Texas A&M swimming and diving traveled to Austin to compete in the Texas Invitational against several other schools, including Texas, from Nov. 19 to Nov. 21. Carrying momentum from winning their last three meets, the No. 25 men and No. 24 women both competed. The Aggies finished with 16 qualifying cuts over the three day meet and fourteen top-10 swims in the same period. The Aggies finished with eight qualifying cuts and seven top-10 swims in school history on Day 2 of the event. Sophomore Chase Swearingen produced A&M’s best finish of the day, netting a runner-up effort in the men’s 100 butterfly. He set a career-best time of just 45. 30, comfortably under the 46. 11 qualifying threshold. Junior transfer Ava Whitaker also qualified, garnering a seventh-place finish in the women’s 100 fly. She followed in Swearingen’s footsteps by setting a lifetime-best time of 52. 34, earning her ninth on the Aggies’ all-time top-10 list for the event. The Fightin’ Farmers also stood out in the 100 breaststroke, with a pair of “A” finishes from sophomore Ella McQuinn and junior Logan Brown for the women and men, respectively. McQuinn set a time of 59. 42 to debut at No. 7 on the program’s all-time list, and Brown placed eighth in the final with a time of 52. 45. Junior Will Heck wasn’t going to be left out, taking second place in the “B” final, setting a lifetime-best time of 52. 51. The men wrapped up the day with a runner-up finish in the 200 free relay, powered by the foursome of sophomore Ben Sytsma, junior Ben Scholl, Brown and Swearingen. These men set a time of 1: 16. 59, the fifth-fastest mark in school history and a provisional cut. The women finished up their Day 2 placing fifth in the same event, posting a time of 1: 28. 77,. The quartet of fifth year Kaitlyn Owens, freshman Eloise Williamson, freshman Reagan Sherrard and McQuinn netted the impressive result. On Day 3, A&M netted five qualifying cuts and five top-10 swims. The top finish for the Maroon and White on the day was Stysma in the men’s free 50 with a time of 19. 24, good enough for third in the event. Scholl also impressed on Day 3 with a season-best time of 19. 15, earning a qualifying cut alongside Stysma. Owens placed fourth in the 100 back with a season-best time of 51. 78, also a qualifying cut. In the 100 breast, freshman Lillie Sczech netted a 10th-place finish, debuting in ninth-place in A&M’s top 10 with a lifetime-best time of 2: 09. 25. Brown finished fifth in the men’s 200 breaststroke with a lifetime best 1: 52. 11, easily coming in under the 1: 54. 95 threshold to qualify. The women for A&M closed out Day 3 with a seventh-place finish in the 400 medley relay, with the bunch of McQuinn, Whitaker, Owens and Sherrard touching in 3: 35. 10. The men concluded Day 3 with a ninth-place finish courtesy of Scholl, Heck and freshmen Alejandro Michelena and AJ Robinson in a time of 3: 10. 13. The Fightin’ Farmers finished with three qualifying cuts, and two top-10 swims on the final day of the Texas Invitational. Sytsma ended up as the top finisher for A&M for the second time, with a runner-up finish in the men’s 100 free, posting a lifetime-best time of 42. 30. The swim moved him to fifth all time in the school record books. Brown took fourth in the 200 individual medley, well under his lifetime best and the qualifying time. This result moved Brown to No. 3 in the school record book. McQuinn set a lifetime-best time of 48. 54 in the B final of the 100 free, a strong result to beat the qualifying time. The men wrapped up the final day with a runner-up finish and a provisional cut in the 400 free relay with Scholl, Sytsma, Swearingen and Brown posting a time of 2: 49. 38. The women closed out the Texas Invitational with a ninth-place finish thanks to McQuinn, Sherrard, Owens and freshman Celina Springer touched in 3: 17. 11. The Aggies will head to Tucson, Arizona, to face Arizona on Friday, Dec. 19.
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