Feb 23, 2019
ATHENS, Ga. --- For the fourth straight year, the Texas A&M women's swimming and diving team has reigned supreme at the Southeastern Conference Championships.
The Aggies, coached by head coach Steve Bultman, associate head coach Tanica Jamison and diving coach Jay Lerew, took the lead on the second day and never trailed in the team standings again on their way to a SEC four-peat.
Asked how the fourth SEC Championship in four years felt, Bultman said, "Wet… as usual. No, it's great. The first one was probably the sweetest, but we had a bunch of adversity this year, a bunch of adversity at this meet, but the girls just kept competing. Some people wrote us off coming in, but they stepped up and got the job done."
Texas A&M finished the five-day championship meet with 1,107 points, well ahead of runner-up Florida (1,023.5). Trailing the Aggies were Kentucky (927.5), Tennessee (919.5), Georgia (883.5), Auburn (883), Missouri (640), Arkansas (517), South Carolina (515), LSU (489.5), Alabama (429.5) and Vanderbilt (153).
Texas A&M clinched the team victory with an 86-point outburst in the 200-yard breaststroke, highlighted by a gold and silver medal sweep by junior Anna Belousova and senior Sydney Pickrem. Belousova out-dueled Pickrem to earn her second SEC crown of the meet in a lifetime best time of 2:04.80, while Pickrem was just .09 behind in 2:04.89.
Notables:
In just its seventh year in the elite conference, Texas A&M becomes the third team to win at least four straight SEC women's team titles – joining Florida and Georgia.
The 2019 victory marked the Aggies' eighth conference title of the Steve Bultman era (2000-present). In addition to the last four SEC crowns, Bultman's Aggies also won Big 12 titles in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
The 2016-19 conference title string marked the first time the Aggies have ever won four straight conference titles in program history.
Recapping Saturday's finals:
1650 Freestyle: Aggies tallied 43 points in the 1650 with sophomore Haley Yelle taking 7th in 16:09.65 and sophomore Joy Field placing 9th in 16:14.21.
200 Backstroke: The Aggies totaled 25 points in the 100 backstroke as senior McKenna DeBever placed 13th in 1:55.08 and junior Sara Metzsch finished 16th in 1:56.00.
100 Freestyle: The Aggies totaled 41.5 points in the 100 free as senior Claire Rasmus placed 10th (48.59), junior Raena Eldridge took 12th (48.89). Also chipping in were Golf (t19th) and Katie Portz (21st).
200 Breaststroke: Junior Anna Belousova and senior Sydney Pickrem led an 86-point barrage with a 1-2 sweep in the 200 breaststroke. Belousova took the victory in a lifetime best and NCAA A cut time of 2:04.80, while Pickrem was second in 2:04.89. Junior Victoria Roubique placed 16th in 2:12.16. Senior Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo won the C final in 2:11.95, while freshmen Caroline Theil placed 21st in 2:13.12 and freshman Kylie Powers placed 23rd in 2:16.68.
400 Freestyle Relay: The Aggie foursome of Raena Eldridge, Golf Sapianchai, McKenna DeBever and Claire Rasmus closed out the meet with a ninth-place finish in a season-best time of 3:16.22.