Meet of the Week: No. 3 Stanford Leads No. 4 Auburn, No. 15 Tennessee After First Day

By Jason Marsteller

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, November 10. NO. 3 Stanford dominated the first day of competition against No. 4 Auburn and No. 15 Tennessee in Knoxville on Friday night at the Student Aquatic Center. Overall, Stanford won seven of the nine events, while Auburn and Tennessee split the other two wins.

Stanford leads Auburn (102-65) and Tennessee (116-51) after the first day, while Tennessee trails Auburn (96-71).

Julia Smit proved to be the day one star with three event titles to her name. She started off with a A cuts in the 400 IM and 200 back before helping the Cardinal to a win in the 400 medley relay with a B-cut 100 back leadoff.

200-yard freestyle relay
The Tennessee Lady Vols started the meet off right with a touch-out win in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The foursome of Michele King, Christine Magnuson, Katie Gehring and Megan Tomes stopped the clock first in 1:32.74. That time beat Stanford by .03 seconds, as the Cardinal squad of Madeline Rovira, Elaine Breeden, Fiona O-Donnell-McCarthy and Brooke Bishop placed second in 1:32.77. Meanwhile, the Auburn quartet of Rachel Goh, Kara Denby, Emile Ewing and Emily Kukors finished third in 1:33.41. All three times cleared the provisional-qualifying standard, while King's leadoff time of 23.38 for Tennessee eclipsed the B cut in the 50 free.

400-yard IM
Something special must have been in the water during the 400 IM as four swimmers provisionally qualified for NCAAs, and Stanford's Julia Smit won the race in 4:10.09 to automatically punch her ticket to the big show. Auburn owned the rest of the top five as Adrienne Binder (4:16.16), Ava Ohlgren (4:16.82), Hayley Peirsol (4:20.95) and Julie Stupp (4:21.16) surpassed the B-cut threshold. Keira Heath gave Tennessee its best finish in the event with a seventh-place 4:25.17.

100-yard freestyle
The sparkling performances continued in the 100 free with four more B cuts going up on the board. Stanford's Brooke Bishop grabbed the title in 49.71, while her teammate Elaine Breeden took fourth in 50.94. Auburn split the difference with Emily Kukors placing second in 50.18 and Kara Denby taking third in 50.89. Tennessee's fastest time came from Michele King, who touched in 51.00 for fifth.

200-yard backstroke
Another pair of A cuts went up, as Stanford's Julia Smit claimed her second event title and automatic time with a 1:56.00 in the 200 back. Meanwhile, Megan Tomes registered UT's highest individual effort of the meet to this point with an A-cut 1:57.66 for second. Auburn's Rachel Goh rounded out the top three in a B-cut 2:00.59.

200-yard breaststroke
Stanford pocketed another automatic qualifier when Caroline Bruce thrashed her competition in the 200 breast with a 2:12.16 for the crown. Auburn's Alicia Jensen finished a distant second in 2:18.27, while Tennessee's Tiffany Clay placed third in 2:19.27.

One-meter diving
In the diving break, Stanford's Cassidy Krug led a pair of zone qualifiers with a first-place 285.40. Lady Vol Lauren LeRoy took second with 279.40 points to also qualify for zones, while Auburn's Lynnsey Segraves placed third with 255.75 points to finish just shy of the zone mark.

100-yard butterfly
Timers clocked two more provisional marks in the 100 fly as Stanford's Elaine Breeden captured first in 54.02 and Tennessee's Christine Magnuson took second in 55.15. Stanford's Kelly Hug closed out the top three in 55.45, while Auburn's Kristen Hastrup posted the Tigers' best effort with a fifth-place 56.36.

500-yard freestyle
Auburn and Stanford reigned in the middle distance event with five B cuts. Auburn swept the top three spots with Adrienne Binder (4:46.41), Ava Ohlgren (4:49.99) and Hayley Peirsol (4:50.15) all clearing the provisional mark. Additionally, Stanford's Elizabeth Durot (4:51.56) and Desiree Stahley (4:53.78) registered B cuts as well. Sam Maccherola recorded UT's best finish with an eighth-place 5:02.10.

400-yard medley relay
Stanford concluded an incredible first day of the meet with a win in the 400 medley relay. The contingent of Julia Smit, Caroline Bruce, Elaine Breeden and Brooke Bishop hit the wall first in a B-cut time of 3:41.72. Meanwhile, Tennessee's team of Megan Tomes, Tiffany Clay, Christine Magnuson and Michele King took second in 3:44.92, while Auburn's top squad of Rachel Goh, Alicia Jensen, Ava Ohlgren and Emily Kukors placed third in 3:45.89. Notably, all three leadoff legs posted provisional standards as Smit clocked a 54.90, Tomes touched in 55.51 and Goh turned in a 55.50.

The meet continues on Saturday at 10 a.m.

Meet of the Week Preview: Auburn, Stanford at Tennessee Map

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