Auburn vs. LSU, Notre Dame

AUBURN, Alabama, October 22. THE Auburn men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened their home schedules Friday as the men defeated LSU, 212-88, and the women defeated LSU, 197-123, and Notre Dame, 197-101.

The Auburn divers claimed first in three-of-four events while the men swimmers swept the top-three five events. As a team, the Tigers picked up nine NCAA "B" cuts as seniors Adam Brown, Adam Klein and Micah Martindale and freshman Emily Bos each earned a pair of wins.

"We got better as a team today," said Auburn head swimming and diving coach Brett Hawke. "We struggled a couple of weeks ago when we were tired. We came in here tonight just as tired but found a way to swim fast. That's what it's all about. That's the way it's going to be at NCAA's. It's a three-day meet with the toughest competition in the country. That's what we are preparing for. I'm very happy with the team performance today."

The Tigers got things started early, picking up a pair of "B" cuts in the 400 medley relay. The men's "B" squad of Kyle Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Sam Kiefer and Karl Krug hit the pad in 3:16.94. The Tigers would sweep the top three with Auburn relays "A" and "D" taking second and third, respectively.

On the women's side, the "A" relay team of Bos, Micah Lawrence, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Hannah Riordan swan a "B" cut time of 3:42.49.

The Tigers owned the men's 100 backstroke as the Auburn trio of Jared White (48.59), Max Murphy (49.87) and Tony Cox (50.12) swept the top-three spots. White's time was good for the team's first "B" cut in the 100 back.

Brown (44.18) picked up a "B" cut in the men's 100 free as the Tigers this time swept the top-four. Kohlton Norys (45.13), Karl Krug (45.37) and James Disney-May (45.57) completed the sweep.

The men also went 1-2-3 in the 200 fly led by senior Andrew Mitchell's provisional cut time of 1:50.08. Nimrod Hayet (1:51.27) and Robert Looney (1:51.64) took second and third.

Auburn again went 1-2-3 in the 200 back with Kyle Owens (1:48.05), Jared White (1:49.38) and Max Murphy (1:49.52). The Tigers would would earn their final sweep of the evening as Kyle Owens (1:50.10), Evan Noble (1:51.90) and Nimrod Hayet (1:52.45) stole the top three in the 200 IM.

Points continued to pile up as Auburn put three in the top-four of the 200 freestyle with Adam Brown (1:40.28), Kyle Owens (1:40.38) and Kohlton Norys (1:41.50) claiming first, second and fourth.

Karl Krug led the Tigers in the 50 free, hitting the pad in 20.36 to shave nearly 3-tenths off his season low. Drew Modrov placed second, touching in at 20.80. Auburn also went 1-2 in the 200 breast led by Klein (2:03.83) and Stuart Ferguson (2:04.31).

The 100 breaststroke was big for Klein (55.25) who picked up his first individual "B" cut of the season. The Tigers went 1-2-4 in the 100 breast with Stuart Ferguson (55.77) and Evan Noble (58.34) in second and fourth.

Auburn closed the route earning a "B" cut in the 200 freestyle relay as the team of Brown, TJ Leon, White, and Krug hit the pad in 1:21.13.

Dan Mazzaferro claimed top points with season highs on the men's 1- and 3-meter springboard with 349.43 and 391.20, respectively. Adam Godzinski (294.83) placed fourth on the 1-meter followed by John Santeiu (285.90) in sixth. Off the 3-meter, Santeiu (337.88) placed second followed by Godzinski (319.65) in fifth.

"This team is really something special this year," said Mazaferro. "I'm looking forward to a very successful year. We are definitely on the right track. Diving-wise, we are above-and-beyond where we were at this point last year."

Vennie Dantin won the women's 3-meter with a 324.38 and placed second off the 1-meter with a 277.58. Both were season highs. Anna Aguero placed fifth off the 1-meter and 3rd off the 3-meter, scoring 259.80 and 298.80, respectively.

"There were a couple events there that could have gone either way," said Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer. "LIke most contests, the person who makes the fewest mistakes will come out with the win. Overall we're getting better. That's what this part of the season is all about.

"Vennie (Dantin) was solid today. She made a couple technical errors finishing dives. This part of the season is when we assess what we do well and focus on those things to make us better come February."

Bos' strong performance was capped as the Holland, Mich., native earned the first individual "B" cut of her career, winning the women's 100 backstroke with a 54.04. Meissner placed second in the 100 back, touching in at 56.59.

Bos struck again in the 200 back, narrowly missing a provisional cut time while picking up her second win of the day, touching in at 1:59.35. Meissner took second in 2:00.95.

"I'm glad Emily (Bos) is on our team and not swimming against us," said Hawke. "She's going to be a star in the future. We also had a lot of senior leadership out their today from people like Micah Martindale. It was good to see her get some wins tonight."

Martindale (10:08.63) picked up her second win of the season, taking first in the 1000 freestyle, followed by Sterling Wine (10:12.89) and Siena DeVenuto (10:15.02) in third and fourth. The Shreveport, La., native would also place first in the 500 freestyle, hitting the wall in 4:56.35, marking her third win in Auburn's first two events. She was followed by Katie Gardocki (4:59.47) in third.

The Auburn women went 1-3-4 in the 100 free, led by Vanderpool-Wallace and her NCAA provisional cut time of 50.23. Riordan (51.01) and Haley Krakoski (51.78) took third and fourth.

Micah Lawrence won the 200 breast for the second time this season, touching in at 2:16.03 as freshman Olivia Scott (54.90) picked up her first collegiate win in the 100 fly.

Bos led off the women's 200 freestyle relay team as the Tiger squad of Vanderpool-Wallace, Riordan and Krakoski swam a 1:32.66, one-tenth under "B" cut time.

Riordan (23.33) and Jenny Von Jouanne (23.90) placed third and fourth in the women's 50 free.

In what was the closest finish of the day, Micah Lawrence (1:03.04) was just edged out by Notre Dame's Samantha Maxwell (1:03.00) in the 100 breaststroke.

Becca Jones (1:49.90) nearly earned her second first-place finish of the season in the 200 free, but was edged out by LSU's Amanda Kendall in the final 25. Olivia Scott (1:51.78) placed third.

Zane Grothe (9:24.27) and Chris Kramer (9:41.16) placed second and fourth in the men's 1000 free. Robert Looney (4:36.33), Grothe (4:40.50) and Brandon Siemasko (4:40.53) placed second, fourth and fifth in the 500 free. Hayet placed second in the 100 fly, touching in at 49.13, while Caitlin Geary (2:04.45) placed third in the 200 IM.

The Tigers return to action Nov. 19-22 at the Georgia Tech Diving Invitational in Atlanta.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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