Indiana Hoosiers, Auburn Tigers Split Dual Meet Live on Big Ten Network

Knoxville, TN - December 7, 2013: Indiana University Swimmer during the 2013 AT&T Swimming Winter National Championships on December 7, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center. Photo By Matthew DeMaria/Tennessee Athletics

Photo Courtesy: Matthew DeMaria/Tennessee Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, October 10. In front of a live, nationwide audience on the Big Ten Network, the Indiana Hoosiers split with the visiting Auburn Tigers at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington, Ind. The Hoosiers men pulled off a surprising 165-78 win against Auburn, while the Auburn women topped Indiana, 129-113.

Indiana’s hiring of former Minnesota head coach Dennis Dale paid immediate dividends. Dale, known as a sprint guru at Minnesota who engaged in some gritty battles with Indiana in his time at the helm of the Golden Gophers, is already making an impact in Bloomington on the Hoosier sprint group. An IU win wasn’t what was surprising today, but it was the way in which it happened as Indiana went to work against Auburn’s vaunted sprint group.

First, IU’s Bob Glover, Tanner Kurz, Max Irwin and Ali Khalafalla touched out Auburn’s Joe Patching, Michael Duderstadt, Arthur Mendes and Cam Jones in the men’s 200-yard medley relay, 1:28.78 to 1:28.86, to set the tone, with freshman Khalafala tracking down Jones on the anchor leg. Kurz later claimed a B cut time in the 200 breast with a wining 1:58.92.

Slovenian sophomore Anze Tavcar, who placed ninth in the 50 free at Big Tens last year, had a breakthrough meet with a rare sprint freestyle sweep against Auburn. Tavcar topped the 50-yard free in a B-cut time of 20.16, while also winning the 100-yard free in a B-cut time of 44.09. Sweeping the sprint events against an Auburn’s men’s team is a rare feat.

Freshman Blake Pieroni also had a strong debut with a win in the 200-yard free in a B-cut time of 1:37.74, while also taking second in the 100 free behind Tavcar with a 44.55. Pieroni and Tavcar, along with Irwin and Kahalafalla, then joined forces in the men’s 400-yard free relay with a 2:58.36 for another surprising victory. Auburn’s Jones, Mendes, Jacob Molacek and Kyle Darmody took second in 2:59.04.

In other men’s action, Jackson Miller won the 1000-yard free in 9:24.99 for the Hoosiers. Irwin hit the wall in 1:48.08 for the men’s 200-yard fly title. Grayson Smith clocked a 4:33.89 for the men’s 500-yard free crown.

Australian Olympian James Conor swept the diving events for Indiana, winning the one-meter with 377.33 points, while also taking the three-meter event with 415.58 points.

Patching had the best day for the Auburn men. He won the 200-yard IM in a B cut time of 1:48.25, touching out IU’s Steve Schmuhl. Schmuhl also posted a B cut with a 1:48.60 for second. Patching doubled up with a 1:45.75 in the men’s 200-yard back for another B cut effort.

The women’s side proved to be a much more close contest with the Tigers and the Hoosiers landing body blows by trading dominant events back and fourth.

Ashley Neidigh opened up the meet for Auburn with a 9:52.05 to win the 1000-yard free, then watched as Jillian Vitarius, Annie Lazor, Megan Fonteno and Allyx Purcell won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:41.08. Auburn showed its spring depth by taking second as well when Sarah Reynolds, Natasha Lloyd, Maddie Martin and Ashton Allzey posted a 1:43.24.

The Hoosiers responded with a 1-2 in the women’s 200-yard free with Kennedy Goss posting a 1:48.75 for the win and Brooklynn Snodgrass collecting second in 1:49.55. Auburn used that as motivation with a damaging 1-2-3 finish in the 50-yard free as Fonteno (23.04), Ellzey (23.37) and Valerie Hull (23.48) maximized the points for the Tigers. Lazor followed with a 2:02.97 to win the 200-yard IM.

Coming out of the first diving break, won by Indiana’s Jessica Parratto (285.60), the Hoosiers pulled back into contention with a 1-2-3-4 in the 200-yard fly. Gia Dalesandro (1:59.73), Olivia Barker (2:01.26) and Reagan Cook (2:02.23) each scored for IU, while Bailey Pressey (2:02.28) wound up missing points with a fourth-place time. Only three swimmers per team can score in any individual event.

The Tigers hit back with a 1-2-3 in the women’s 100-yard free. Purcell led the way with a B cut 49.82, while Hull (51.16) and Mckenna Debever (51.61) took second and third.

NCAA champion Snodgrass put up the fastest overall time of the meet with a blazing 1:53.97 in the 200-yard back, while Auburn’s Vitarius placed second in 1:58.75. Snodgrass’ time was so fast, she would have placed third in the men’s race today.

Haley Lips (4:52.41) and Goss (4:53.24) gave the Hoosiers another boost with a 1-2 in the 500-yard free before Parratto swept the diving events with a 306.60 in the three-meter event.

Auburn shut the door on the Hoosiers, however, as Natasha Lloyd won the 200-yard breast in 2:17.50 and Purcell, Fonteno, Debever and Hull smashed the field in the 400-yard free relay with a 3:21.22.

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Results: Indiana vs. Auburn

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