Nov 16, 2018
COLLEGE STATION- Texas A&M's women's swimming won all five events in Friday's evening finals to win the 2018 Art Adamson Invitational. The Aggies have won each Art Adamson Invitational for the seventh straight year, winning each iteration of the vent since the 2012-13 season.
The Aggies ended the day with five times that ranked in the top 3 of the nation, and 13 NCAA A-or-B-cut times.
"We had a really good day today," head coach Steve Bultman said. "We picked up a number of NCAA qualifiers, so we are really excited. Overall, it was a really exciting day and we got a lot of things accomplished."
The day was highlighted by superlative performances in the 200-yard breaststroke, where Sydney Pickrem and Anna Belousova posted the two fastest times in the nation, NCAA A-cuts of 2:06.13 and 2:06.26, respectively. The Aggies took each of the top four spots in the event, with Kylie Powers posting a 2:11.47, the second-fastest time by a freshman nationally this season, and Victoria Roubique swimming 2:12.78, an NCAA B-cut time.
"It's been a long meet over the past couple of days, so I'm happy that I came away with good times," Pickrem said. "I really wasn't focusing on the outcome, just trusting the journey and the process."
The Aggies relay team of Katie Portz, Claire Rasmus, Raena Eldridge and Pickrem posted the country's top time this season in the 400-yard freestyle relay, swimming a 3:16.33.
Pickrem won another event, the 200-yard backstroke, with the third-best time in Division I, an NCAA B-cut of 1:53.26. Sara Metzch also made an NCAA B-cut, finishing fifth in that event with a time of 1:56.42.
Taylor Pike posted the second-best time in the nation with an NCAA B-cut of 1:54.05 in the 200-fly, winning the event. Jing Quah finished second, also notching an NCAA B-cut with a 1:54.92.
Four Aggies notched NCAA B-cuts in the 100-yard freestyle, led by Rasmus, who swam a 48.57, finishing second. Eldridge (49.25) and Portz (49.41) also notched NCAA B-cuts, finishing third and fourth. Amanda Armstrong won the B-Final with a B-cut time of 49.42.
Haley Yelle notched an NCAA B-cut in the afternoon session, swimming a second-place 16:06.87 in the 1650-yard freestyle.