LIMA, Peru — Swimmer Claire Rasmus earned Texas A&M’s first gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games, highlighting Tuesday’s busy schedule in Lima. With athletes from multiple sports in action for the first time, Chennedy Carter, Jimena López and Tori Vidales each led their teams to wins.
Rasmus had a split of 54.51 as she combined with Margo Geer, Lia Neal and Meaghan Raab to post a time of 3:39.59 to win the 4x100m freestyle relay by eight-tenths of a second. It marked the Aggies’ first medal of any kind of the 2019 Pan Am Games. Five other Aggies competed in Tuesday’s finals, with Mauro Castillo (Mexico), McKenna DeBever (Peru), Sarah Gibson (United States), Esther Gonzalez (Mexico) and Angel Martinez (Mexico) qualifying out of prelims.
A pair of Aggies helped Mexico to blowout wins on Wednesday in a pair of different sports. Vidales led Mexico’s softball team to an 11-3 win over Venezuela with a 3-hit, 4 RBI performance, coming a double short of the cycle and cementing herself among the tournament’s offensive leaders. López started in Mexico’s 5-1 rout of Panama in the women’s soccer Fifth-Place Match, completing a 2-1-1 record for El Tri in Lima.
Carter and the United States women’s basketball team had to battle to a win, erasing a halftime deficit to Argentina to win 70-62. Carter was the leading scorer for the Stars and Stripes, with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
In track and field, Lindon Victor of Grenada, a two-time NCAA Champion in the decathlon at Texas A&M, ranks third in the decathlon after the first day of competition. Nathan Hite of the United States ranks ninth. Additionally, Aggies Jazmine Fray of Jamaica competed in the 800m and Brenessa Thompson of Guyana competed in the 100m.
The Pan American Games run through August 11, with coverage of many events on the ESPN family of networks.
Swimming – Rasmus Wins Gold In 4x100 Freestyle, Six Aggies Compete In Finals
Claire Rasmus earned a gold medal, Texas A&M’s first of the 2019 Pan American Games, as a part of the United States’ 4x100m freestyle relay that took home gold. She had a split of 54.51 as she teamed with Margo Geer, Lia Neal and Meaghan Raab to post a time of 3:39.59 to win the event by eight-tenths of a second.
Sarah Gibson finished fifth in the women’s 200m butterfly, swimming a 2:13.08 for the United States. She placed second in prelims with a time of 2:11.78.
Angel Martinez of Mexico set a school record and swam a personal best with a 1:59.23 in the
200m butterfly, finishing fifth and lowering his time from 2:00.73 in prelims.
Peru’s McKenna DeBever swam in the women’s 4x100m freestyle. DeBever had split of 57.06, helping Peru place fifth.
Mexico’s Mauro Castillo placed seventh in the men’s 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:01.15. Mexico’s Esther Gonzalez swam a personal-best of 1:10.04 to finish seventh in the women’s 100m breaststroke.
Swimming continues Wednesday at the Pan American Games, with coverage on ESPN3.
Softball - Vidales Has 3 Hits, 4 RBI In Mexico’s 11-3 Blowout Of Venezuela
Former Texas A&M softball All-American Tori Vidales had three hits, including a triple and a home run, in Mexico’s 11-3 blowout win over Venezuela in a preliminary round game at the Pan American Games.
Vidales went 3-for-5 with 4 RBI and a run scored in the game, which improved Mexico’s record to 2-1 and to a tie for second place in the preliminary round standings.
She hit a two-out two-run home run in the seventh inning that put an exclamation point on Mexico’s seven-run rally that put the game out of reach.
Her two-out RBI triple in the fourth inning capped a 3-run frame that gave Mexico the lead for good. Vidales drove in Mexico’s first run on a third-inning single.
Vidales is hitting .667 (6-for-9) in the Pan American Games, which ranks second in the competition. She co-leads the tournament with a 1.222 slugging percentage, ranks third with five RBI and has hit safely in all three games in Lima.
Mexico continues its competition with a game against Puerto Rico at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Basketball – Carter Leads USA With 14 Points In 70-62 Win Over Argentina
Two-time Texas A&M All-American Chennedy Carter scored a team-high 14 points in the United States’ 70-62 win over Argentina to open the Pan American Games.
Carter added in five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block on the evening. Playing in her 13th career game for the United States, she averages 14.2 points per game wearing the Red, White and Blue. She made five of her 11 field goals, which ranks ninth among qualified players in the tournament.
The USA found itself down eight points with just under five minutes to play in the third quarter, but closed the period on a 14-2 run. Argentina never had a fourth-quarter possession that could have tied the game.
Carter helped the USA to a 23-16 lead after the first quarter, scoring eight points in the opening act on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting.
The United States (1-0) continues group play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the U.S Virgin Islands (0-1), with coverage on ESPN3.
Track and Field – Victor Third After First Day Of The Decathlon
The first day of track and field action in the Pan American Games included a pair of Aggie alums competing in the decathlon. Lindon Victor of Grenada and Nathan Hite, representing the United States, are currently in third and seventh place through five events of the decathlon with scores of 4,252 and 3,903 points, respectively.
Canada’s Damian Warner, the defending Pan Am champion, leads the event with 4,499 points, followed by fellow Canadian Pierce Lepage with a tally of 4,418.
Victor, the 2016 and 2017 NCAA champion and collegiate record holder, produced his points off a 10.82 (801 points) in the 100m, a long jump of 24-3 (7.39) for 908 points, a 49-4 ¼ (15.04) in the shot put for 792 points, a clearance of 6-6 ¾ (2.00) for 803 points in the high jump, and ran 49.28 (848) in the 400m
Hite, the 2019 SEC champion, generated his score from a 10.96 (870 points) in the 100m, a long jump of 22-5 ¾ (6.85) for 778 points, a mark of 45-0 ¼ (13.72) in the shot put for 711 points, clearing 6-0 ¾ (1.85) in the high jump for 670 points, and a 48.74 (874) in the 400m.
Jazmine Fray, representing Jamaica, competed in the 800m, finishing sixth in her semifinal heat with a time of 2:10.14. Canada’s Maite Bouchard tripped and fell as the field went into the second lap of the race, knocking Fray off stride. Cuba’s Rose Almanza, who led the field through 400m at 1:00.86, won the heat in 2:05.25.
Competing for Guyana, Brenessa Thompson finished seventh in the third semifinal heat of the 100m in 11.96 (-1.1 wind) and placed 17th overall.
Track and Field continues Wednesday at the Pan American Games, with coverage on ESPN3.
Soccer – Lopez, Mexico Rout Panama 5-1 For Fifth Place
Texas A&M standout Jimena López started and helped Mexico to a 5-1 rout of Panama in the Fifth-Place Match at the Pan American Games.
López started the game and played 54 minutes on Mexico’s back line in Wednesday’s match. She played 309 of 360 potential minutes for the tournament, as El Tri registered a 2-1-1 overall record.
López now returns to Texas A&M, where she played in 21 matches with 18 starts as a sophomore in 2018. She logged nine points on three goals and three assists.
Texas A&M Lima 2019 Medal Count (1)
Gold (1)
Claire Rasmus – United States – Swimming (4x100m freestyle relay)
Tomorrow At The Pan American Games
Texas A&M has 12 athletes in action on Wednesday at the Pan American Games, with medals up for grabs in track and swimming. Camila Gomez begins her stay at the Pan Am Games with Colombia’s volleyball team at 6:30 p.m. against the Dominican Republic, plus Tori Vidales and Chennedy Carter continue their runs in softball and basketball. Most events are streamed on ESPN3, with additional coverage at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on ESPNU (English) and at 8 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on ESPN Deportes (Spanish).
All times Central and local to Peru
Softball – Tori Vidales (Mexico) – vs. Puerto Rico – 1 p.m.
Track and Field – Nathan Hite (United States), Lindon Victor (Grenada) – Decathlon (last events) – 2 p.m. – ESPN3
Track and Field – Kanika Beckles (Grenada), Brenessa Thompson (Guyana) – 200 m first round – 3 p.m. – ESPN3
Track and Field – Tyra Gittens (Trinidad & Tobago) – Heptathlon (last events) – 3:35 p.m. – ESPN3
Track and Field – Bralon Taplin (Grenada) – 400 m semifinals – 4:10 p.m. – ESPN3
Track and Field – Tyra Gittens (Trinidad & Tobago) – Heptathlon (first events) – 2:25 p.m. – ESPN3
Basketball – Chennedy Carter (United States) – vs. US Virgin Islands – 6 p.m. – ESPN3
Volleyball – Camila Gomez (Colombia) – vs. Dominican Republic – 6:30 p.m. – ESPN3
Swimming – Claire Rasmus (United States) – 200 m free finals – 8:30 p.m. – ESPN3
Swimming – Sarah Gibson (United States) – 100 m fly finals – 8:58 p.m. – ESPN3
Swimming – Mateo Gonzalez (Mexico) – 100 m fly finals – 9:14 p.m. – ESPN3
