COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Junior Shaine Casas highlighted the final day of SEC Championships with his third individual trip to the podium and was awarded the Commissioner’s Trophy for the second year in a row. The Texas A&M men’s swimming team finished fourth, earning 843 points, after a week of competition at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Casas made the team’s only trip to the podium on day four after he defended his title in the 200 back, clocking in at 1:36.85. Casas now own the three fastest times in the nation in the event and is the only swimmer this season to finish under 1:39.0.
Junior Ethan Gogulski secured first in the 100 back C final, swimming a season-best time of 1:43.32.
Junior Kaloyan Bratanov had a strong performance in the 100 free, finishing sixth with a time of 42.98. Senior Mark Theall finished just shy of the top-10 with a time of 43.19.
Sophomore Andres Puente led three Aggies in the top 12 of the 200 breast final, finishing fifth with a time of 1:54.51. In the C final it was a 1-2 finish for senior Hudson Smith and junior Jacob Schababerle, clocking in at 1:55.88 and 1:57.17, respectively.
Closing out the meet was the 400 free relay team of Bratanov, Theall, freshman Elijah Sohn and junior Clayton Bobo, finishing in the top five with a time of 2:52.93.
Casas earned the Men’s Swimming & Diving Commissioner’s Trophy for the second straight year, which is awarded to the top point-scorer of the meet. Casas shares the title with Florida’s Kieran Smith. On the week, the McAllen, Texas native lowered the school record in the 50 back (20.61), 200 free (1:31.28) and 100 fly (44.91) to make four total trips to the podium for the Aggies.
The swimmers will begin preparing for NCAA Championships, which run from Mar. 8-9 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and diving will head to NCAA Zones in Austin from March 8-10.
For updates and results, follow along on Twitter @aggieswimdive.
Top Finishers
1650 Free – Felipe Rizzo – 15:26.80
200 Back – Shaine Casas – 1:36.85*
100 Free – Kaloyan Bratanov – 42.98
200 Breast – Andres Puente – 1:54.51
200 Fly – Jace Brown – 1:48.58
400 Free Relay – Kaloyan Bratanov, Mark Theall, Elijah Sohn, Clayton Bobo – 2:52.93
*denotes first-place finish
