Jan. 13, 2006
Austin, Texas - Friday afternoon's meeting between No. 1 Auburn and No. 6 Texas did not disappoint the fans at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center as the two powerhouses took it down to the wire as AU inched out the Longhorns by one point, 122-121, to extend the dual meet win streak to 40.
The AU diving duo Steven Segerlin and Scott Morgan made a significant difference in the outcome of the meet as the pair went one-two on both boards to contribute key points toward to AU team point total. Segerlin, a five-time All-American, not only won both events by a substantial margin, but also broke his own AU record on 1-meter by .70 (370.95). Teammate Morgan picked a good time to showcase two personal best performances as the freshman finished second on both boards (276.75 - 1-meter and 307.88 - 3-meter) and contribute key points for the Tigers team.
"Both our divers stepped up and did a great job," AU head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Steve broke his own Auburn record on 1-meter and Scott really made the difference at the end for our team. It was a total team effort but Scott improved ten-fold today. We see him dive like this in practice everyday but he is just finally starting to put it together in the meets and it was great for him to get the team behind him and that made a big difference."
"I knew today that I really had to step it up and do my part to help the team out," Morgan commented. "I was just concentrating hard and I dug deep and had a personal best on both boards. My improvements helped the team in the long run so I was glad that my being here today helped our team get the end result we wanted."
The Tigers had two individual event winners in three events as senior Eric Shanteau captured both the 200 IM and 200 breast. Shanteau touched the wall in 1:48.36 in the IM and 1:59.21 in the breast to bring his season win total to nine individual crowns. Freshman Cesar Cielo, swimming in first collegiate meet, wowed the crowd in the 50 free with a winning time of 20.17. Cielo also had a third place finish in the 100 free and was instrumental in the Tigers 400 free relay win.
"This was a team meet and every point mattered," Tiger head coach David Marsh said. "Today showed that every event matters and for Scott to step up and finish second on both boards really made a difference for us. We had significant up's and down's and we didn't swim like we expected and we will need to get a lot better from here in order to accomplish what we have set out to do. I think the training foundation that we have is fabulous but we just need to start racing better."
With the dual meet win, the Tigers improve to 8-0 on the season and remain undefeated since the January 11, 2001, meeting against the Longhorns in Auburn. The one point differential was the smallest in AU history between the two teams as the closet before was three points on January 14, 1984 (Tigers won).
"We had a couple standout performances - Cesar, in his first meet for Auburn, in the leadoff position on the 400 free relay swam the fastest time of the day and Joey Schneider was key during the meet. The 200 breaststroke group really came through as a whole today and we had to finish as we did in that event in order to have a chance to win." Cielo anchored the winning 400 free relay that posted a provisional time of 2:58.02 (also swimming on the relay were Alexei Puninski, Kurt Cady and Scott Goodrich). AU also had a group take third to secure the one point win (Matt Targett, Nick Bovell, Jakob Andkajaer, Schneider). Also having a strong meet was senior Doug Van Wie, who was just edged out in the 200 back, but had a season best time of 1:45.84 for second place.
"I was glad we kept it exciting for the crowd," Marsh said. "I really want to give a lot of credit to the Texas team. They swam extremely well with a young group and it looks like Texas has returned to top-notch status in the collegiate swimming world."
NEXT MEET: The AU men and women travel to Gainesville, Fla., on Jan. 21 for a 12 p.m. CT meeting with the Gators. Auburn returns home the following Friday, Jan. 28, to face Florida State and Arkansas (women only).
Auburn Results
400 medley relay
2. Auburn 'A' - Doug Van Wie, Sean Osborne, Alexei Puninski, Matt Targett - 3:16.36
3. Auburn'B' - Scott Goodrich, David Maras, John Scott, Kurt Cady - 3:20.86
5. Auburn 'C' - Mark Johnson, Jon Roberts, Luke Weniger, Steve Scheren - 3:25.24
1000 free
2. Daniel Slocki - 9:21.99
4. Andrew Callahan - 9:28.51
7. Jeff Smith - 9:46.59
200 free
3. Joey Schneider - 1:38.47
4. Jakob Andkjaer - 1:39.30
6. Doug Van Wie - 1:39.83
7. Seth Barry - 1:41.98
50 free
1. Cesar Cielo - 20.17
4. Scott Goodrich - 20.65
5. Matt Targett - 20.87
8. Luke Weniger - 21.69
200 IM
1. Eric Shanteau - 1:48.36
2. James Wike - 1:48.64
5. Nick Bovell - 1:51.94
7. Kurt Cady - 2:02.80
1-meter diving
1. Steven Segerlin - 370.95 (Auburn record)
2. Scott Morgan - 276.75
200 fly
2. Eric Shanteau - 1:48.02
3. Mark Johnson - 1:49.28
5. John Scott - 1:50.11
6. Jakob Andkjaer - 1:52.21
100 free
3. Cesar Cielo - 44.45
4. Alexei Puninski - 44.83
7. Seth Barry - 46.76
200 back
2. Doug Van Wie - 1:45.84
3. James Wike - 1:46.47
5. Nick Bovell - 1:50.72
500 free
2. Daniel Slocki - 4:30.47
4. Joey Schneider - 4:34.53
7. Jeff Smith - 4:38.65
8. Mark Johnson - 4:45.27
3-meter diving
1. Steven Segerlin - 378.07
2. Scott Morgan - 307.88
200 breast
1. Eric Shanteau - 1:59.21
3. James Wike - 1:59.91
5. Sean Osborne - 2:01.86
6. Andrew Callahan - 2:04.68
400 free relay
1. Auburn 'A' - Cesar Cielo, Alexei Puninski, Kurt Cady, Scott Goodrich - 2:58.02
3. Auburn 'B' - Matt Targett, Nick Bovell, Jacob Andkjaer, Joey Schneider - 2:59.87
5. Auburn 'C' - Seth Barry, Jon Roberts, Daniel Slocki, Luke Weniger - 3:07.69