Texas A&M Upsets Tennessee in Friday Afternoon SEC Contest
The Texas A&M Aggies pulled off a pair of surprise wins against the Tennessee Volunteers Friday afternoon in College Station, with the Aggie women earning a 169-131 triumph and the men winning 175.5-124.5. A trio of Aggie women won two individual events each while Baylor Nelson was the star on the men’s side with three individual victories plus a key medley relay leadoff. Notably, Tennessee was missing a handful of its bigger-name and more-accomplished swimmers this week, with these swimmers having just finished racing at the Pan American Games.
In the first individual event of the meet, Texas A&M made a statement as Hayden Miller won the 1000 freestyle in 9:58.03 and teammates Abby Grottle and Rachel Love made it a 1-2-3 sweep. Chloe Stepanek then dominated the 200 free with a time of 1:48.57, and she went on to win the 100 free (50.56).
Miranda Grana took first in the 100 backstroke (54.13) and 200 backstroke (1:56.88), and Olivia Theall added wins in the 200 butterfly (1:58.41) and 100 butterfly (53.67). In the 500 free, Grottle held off a surging Miller to win, 4:54.35 to 4:54.52. Giulia Goerigk took the win in the 400 IM (4:18.62).
Tennessee’s women were missing key contributors with Josephine Fuller and Camille Spink having both represented the U.S. at the Pan American Games this week and veteran breaststroker Mona McSharry also absent. Still, the team opened the meet in fine form as they held off A&M to win the 200 medley relay by 26-hundredths. The team of Amber Myers, Emelie Fast, Katie Mack and Jasmine Rumley finished in 1:40.30.
Later, Fast won the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.06 and 200 breaststroke (2:14.38), and Rumley paced the 50 free (23.06). Tennessee’s Lynae Shorter won 3-meter diving (297.90) and 1-meter diving (293.18). To bookend the meet, Rumley, Julia Burroughs, Laura Littlejohn and Katie Mack swam a time of 3:23.24 for a 400 free relay win.
The Aggie men, meanwhile, started out the meet in upset fashion as Nelson, Logan Brown, Connor Foote and Carter Nelson held off Tennessee by three tenths to win the 200 medley relay, with A&M finishing in 1:27.80. Nelson then won three events on the day, winning the 200 free by almost a second (1:36.41) before cruising to win the 200 back (1:45.48) and 400 IM (3:49.99).
On the men’s side, the Volunteers were without Gui Caribe, who is fresh off of a gold medal in the 100-meter free at Pan Ams. But fellow sprint ace Jordan Crooks was in town, and he was strong as usual. Crooks placed second to Nelson in the 200 free (1:37.38) before winning the 50 free (19.95) and 100 free (43.59). Crooks, Micah Chambers, Will Jackson and Jack Flanagan finished in 2:58.26 to dominate the 400 free relay by 3.36 seconds.
The Aggies’ Logan Brown took home the 100 breast win in 55.16 before later touching in 1:59.61 in the 200 breast to beat out teammate Roberto Bonilla Flores. Trey Dickey won the 500 free in 4:25.99, and Connor Foote went 47.95 for a win in the 100 fly. A&M’s Allen Bottego took the win in 1-meter diving (369.45) while teammate Victor Povzner turned the tables to score 421.58 on 3-meter.
Joey Tepper won the 1000 free for Tennessee (9:08.19), and Harrison Lierz claimed the 100 back (47.78). Martin Espernberger won the 200 fly by some three-and-a-half seconds in 1:45.73.