Auburn Starts Strong With Great First Day of SEC Swimming; Men’s 200 MR Sets SEC Standard

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, February 7. THE SEC Swimming Championships got off to a strong start for the Auburn men's and women's teams Wednesday, as the Tigers won three of the four relays contested and set an SEC record during a light opening day of action from the Lancaster Aquatics Center.

The women won both the 200 medley relay the 800 free relay, while Auburn's men finished first in the 200 medley relay before placing second in the 800 free relay. Those were the only events contested during the first of four days of action.

Thanks largely to a dominant performance last weekend from the divers, Auburn's men lead the SEC meet with 251 points, followed by Florida (144) and Georgia (11). Auburn's women also lead with 164 points, followed by Kentucky (159) and LSU (155.5).

Auburn won the meet's opening race – the men's 200 medley relay – with a school and SEC record. The team of junior Scott Goodrich, junior David Maras, sophomore Alexei Puninski and junior Matt Targett posted a time of 1:24.63, breaking the school record set in 2003 and the SEC record set by Florida in 2005. Auburn finished nearly three seconds ahead of second-place Alabama, and recorded the fastest time in the nation this season by more than a second and a half.

"It's been a while since we've had a front end in the 200 medley relay like that," said Director of Competitive Aquatics David Marsh. "Scott Goodrich and David Maras gave us two of the best splits we've ever had, and they're just coming into their own right now. (Assistant coach) Brett Hawke has done a great job with the sprint group and those guys have developed beautifully. There have been a lot of great teams that have swam the 200 medley relay in the SEC and at Auburn, and for them to break those records says a lot. They're all underclassmen and they're maturing very nicely."

The women followed with a closer race, but the result was the same as the Tiger team of sophomore Rachel Goh, junior Julie Stupp, sophomore Margo McCawley and junior Kara Denby swam to a season-best and `A' cut time of 1:38.97. The Tigers' time was the best in the SEC this season and third best in the nation.

The women followed that performance by winning the 800 free relay, setting the fastest mark in the nation this season with an automatic qualifying time of 7:04.12. The team of freshman Ava Ohlgren, sophomore Emile Ewing, junior Emily Kukors and Denby had just one returning member from last year's third-place finisher at the SEC meet (Kukors), but still outswam Georgia, thanks in part to Kukors' split of 1:44.63, which was quickest in the race.

"We just wanted to go out and see what we could do," said Kukors. "It was a group of fresh faces and we were excited to see how fast we could go. We had huge momentum from the men and women winning the 200 medley relays, and we just wanted to continue that momentum and carry it on through the rest of the week."

"We took some chances on our relays tonight," said co-women's head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker. "Probably the key on our 200 medley relay was Margo McCawley and her butterfly split. We challenged Kara Denby to anchor the 800 free relay and she did a great job with that. This is the first time she's done both relays. We're pleased with tonight and hope to carry it over to tomorrow."

In the men's 800 free relay, the team of Tyler McGill, Joey Schneider, Matt Bartlett and Bryan Lundquist finished second with another automatic qualifying time of 6:24.55. Schneider (1:34.92) and Lundquist (1:34.99) posted the two fastest splits out of all the swimmers in the race.

"We went with two freshman and two seniors on the 800 free relay," said Marsh. "All of them swam well, and the seniors in particular really stepped up. I couldn't be more proud of Joey Schneider. He battled the last two years and really came in to his own this season and is one of those guys that will do anything for Auburn, and tonight we needed him to do it for the relay and he did it."

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