against the four-time defending SEC Champions and won six events. It was always going to be a challenge especially a second day on the road. We displayed pride, confidence and a belief in our hard work. Esti, Peyton and Anna led the way with five of our six wins, and we finished the meet with a relay win in a great time. Our team is right where we need to be, tired yet dedicated and patient to focus on preparing for SECs and NCAAs.”
Head Diving Coach Dale Schultz: “Esti had an exceptional day on both boards. I am extremely excited about her progress. For Esti to be on the road and not have been in the Texas A&M facility prior to warming up today along with winning both events say a lot about her maturity as an athlete.”
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Texas A&M Swimming and Arkansas Swimming. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.