By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
TEXAS A&M VS HOUSTON (WOMEN)
- Thursday, October 24, 2024
- Bryan-College Station, Texas
- SCY (25 yards)
- Final Score: Texas A&M 200, Houston 100
- Results
Chloe Stepanek and Hayden Miller led the way for the Texas A&M women in a Thursday showdown with Houston in College Station, as the Aggies cruised to a 200-100 victory over the Cougars.
Stepanek and Miller won two events apiece as TAMU combined to claim 13 of 16 events on the schedule, including both relays.
Stepanek, a fifth-year senior, swept the 200 free (1:44.90) and 200 back (1:55.86), the former marking her third sub-1:45 swim of the 2024-25 season.
The 22-year-old went 1:44.22 two weeks ago at the SMU Classic, which ranks 1st in the country, and she also went 1:44.67 leading off Texas A&M’s 800 free relay.
Her swim in the 200 back was the third fastest of her career, having gone 1:54 once each of the past two seasons at the Texas A&M Last Chance Meet.
TAMU senior Aviv Barzelay was the runner-up in the 200 back in 1:56.91, her first time racing this season after she was absent at the SMU Classic.
Miller, a junior, dominated the distance events with wins in the 500 free (4:46.31) and 1000 free (9:40.57), the latter giving her a 24-second margin to the rest of the field.
Miller owns personal bests of 4:36.60 in the 500 and 9:33.45 in the 1000. Her season-best in the 500 free sits at 4:43.39, set at the SMU Classic, which ranks her 8th in the nation. Her time from Thursday in the 1000 free also ranks 8th this season.
Miller was also 3rd in the 200 free in what was a 1-2-3 sweep for the Aggies, with Jordan Buechler (1:49.42) the runner-up to Stepanek and Miller next up in 1:49.84.
The top performance for Houston came from Irish freshman Lottie Cullen, who first tied and then broke the Cougars’ program record in the 100 backstroke.
Cullen clocked 52.47 at the beginning of the meet leading off Houston’s 400 medley relay, matching the school record set by Laura Laderoute in 2020. Cullen then took sole possession of the record in the individual race, touching in 52.29 to top Texas A&M’s Kaitlyn Owen (53.00).
Cullen, 20, kicked off her college career by clocking a time of 54.50 at the Rice Fall Splash two weeks ago.
The 400 medley relay saw Texas A&M’s quartet of Owens, Bobbi Kennett, Olivia Theall and Stepanek combine for a time of 3:32.96, with Houston 2nd in 3:35.29 (full splits not available).
In the 400 free relay, Theall (50.56), Owens (49.50), Buechler (51.19) and Stepanek (48.84) combined for a time of 3:20.09, putting the Aggies nearly five seconds clear of the Cougars (3:25.06).
OTHER WINNERS
- Houston’s Henrietta Fangli (1:00.33) and Evelyn Entrekin (1:00.86) went 1-2 in the 100 breast, with Fangli’s swim ranking her 8th in the nation. In the 200 breast, Houston junior Flo Peter was the victor in 2:11.60, just over a second shy of her lifetime best set last season (2:10.52).
- Texas A&M’s Katie Walker dominated the 200 fly, finishing as the only swimmer sub-2:00 in a time of 1:57.51, improving on her season-best of 1:58.61 from the SMU Classic.
- Owens (22.83) and Theall (22.91) led a 1-2-3-4 sweep for the Aggies in the 50 free, with Owens showing marked improvement from where she was at this time last season (23.93) and coming within three-tenths of her PB from the 2024 NCAAs (22.54).
- Theall was dominant in the 100 fly, clocking 52.56 to inch under her season-best of 52.65 from the SMU Classic.
- Texas A&M’s Else Praasterink and Mayson Richards traded 1-2 finishes in the diving events, with Praasterink topping the 3-meter (328.20) and Richards leading the 1-meter (289.28).
- Aggie freshman Ella McQuinn shone in the 100 free, breaking 50 seconds for the first time to take a definitive victory in 49.78. She also split 48.87 on TAMU’s ‘B’ medley relay.
- Texas A&M’s Giulia Goerigk was .01 slower than the SMU Classic in the 200 IM, still rolling to a big win in 2:00.74.
FINAL SCORES
- Texas A&M, 200
- Houston, 100
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Chloe Stepanek Rips 1:44.90 200 Free, Lottie Cullen Sets Houston Record As TAMU Tops Cougars