Auburn Men Bolster Run at NCAA Crown

AUBURN, Alabama, March 9. IN Auburn men's swimming's final home meet of the season, the Tigers improved their chances for a NCAA Championship title as they
added the 200 medley relay team to its list of automatic qualifiers here Saturday.

The team of Jon Karr, Will Brandt, Andy Haidinyak and Derek Gibb swam to a time of 1:27.08 to earn the automatic qualifying mark in the preliminary Saturday morning.

Junior Pat Calhoun staked his status as the premier 100
breaststroker in the country as he clocked a time of 53.16, which is currently the fastest time in the nation this season.

Auburn native Brandon Roberts all but solidified his invitation to the 2002 meet as he swam to a 1:36.93 in the 200 freestyle, which just misses the automatic time of 1:36.39. His time meets the "B" cut standard which will be given consideration after reviewing all the automatic qualifiers or "A" cut times.

"This was a pretty good meet for us starting with Brandon Roberts, who is an Auburn High School graduate," head coach David Marsh said. "His 200 free was a great performance and earned him a spot on the
NCAA team. It was good to get the 200 medley relay team qualified as well and Pat Calhoun moved into the No. 1 spot in the country in the 100 breast with his performance tonight."

Auburn, which finished seventh in the 2001 NCAA Championships, will be fighting for a championship title in 2002 as the Tigers are currently ranked No. 2 in the country behind No. 1 Stanford.

The Auburn women's team has been selected with the exception of divers, which will be determined March 14-16 at the Zone Diving Meet, and 11 women will be representing the Tigers in Austin, Texas, March
21-23 at the NCAA Championships.

On the men's side, official invitations to the NCAA meet will not be sent out until March 15. The men's NCAA Championship will be held March 28-30 in Athens, Ga.

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