Penn State vs. Auburn

AUBURN, Alabama, November 4. JUNIOR Katie Gardocki and sophomore Zane Grothe combined to win five individual events, the men's and women's teams combined to post 12 NCAA provisional qualifying times, and the Tigers remained perfect on the year with a sweep of Penn State on Friday afternoon at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
The Auburn men improved to 2-0 with a 152-86 win, and the Tiger women moved to 3-0 with a 138.5-99.5 victory over the Nittany Lions. Penn State's men and women fell to 1-1.

"We put together some great swims tonight," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "We still feel like we've got a long way to go in terms of where we want to be, but we're relaly just focusing on what we can control now and just trying to get better.

The women had the top times/scores in 11 of 13 events while the men were not beaten in any of the 13 events on the day; the Tigers exhibitioned the last two events of the day.

Gardocki earned three individual victories on the day, starting with a 1:48.38 in the 200 free to lead a sweep of the top four spots along with Olivia Scott (1:48.84), Becca Jones (1:49.03) and Megan Fonteno (1:50.84). She also took the top spot in the 500 free with a 4:49.50; Siena DeVenuto took second with a 4:58.83.

But the most impressive performance of Gardocki's night came in the 400 IM. Trailing by three seconds after the first 200 yards, she steadily made up ground in the butterfly to close the gap to two seconds before a fantastic closing 100 yards in the freestyle. Her final 50-yard split of 26.62 saw her run down Penn State All-American Amy Modglin, overtaking her in the final five yards and out-touching Modglin by a .13-second margin; Gardocki won the race with an NCAA ‘B' cut time of 4:15.63.

"Katie Gardocki was outstanding today," Hawke said. "The way she mowed that girl down in the 400 IM was impressive."

Senior diver Vennie Dantin put together an equally impressive performance, sweeping the top spots on both boards. Her score of 324.93 in the 1-meter event was 1.5 points shy of her own school record, and an outstanding final dive gave her a 359.18 in the 3-meter event. She also showed off other talents – after an injury left the Tigers shorthanded in their final relay, she swam the anchor leg of Auburn's 200 freestyle relay ‘D' team.

Dantin led a sweep of the top four spots on both boards. Anna Aguero was second on both with a 309.60 in the 1-meter and a 337.43 on the 3-meter – both NCAA Zone qualifying marks – while Shanna Schuelein and Cinzia Calabretta took third and fourth, respectively, in both events. Both also earned NCAA Zone scores on the 3-meter board.

Sophomore John Santeiu swept the men's diving events, scoring a 341.33 to take the 1-meter title and a 368.93 to win the 3-meter event. Freshman Fraser McKean was second on both boards.

In the pool, Zane Grothe won both the 1000 free (9:16.30) and 500 free (4:31.53) to lead the Tiger men. Chris Kramer was second in the 500 free with a 4:35.02; Kramer also won the 400 IM with a 3:57.62.

Karl Krug improved his NCAA ‘B' cut time in the 50 free with a 20.15 to earn a win; he also led the 200 freestyle relay team of himself, Drew Modrov, Marcelo Chierighini and TJ Leon to an NCAA ‘B' cut time of 1:20.65.

Chierighini and James Disney-May took the top two spots in the 100 free with both posted NCAA ‘B' cut times. Chierighini won the race in 44.13 with Disney-May clocking a 44.26.

The men's 400 medley relay team of Kyle Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Chierighini and Krug also earned a win with a ‘B' cut time of 3:16.22. Other individual winners for the Tigers were Drew Modrov in the 200 free (1:39.41), Nimrod Hayet in the 200 fly (1;49.53), and Max Murphy in the 200 back (1:46.78). Stuart Ferguson had the top time in the 200 breast (2:01.96) with the Tigers swimming exhibition at that point.

On the women's side, the 400 medley relay team of Emily Bos, Abby Duncan, Olivia Scott and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace started off the meet with a winning time of 3:37.68, earning an NCAA ‘B' cut.

Vanderpool-Wallace later followed up with her first attempt at the 50 free this season, clocking a 22.34 to win by a wide margin and post another NCAA ‘B' cut. Hannah Riordan won the other sprint event, posting a season-best 50.18 in the 100 free for another NCAA ‘B' cut.

The team of Vanderpool-Wallace, Bos, Scott and Riordan then closed out the meet with a sizzling 1:30.89 in the 200 free relay for yet another ‘B' cut. Lauren Norberg also earned another NCAA ‘B' cut with an exhibition swim of 2:14.28 in the 200 breast, and Siena DeVenuto earned a win with a 10:07.61 in the 1000 free.

The Tigers will return to action next Friday with a huge showdown against SEC rival Georgia. The meet is set to begin at 3 p.m. at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.

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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