Stanford men lead, women to challenge Aggies at final session of Art Adamson Invite

It is shaping up to be a run-away win for Stanford in the men’s competition, but the Cardinal women have some work to do Saturday night to catch Texas A&M, which swam strong this morning during prelims at the three-day Art Adamson Invitational. Platform diving prelims are scheduled for 1 p.m. CST, and both diving and swimming finals start at 5 p.m. at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium in College Station, TX.

Stanford’s men (1107) have a huge lead over LSU (410), Texas A&M (306), and Grand Canyon (302). The Aggies (836.5) are holding a 103-point lead over Stanford in the women’s competition with LSU (306) and Boise State (256) battling for third. See the full standings after the recap.

Live Results (HY-TEK, Thursday through Saturday)

Aggie Women And Stanford Men Represented Well In 200-Yard Back Finals

Lisa Bratton got things going for the Aggies this morning with the top time in the 200-yard back (1:54.61), and, like the standings, it was Stanford’s Ally Howe (1:54.98) who was close behind. The Aggies and Stanford put two into Saturday night’s A Final, as Claire Brandt (1:55.61) joins Bratton and Grace Carlson supports Howe (1:57.70 ). LSU also puts two in, as Danielle Stirra (1:55.93) and Caley Oquist (1:56.81) will step onto the blocks for the Fighting Tigers.

Four Stanford men are in the men’s 200-yard back A Final Saturday night with Dave Nolan (1:43.59) leading the way as the top qualifier. TCU puts two into the top final too, as Cooper Robinson (1:43.97) and Josh Mangus (1:44.76) qualify with the second and third fastest prelim times. Also in the A Final with Stanford and TCU are Arizona State’s Barkley Perry (1:45.08) and Texas A&M’s Brock Bonetti (1:46.34), who qualified fourth and fifth.

Stanford Women And Grand Canyon Men Qualify Big For 100-Yard Free Finals

Watch out A&M: Stanford’s sprint trio of Simone Manuel (47.30), Lia Neal (47.81), and Maddy Schaefer (49.14) clocked the three fastest times in the prelims. Manuel and Neal did it with NCAA ‘A’ cuts and Schafer’s time is an NCAA ‘B’ cut and a drop off her seed time. Joining them will be teammate Lindsey Engel (49.29, also an NCAA ‘B’ cut), who qualified with the fifth fastest time and made sure that Stanford will be on four of the eight blocks in the A Final.

Sammie Bosma (48.39) is the Aggies best shot at getting into the top three to prevent a Stanford 1-2-3 sweep. She will be joined by teammates Sarah Gibson (49.41) and Meredith Oliver (49.67), who qualified in the seventh and eight spots.

Boise State’s Brittany Aoyama (49.33), who qualified sixth fastest, will join the Stanford and A&M women in the A Final, which will be a fast one considering all qualifiers were under the NCAA ‘B’ cut (49.99), and Manuel clocked that eye-popping 45.81 100-yard relay split earlier in the meet. Keep an eye on the American record as well, as Manuel’s prelims time is only six tenths off her own national record of 46.75.

Grand Canyon’s men go into the 100-yard final with the top two qualifying times, as Mazen El Kamash (44.08) and Illya Glazunov (44.18) dropped their seed times to achieve NCAA ‘B’ cuts. The Stanford men took the next four spots to ensure that they will get valuable points in the A Final. Cardinals Sam Perry (44.27) and Thomas Stephens (44.29) met the NCAA ‘B’ standard (44.29), while teammates Spencer DeShon (44.33) and Connor Black (44.59) qualified with marks faster than their seed times.

A&M And Stanford Showdown Set For Women’s 200-Yard Breast Final

Texas A&M is going to get points in the women’s 200-yard breast, as they placed three in Saturday night’s A Final. It will be Ashley McGregor (2:09.19), who qualified first, Sycerika McMaho (2:12.97) and Bethany Galat (2:13.69) that will represent the Aggies. To limit the points the Aggies take are Stanford’s Heidi Poppe (2:11.31), who qualified second and will go after McGregor, and teammate Sarah Haase (2:12.40), who will be in the hunt for a top-three position. All A finalists go in with NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

Six different teams will contest the men’s A Final in the 200-yard breast. Grand Canyon goes in with two. Stanford is positioned to take the most individual points, as Max Williamson qualifies first in 1:59.12, which is a NCAA ‘B’ cut.

Stanford Goes Into 200-Yard Fly Finals With Five Women And Three Men

Cardinals Janet Hu (1:56.18) and Lindsey Engel (1:57.26) qualify one and two for the women’s 200-yard final with NCAA ‘B’ cuts. Also qualifying for Stanford with NCAA ‘B’ cuts are Ally Howe (1:58.26), Tara Halsted (1:58.94), and Mackenzie Stein (1:59.07). The Aggies make the A Final with Sycerika McMahon (1:58.67, also an NCAA ‘B’ cut) and Sammie Bosma (1:59.68). LSU’s Kara Kopcso (1:58.22), who qualified third, could steal the Stanford vs. Texas A&M final with a win.

Texan Gray Umbach goes into the A Final of the men’s 200-yard fly (1:44.08) representing Stanford with the top qualifying time. Teammates Tom Kremer (1:45.46), who qualified second, and  Jimmy Yoder (1:47.40), who qualified forth, with NCAA ‘B’ cuts should put up the final and winning individual swimming points for the Cardinals. LSU’s Frank Greeff (1:46.02), who like teammate Kopcso on the women’s side qualified third, could take the win for the Fighting Tigers.

Full Standings And Meet Background

Going into Saturday night’s finals, which start at 5 p.m. CST, it is Stanford running away with the men’s results and chasing the host Aggies in the women’s competition.

Men:
1 Stanford —1107
2 LSU — 410
3 Texas A&M — 306
4 Grand Canyon — 302
5 Arizona State — 270
6 SMU —194
7 TCU — 181

Women:
1 Texas A&M — 836.5
2 Stanford — 733.5
3 LSU — 306
4 Boise State — 256
5 Arizona State —173
6 SMU — 150
7 Grand Canyon — 53
8 TCU — 38

The pool deck at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium has been a busy one the last three days with seven teams visiting College Station. Taking on the Aggies are Southern Methodist University (SMU), Louisiana State University (LSU), Texas Christian University (TCU), Arizona State University (ASU), Stanford University, Grand Canyon University and Boise State University.

Last year, nearly 300 NCAA “A” or “B” standards were achieved at the annual Art Adamson Invitational, which is named after a legend in the world of swimming and water polo. Adamson is the longest tenured coach in Texas A&M history, serving as the swimming coach from 1935 to 1970. He is a member of the USA Water Polo Association Hall of Fame, the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame, and the Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame.