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Texas A&M at the Pan American Games: Rasmus claims another swimming gold medal, Victor earns decathlon silver

Texas A&M swimmer Claire Rasmus collected her second gold medal at the Pan American Games
Credit: kags

LIMA, Peru — Texas A&M swimmer Claire Rasmus collected her second gold medal at the Pan American Games by winning the 200m freestyle on Wednesday while Aggie alum Lindon Victor added a silver medal to A&M’s medal collection in the decathlon.

 

Rasmus edged out her U.S. teammate, Meaghan Raab, in adding an individual gold to her relay gold she earned the previous day. Rasmus finished in 1:58.64 with Raab touching in 1:58.70 for silver.

 

Representing Grenada, Victor scored 8,240 points in the decathlon, moving from third place into second during the javelin, the ninth discipline of the multi-event. Another A&M alum competing for Grenada, Bralon Taplin, advanced to the final of the 400m.

 

A pair of Aggies contending for medals in the heptathlon are Tyra Gittens, who leads the field with 3,766 points, and Annie Kunz, in third place with 3,613 points.

 

Chennedy Carter assisted in another United States basketball victory, producing 11 points as USA dominated the U.S. Virgin Islands, 103-55, and improved to 2-0 in pool play. In 19 minutes of action, Carter also supplied three steals and an assist.

 

The Pan American Games run through August 11, with coverage of many events on the ESPN family of networks.

 

Swimming – Rasmus Wins Gold In 200m Freestyle

Claire Rasmus guided the United States to their first gold medal of the night in the women’s 200m freestyle as she became the fifth straight American woman to win the 200m free at the Pan American Games.

 

Going head to head with USA teammate Meaghan Raab in the final, Rasmus produced an impressive closing speed to edge out Raab by 0.06 of a second. Rasmus improved her time in the finals to 1:58.64, followed by Raab’s 1:58.70. Rasmus advanced to the A final after placing second in the prelim with a time of 1:59.35.

 

This is the second gold medal at the Pan Am Games for Rasmus after winning gold on Tuesday in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.

 

Other Aggies in action in the pool included Sarah Gibson, who finished third in the women’s 100m butterfly prelims posting a time of 59.16. In the men’s 100m butterfly prelims, Mexico’s Mateo Gonzalez placed 11th to make the B final with his time of 54.37. McKenna DeBever represented Peru in the women’s 200m backstroke, finishing 10th with a time of 2:17.54.

 

Two Aggies also swam in the mixed 4x100m free relay prelims and each advanced to the final. Angel Martinez, representing Mexico, produced an anchor split of 51.22 as the squad placed second in the heat and fourth overall. DeBever anchored with a split of 56.39 for Peru, who came in third in the other heat and sixth overall.

 

Swimming continues Thursday at the Pan American Games, with coverage on ESPN3.

 

Track & Field – Lindon Victor Claims Silver Medal in Decathlon

Scoring 8,420 points earned Aggie alum Lindon Victor a silver medal in the decathlon during Wednesday’s action at the Pan American Games. Texas A&M’s Nathan Hite completed his fourth decathlon of the season placing ninth with 7,389 points.

 

Canada’s Damian Warner defended his 2015 Pan Am title with a score of 8,513 points, leading the competition through each of the 10 events. Another Canadian, Pierce Lepage, settled for the bronze medal with 8,161 points after being in the silver medal position through the first eight events.

 

“I’m happy with the medal, but disappointed with the score and how everything went,” said Victor. “But that’s the decathlon. You just have to soldier through and I think that’s what I did over the last two days.

 

“There are a lot of things I could work on, but I’m here and got a silver medal. This is a good step going into the World Championships.”

 

In moving from third to second place after the javelin, the ninth event, Victor becomes the second athlete from Grenada to earn Pan Am silver in the decathlon, matching the effort by his brother, Kurt Felix, in 2015. The score Victor produced is the second best runner-up tally, trailing only the 8,269 generated by Felix in Toronto, Canada.

 

“In the last Pan Am Games my brother won silver, so I’m really happy to come here and follow in his footsteps,” noted Victor. “My medal is a good start for our country, because we have some good athletes coming up the next few days.”

 

Victor’s second day tally included a 15.01 in the 110m hurdles (848 points), leading the field in the discus with a mark of 166-9 (50.83) for 888 points after fouling his first two attempts, clearing 16-0 ¾ (4.90) for 880 points in the pole vault, throwing the javelin 204-3 (62.26) for 772 points, and finishing with a 4:53.15 in the 1,500m (600 points). 

 

Hite’s second day included 15.04 in the 110m hurdles (845 points), a discus toss of 129-6 (39.47) for 654 points, clearing 14-9 (4.50) in the pole vault for 760 points, throwing 169-5 (51.64) in the javelin for 613 points, and wrapping up with a 4:50.81 in the 1,500m (614 points).

 

As the decathlon wrapped up for Victor and Hite, another pair of Aggies started action in the heptathlon with alum Annie Kunz representing the United States and A&M rising sophomore Tyra Gittens competing for Trinidad & Tobago.

 

Through four events from the first day of the heptathlon, Gittens is the leader with 3,766 points while Kunz is in third place with 3,613 points. Cuba’s Adriana Rodriguez is in second place at 3,730.

 

Gittens total comes from 13.63 in the 100m hurdles (1,031 points), a high jump of 6-0 (1.83) for 1,016 points, 44-0 ¾ (13.43) in the shot put for 756 points, and 24.19 in the 200m (963 points).

 

The tally for Kunz was produced off 13.55 in the 100m hurdles (1,043 points), a high jump of 5-8 ½ (1.74) for 903 points, 42-10 ¼ (13.06) in the shot put for 731 points, and 24.47 in the 200m (936 points).

 

Bralon Taplin, competing for Grenada, posted a time of 45.38 in the second semifinal heat of the 400m to place second and earn auto qualification into the final, which will be held on Thursday. In the semifinal of the women’s 400m, Kanika Beckles of Grenada, finished eighth in 54.64.

 

Basketball – Carter Scores 11 In USA’s 103-55 Blowout Of US Virgin Islands

Back-to-back All-SEC First Team selection Chennedy Carter scored 11 points to help the United States to a 103-55 dismantling of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The United States improves to 2-0 in Pool B, and are virtually assured of a spot in the medal round.

 

Carter again had a scintillating start, going 3-of-4 from the field for seven first-quarter points, leading the United States to a 34-10 lead after one. She added three steals and an assist in just 19 minutes of action. In last night’s 70-62 win over Argentina, Carter went 3-of-3 in the first quarter to score eight points.

 

For the tournament, Carter is the United States’ leading scorer at 12.5 points per game, and has added 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. She has made 52.6% (10-of-19) of her field goals in the tournament through two games.

 

The United States (2-0) concludes Pool B play at 1:30 p.m. Thursday against Colombia, with coverage on ESPN3.

 

Volleyball – Gomez, Colombia Fall to Dominican Republic 3-1

Redshirt senior Camila Gomez was the starting libero for Colombia in their 3-1 (26-24, 27-25, 22-25, 27-25) loss to the Dominican Republic to open volleyball action at the Pan American Games.

 

Gomez was the starting libero for all four sets and helped Colombia to a 57-42 dig ratio on defense and had more digs than the Dominican Republic in each set.

 

The first two sets were a back and forth battle, until Colombia was able to take a 3-0 edge in the third set to stay alive. Tied at 15-15 in the fourth set, Colombia went on a 5-0 run to take a 20-15 lead. The Dominican Republic was able to battle back to tie the set at 25, and would eventually go on to win the fourth set 27-25 to secure the match.

 

Colombia continues pool play when they take on Peru Thursday at 8:30 p.m., with coverage on ESPN3.

 

Softball – Vidalis, Mexico Lose to Puerto Rico 1-0

Tori Vidalis had another softball game with Mexico, who was limited to three hits in a 1-0 loss to Puerto Rico. The lone run was scored in the bottom of the sixth. Mexico, currently 2-2 at the Pan American Games, plays Canada in its final preliminary round game on Thursday at 1 p.m.

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