SEC Championships: Day Three

ATHENS, Georgia, February 19. THE Auburn men’s swimming and diving team is in first place, while the women are third after the third day of the 2010 SEC Championships at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia. The men captured three individual events and one relay on Friday, while the women took home two individual titles and one relay.

Auburn’s evening was highlighted by the men capturing four of the top five spots in the 100 breaststroke, Kelly Marx’s victory in men’s platform diving, Pascal Wollach’s win in the 100 back and Micah Lawrence’s school and SEC record in the women’s 100 breaststroke.

“It was a great day for Auburn swimming and we fought like a true Auburn team,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “Nothing is better than having your team dedicated to committing a task and going out there and accomplishing it. When that hard work pays off, it’s an amazing feeling.”

The men’s dominance in the 100 breast was keyed by junior Adam Klein’s first-ever SEC title, as he won in a NCAA “A” cut time of 52.78. With the victory, Auburn has won two of the last three 100 breast titles.

“Coming into the race, I knew I had to take it out quick,” Klein said. “Michael (Silva) is really good in the first 50 and my strength is in the last 50. I knew that the race was going to be between me and him and I’m so happy with how we finished.”

Coming in just .19 seconds in second was senior Michael Silva in a time of 52.97. Freshman Stuart Ferguson touched fourth with a “B” time of 53.64, while sophomore Chris Fox was fifth in 53.78.

“We knew we had to score a lot of points for the team and needed the points bad,” Silva said. “Working with these four guys all year long, I knew we had it in us to do something special tonight. Going 1-2 with me and Adam means a whole lot.”

The men continued to be a dominant force as the night went on, having four in the 100 back championship final. Wollach, a senior on the squad, came away with his second-consecutive conference title in an “A” time of 45.69. Auburn has won the event six of the last seven years.

“It’s a great feeling to win two years in a row,” Wollach said. “Swimming my time and going faster than I was at SECs last year just proved that I can do it. I know I can go faster in a month at NCAAs and I’m anxious for that.”

Juniors Jared White and Kohlton Norys finished fourth (47.12) and fifth (47.25), respectively. Senior Jordan Anderson rounded out the championship final with an eighth-place finish in 48.30.

Lawrence was the only finalist entering the 100 breast championship final to go under a minute in the preliminaries, finishing in 59.89. The Pflugerville, Texas, product came out blazing in the evening race as she set a new school and SEC record with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 59.29 to capture her first-ever SEC individual title. The school-record broke a seven-year old mark previously held by Maggie Bowen.

“Before the race all I was thinking was that I knew I could be fast,” Lawrence said. “It’s such a great feeling to win a title for the team. There’s nothing like winning and I’m very excited to win my first ever conference title.”

Marx continued Auburn’s domination in the men’s platform as, claiming the school’s fourth consecutive SEC title in the event. The 2008 SEC 1-meter champion, Marx recorded his career-best mark on platform, winning with a score of 446.60.

“The platform as been such a tradition here at Auburn and for me to carry on the legacy, I couldn’t be more proud,” Marx said. “Jeff (Shaffer) is one of the best tower coaches in the nation and he had full trust in me. I went up there and stayed consistent and it ended up great.”

Auburn swept the men’s and women’s 400 medley relay in the evening’s final event, as the women touched home in an NCAA automatic time of 3:31.83, while the men won with a “A” cut time of 3:07.01. The foursome of Melissa Marik, Lawrence, Ava Ohlgren and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace gave the women their fifth-consecutive SEC title in the event. The men, who also won their fifth-consecutive conference title, saw Wollach give Auburn the lead after the opening leg, before turning it over to Klein, Tyler McGill, and Adam Brown.

“Right before the race, Paul (Yetter) pulled us aside and told us what we needed to do to win,” Ohlgren said. “We had a plan, stuck to it and it was awesome to come out on top.”

“It’s a real tight meet and we were only up seven points going into the relay,” McGill said. “It was huge for us to come out on top in terms of the team standings. It’s going to be a tough battle tomorrow. Winning this tonight is going to give us great momentum heading into tomorrow. These guys like to fight and I can’t wait for tomorrow to see what happens.”

Representing the Tigers in the women’s 100 butterfly final was sophomore sprinter Vanderpool-Wallace. Coming into the last turn, Vanderpool-Wallace was on her way to the women’s first swimming title of the meet as she finished in a NCAA “B” cut time of 52.55. The win was Auburn’s first in the event since the 2002 championships.

“I went into the race just hoping to get a personal-best time,” Vanderpool-Wallace said. “My goal was to move up to maybe third or fourth. Coming off that last wall, I saw I had the chance to win and I went for it.”

Senior captains Tyler McGill and Jordan Anderson represented the Tigers in the men’s 100 fly championship final, as the duo finished in second and fourth, respectively. McGill recorded a NCAA “A” cut time of 46.00, while Anderson finished in a “B” time of 46.43. Sophomore Adam Brown was 12th overall in the event with a time 47.33.

Marik, a senior from Naperville, Ill., put together a season-best swim in the 100 back to finish tied for third with a “B” time of 53.20.

Senior Ava Ohlgren opened the night competing in her fourth-consecutive 400 championship final. The captain finished fourth in a “B” cut time of 4:10.49. Ohlgren posted a season-best time of 4:09.35 in the prelims.

Freshman Katie Gardocki continues to be successful in her first conference championships, seeing her finish 13th overall in the 400 IM with a career-best time of 4:14.45.

Another freshman having an exceptional meet was Kyle Owens, who captured eighth in the 400 individual medley in a career-best time of
3:49.08. Classmate Chris Kramer and junior Robert Looney put in season-best times during the consolation finals, as Kramer took 13th (3:52.16) and Looney was 14th (3:53.79).

A trio of Tigers recorded season-best times in the 200 free consolation
final. Senior Maggie Bird swam a “B” time of 1:47.35 to finish ninth, while sophomore Stephanie Horner was 10th (1:47.62) and freshman Becca Jones took 12th (1:47.88).

Senior Will Dove put in Auburn’s best time in the 200 free, finishing 13th in 1:37.05. Wollach was 14th in 1:37.66 and Gideon Louw was 16th in 1:38.77.

Competition continues at the SEC Championships Saturday with the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, women’s platform and the 400 free relay.

Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. from the Gabrielsen Natatorium, while the finals start at 6 p.m. with the 1650 free. Live results and video streaming are available at www.georgiadogs.com.

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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