Kieran Smith Swims 1:43 200 IM in Florida’s Win Over Auburn

kieran-smith-
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Kieran Smith Swims 1:43 200 IM in Florida’s Win Over Auburn

The Gator men entered Saturday’s meet competing for the first time as a whole squad since Nov. 18-20 at the Auburn Invitational, where they defeated the Tigers, 521-426, at the three-day meet.

Florida Swimming & Diving Press Release

UF won nine of 16 events and produced several more top-three performances and B-cut times.

Results

Event Winners

  • Bobby Finke (8:57.86) in the 1000y free.
  • Trey Freeman (1:35.38) in the 200y free.
  • Kieran Smith (47.22) in the 100y back.
  • Kieran Smith (42.75) in the 100y free.
  • Bobby Finke (1:46.7) in the 200y back.
  • Eric Friese (46.78) in the 100y fly.
  • Leonardo Garcia (381.45) in the three-meter dive.
  • Kieran Smith (1:43.76) in the 200y IM.
  • Trey Freeman, Adam Chaney, Eric Friese and Will Davis in the 400y free relay (2:55.03).

The Gator women came into the matchup off of a sound 176-74 victory over UNF on Wednesday, and with an eye on the SEC Championships next month, left Auburn with a dominant win.

UF won 15 of the 16 events over the Tigers and produced 22 B-cut performances, while also adding on an A-cut performance from senior diver, Ashley McCool.

Florida will now have some time to prepare for the SEC Championships, which will be hosted in both Athens, Ga. (Swimming) and Columbia, Mo. (Diving) on Feb. 17-20.

Event Winners

  • Lain Shahboz, Cecilia Porter, Talia Bates and Katie Mack in the 200y medley relay (1:38.8).
  • Nikki Miller in the 200y free (1:46.42).
  • Talia Bates in the in the 100y back (52.84).
  • Cecilia Porter in the 100y breast (1:00.19).
  • Amanda Ray in the 200y fly (1:56.56).
  • Katie Mack in the 50y free (22.74).
  • Elizabeth Perez in the three-meter dive (301.43).
  • Katie Mack in the 100y free (49.19).
  • Rosie Zavaros in the 200y back (1:56.09).
  • Vanessa Pearl 200y breast (2:09.56).
  • Taylor Ault in the 500y free (4:45.21).
  • Talia Bates in the 100y fly (53.0).
  • Ashley McCool in the one-meter dive (303.23).
  • Kathleen Golding in the 200y IM (1:57.96).
  • Talia Bates, Gabby Hillis, Kirschtine Balbuena and Katie Mack in the 400y free relay (3:17.66).

Auburn Release

The Auburn swimming and diving team lost Saturday’s dual meet to a top-10 Florida squad, but it was a performance that included a number of season bests and lifetime bests for the Tigers on both the men’s and women’s sides.

It was also a meet to recognize the seven Auburn seniors, many of whom competed for the last time inside the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on Saturday.

The group included three women (Carly Cummings, Jewels Harris, Jane Johnson) and three men (Logan Andrews, Christian Ginieczki, Thomas Heinzel, Spencer Rowe).

“It’s been a really difficult almost 12 months,” Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. “Just getting to this point, having these meets this week, being able to celebrate our seniors – our senior diver, our senior swimmers – with a dual meet and a ceremony, it says a lot about the team and the ability of this group to come together, stay healthy and have this moment.

“It’s certainly not their senior year of dreams with everything involved, but it was great to bring everybody together and be able to support them, show them some love and give back to our seniors after everything they’ve done for us.”

Coming off a pair of individual wins in Wednesday’s victory over Florida State, sophomore Averee Preble swam a lifetime-best 9:40.82 in the 1,000 freestyle to snag the first win of the meet for the Auburn women against Florida.

Freshmen Brynn Curtis, Colby Hurt and Hannah Ownbey also finished with lifetime bests in various events in what was the final dual meet of the season. Curtis swam a 2:10.29 to place second in the 200 breaststroke, shaving a full second off her previous lifetime-best time, while Hurt set lifetime bests in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle.

The Tigers fell, 215-84, to No. # Florida – splitting the two dual meets this week.

“Our women maybe didn’t have the outcome against Florida you want, but you saw really good spirit, good energy from that group, and continued performances throughout the meet,” Taylor said.

The Auburn men went back-and-forth with Florida throughout the meet, and the outcome wasn’t decided until the final 400 freestyle relay where the Gators took first to clinch a 158-142 victory.

It was a performance that included seven first-place finishes for the Tigers, beginning with the 200 medley relay where Ginieczki, Reid Mikuta, Nik Eberly and Logan Tirheimer combined to touch the wall ahead of Florida’s top relay team.

It was the first of three wins for Mikuta who swept the breaststroke events, winning both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The freshmen earned NCAA B cuts in both races.

Eberly, a sophomore, also picked up an individual win in the 50 freestyle.

Freshmen Mikkel Gadgaard and Michael Bonson both put in lifetime-best swims on Saturday. Gadgaard just missed winning the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:35.57 – a lifetime best. He came back and won the 500 freestyle. Bonson set new lifetime bests in both the 500 and 1000 freestyle, placing second in both events.

“When you look back at Wednesday, there were four swims and a dive or two that were the difference in the Florida State meet,” Taylor said. “Today, we’ve got to find a way to get our hand on the wall first when it comes down to a meet being on the line. So we’ve got to continue to learn and grow from that end.”

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