Florida State, Arkansas vs. Auburn

AUBURN, Alabama, February 9. THE Auburn swimming and diving teams earned three Senior Day victories Saturday as the fifth-ranked Tigers swept Florida State along with a women's victory over Arkansas. The men's team (4-2) defeated the Seminoles (9-5) 190-106, while the women (6-1) earned a 177-118 victory over No. 22 FSU (15-3) and a 182-113 win over Arkansas (6-4).

The team took time before the start of the meet to honor its senior class of Kara Denby, Scott Goodrich, Kristen Hastrup, Emily Kukors, David Maras, Alexei Puninski, Jeff Smith and Luke Weniger.

Altogether, the group has accounted for five NCAA Championships, five SEC Championships, two individual NCAA Champions, 12 individual SEC Champions, four U.S. National Teams and 6-1 All-American honors. The women have a combined dual meet record of 27-3 while the men have a combined 26-3 record.

"I will always have a special place in my heart for this senior class because they have had a tremendous amount of success, yet they have adapted really well to change in coaching and I really appreciated that," said head coach Richard Quick, who is in his first season with the Tigers.

Third-year co-head women's coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker took over the team when the members of the senior class were sophomore, but says she feels like she has been with them from the start.

"I think all three of them have a lot more to go to with the championship portion of the season, but they have been very valuable to the program, great students, great competitors and have improved every year," said Tierney-Walker. "They have really stepped up in some major situations, they are wonderful individuals and they are going to go on to some amazing careers and do some amazing things in their future. I'm sad to see them go."

The Tigers sent them out in style as Auburn dominated in its three victories Saturday at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center. Auburn combined for two NCAA automatic qualifying times and 30 provisional qualifying times. Of the 28 swimming events, Auburn scored in 24 of them and won 20 of those races.

What is even more impressive with the wins are the lineups that Auburn used. The Tiger coaching staff elected to shift many of its swimmers into events they normally do not compete in preparation for the upcoming championship portion of the schedule.

"We were swimming events that we believed would develop the team more for the SEC and NCAA Championships," said Quick. "It is nice for the team to get to swim other events so you don't get stale in your event. I was really pleased with how they progressed today."

Tierney-Walker said the experience also pays off down the road when the student-athletes have the ability to not only swim other events, but compete in other events at the NCAA and SEC Championships.

"This time of year, we are still trying to figure out what events everyone is going to swim, but that is one staple of Auburn – we want people to be multi-talented," said Tierney-Walker. "When you go on to NCAAs or the SEC Championships, you cannot be a one-event scorer, we want you to strive to be a three-event scorer and I really appreciate that this team embraces that concept."

Leading Auburn's men in the win was Cesar Cielo. The junior from St. Barbara, Brazil earned a win in the 100 free with an "A" cut time of 43.01. He followed that up with a 19.46 50-yard leadoff in the 200 free relay, his fastest time in the 50 free this season.

"That was really a great swim for Cesar and it really encourages the rest of the team," said Quick. "His time today was three tenths of a second faster than at this time last year and when the NCAA record holder in an event can make improvements, that really speaks volumes to the rest of the team as to what they are capable of."

Against Florida State last season, Cielo swam a 19.72 50 free, his fastest time of the season to that point. Cielo then went on to break the NCAA and U.S. Open record at the NCAA Championships with a time of 18.69 – becoming just the third swimmer ever to break the 19-second barrier.

The men's team also had an unusual situation break out in the 100 butterfly as teammates Puninski and Jordan Anderson tied for the win with "B" cut times of 47.87. Puninski held a lead by two-tenths of a second after the first 50 yards, but Anderson caught up on the second 50 to force the tie.

Another highlight of the meet for the men came in the 1,000 free as Robert Looney swam his fastest time of the season to win in 9:06.95. Looney's time makes the record book the freshman as it ranks third all-time at Auburn.

For the women, it was freshman Julie Golden leading the team with two victories on the day. Golden got things going early as she earned Auburn's first individual race of the day, taking the 200 free in a "B" cut time of 1:48.54.

Golden followed that up later in the meet with a win in the 500 free, taking first in a "B" cut time of 4:52.15.

Also having a big day for the women was Emile Ewing. The junior from Madisonville, Ky. led the team with three NCAA provisional times in the meet. She started off with a "B" cut 55.74 as she finished runner-up in the 100 back, and followed it up with a time of 2:00.52 as she finished second in the 200 back.

Ewing earned her final B" cut of the day in the 200 IM, coming in with a time of 2:03.50. While she exhibitioned in the event, her time would have been good enough for second place for the third time in the meet.

In the men's diving events, it was FSU's Terry Horner taking the win on both springboards. The 2007 NCAA 3-meter champion won the 1-meter with a 347.30 and the 3-meter with a 365.50.

Auburn was right on his heels both times as Dan Mazzaferro finished second on the 1-meter with a score of 326.20, followed by Kelly Marx in third with a 319.00.

On the 3-meter, it was Marx trailing Horner by slightly more than a point as he came in with a score of 364.35. Scott Morgan and Mazzaferro made it a team affair as the duo finished third and fourth, respectively, behind Marx. Morgan's score of 353.85 set a new personal-best by nearly 30 points.

For the women, it was Courtney Brown leading the Tigers on both boards. Brown set a new personal-best on the 1-meter with a score of 211.50, finishing seventh, and followed with a ninth-place score of 182.75 on the 3-meter.

"Overall, we are showing some improvement, but there will be some things that we obviously want to stress in the coming weeks as we prepare for SECs," said head diving coach Jeff Shaffer. "Courtney Brown did a great job and had a personal-best on 1-meter, she continues to improve. I was also really impressed with Scott Morgan's 3-meter performance, a personal best by more than 20 points. It is great to see his hard work pay off."

The defending NCAA and SEC Champion Auburn swimming and diving teams return to action Feb. 20-23 as the Tigers prepare to defend their title at the SEC Championships. The four-day event will begin Thursday, Feb. 20 at the Alabama Aquatic Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Special thanks to Auburn for contributing this report.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x