Auburn Cruises To 400 Free Relay Victory To Close Night

Marcelo Chierighini places third in the prelims of the 100 freestyle.

NCAA Championship editorial coverage is proudly sponsored by Competitor Swim. Visit CompetitorSwim.com for more information on our sponsor. For all the latest coverage, check out our event coverage page. Also, make sure to check out our Facebook photo gallery for the latest images from the meet in Austin.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 29. THE NCAA Division I Men’s Championships came to a close with the Auburn Tigers winning the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay in Austin.

Auburn’s Marcelo Chierighini (42.06), James Disney-May (42.02), Arthur Mendes (42.77) and Kyle Darmody (41.48) turned in a time of 2:48.33 to win the finale. That gave Auburn its eighth triumph all time in the 400 free relay, tying Texas and USC for fourth behind Michigan (14), Yale (10) and California (9).

“It couldn’t come at a better time. I didn’t have my best times individually. I wasn’t really happy individually but it was the last race and the last relay,” Chierighini said. “I love swimming the relay with my boys and it came at the perfect time. It was super special. It’s really fun. Before the relay we were just messing around and just enjoying the moment. It’s my last time swimming with these guys. It’s awesome.”

California’s Tyler Messerschmidt (42.64), Ryan Murphy (41.67), Fabio Gimondi (43.290) and Seth Stubblefield (41.97) took the Golden Bear victory lap with a second-place time of 2:49.48 as California had already sewn up fifth team title heading into the final relay.

NC State’s Simonas Bilis (42.19), David Williams (42.35), Jon Boffa (41.65) and Andreas Schiellerup (43.31) picked up a program-defining third with a 2:49.50 as the Wolfpack continues to impress.

Texas (2:50.94), Alabama (2:51.65), USC (2:51.88), Florida (2:52.13) and Tennessee (2:54.25) placed fourth through eighth in the championship finale.

Tim Phillips dropped a scorching 42.14 anchor leg as Ohio State forced its way to a win in the B final with Michael Disalle (43.12), Josh Fleagle (42.39), Steffen Hillmer (43.61) and Phillips posting a 2:51.26.

Louisville (2:51.83), UNLV (2:52.36), Arizona (2:52.76), Michigan (2:52.82), Georgia (2:52.96), Penn State (2:53.37) and Stanford (2:53.41) also swam in the consolation heat.

Splits
1 Auburn ‘A’ 2:50.00 2:48.33
1) Chierighini, Marcelo SR 2) Disney-May, James SR
3) Mendes, Arthur SO 4) Darmody, Kyle FR
r:+0.69 20.60 42.06 (42.06)
1:01.93 (19.87) 1:24.08 (42.02)
1:44.66 (20.58) 2:06.85 (42.77)
2:26.56 (19.71) 2:48.33 (41.48)
2 California ‘A’ 2:50.64 2:49.48
1) Messerschmidt, Tyler SO 2) Murphy, Ryan FR
3) Gimondi, Fabio JR 4) Stubblefield, Seth JR
r:+0.76 20.33 42.64 (42.64)
1:02.26 (19.62) 1:24.31 (41.67)
1:45.00 (20.69) 2:07.51 (43.20)
2:27.67 (20.16) 2:49.48 (41.97)
3 North Carolina State ‘A’ 2:51.13 2:49.50
1) Bilis, Simonas SO 2) Williams, David JR
3) Boffa, Jonathan SR 4) Schiellerup, Andreas FR
r:+0.74 20.15 42.19 (42.19)
1:02.03 (19.84) 1:24.54 (42.35)
1:44.19 (19.65) 2:06.19 (41.65)
2:26.49 (20.30) 2:49.50 (43.31)

Team Standings
1. Califoria 468.5
2. Texas 417.5
3. Florida 387
4. Michigan 310
5. Georgia 259
6. Auburn 230
7. Arizona 198.5
8. USC 182
9. Stanford 155
10. Indiana 141

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