Jan. 27, 2007
AUBURN - The Auburn men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in their final dual meets of the season, and both Tiger teams emerged victorious Saturday at Florida State. The No. 3 Auburn men's team defeated the 15th-ranked Seminoles, 133-108, while the second-rank Tiger women's squad beat No. 7 Florida State, 129-112. Auburn's men improved to 4-1 while dropping Florida State to 5-2, and the Auburn women improved to 6-1 while handing the Seminoles their first loss of the season after Florida State had won its first nine dual meets.
Despite competing without the teams' top divers, Auburn emerged victorious by posting a combined 15 provisional qualifying marks, while winning eight men's and six women's swimming events. The two Tiger divers that were in attendance still placed in the top three in all four events.
Cesar Cielo highlighted the men's meet, becoming the first Tiger to go under 20 seconds this year in the 50 free, clocking a winning time of 19.72 seconds which just missed the `A' cut time by .12 seconds. Cielo also swam on a pair of winning relay teams that posted `B' cut times. The 200 medley relay team of Cielo, David Maras, Alexei Puninski and Scott Goodrich won in 1:28.04, while Cielo, Puninski and Goodrich were joined by Bryan Lundquist in winning the 200 free relay in 1:20.16.
"Florida State has one of the most improved teams in the country and we couldn't relax until meet was over," said Director of Competitive Aquatics David Marsh. "We had to keep battling throughout. It was a good final tune-up for the SECs. We will need to rest and recover to battle at what is the fastest conference meet in the nation."
The women's meet featured a 1-2 finish in the 500 free with a pair of `B' cut times. Chelsea Haser swam a season-best 4:46.05 to win, while Maggie Bird (4:53.73) also reached the `B' cut time for the first time this year.
In the 200 fly, Emily Kukors posted a season-best time of 1:59.68 to win the race, while Julie Stupp (2:01.73) was second. The Tigers also had a 1-2 finish with two provisional times in the 200 IM, led by Kara Denby (2:01.71) and Stupp (2:03.98).
"We were pretty solid today," said women's co-head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker. "Florida State has done a fantastic job with their women's team. They have improved greatly and were a great test for us today. We had an opportunity to see individuals perform in different events, and we're still looking for second and third events for people. We had solid all-around performance and I think its indicative of where we are this time of the year, and we're looking forward to a little time to rest before SECs."
Even without their top divers, Auburn's two divers that did compete - Caleb Dunnichay and Emily Griesemer - held their own. Dunnichay won the 1-meter event with a score of 310.42, and was third on the 3-meter board with 323.02 points, posting zone qualifying scores in both events. Griesemer was second on the 3-meter board (263.63 points) and third on the 1-meter board (243.45), just missing a season best on the 3-meter board.
"We chose not to bring our four top divers so they could prepare and rest for the SECs," said head diving coach Jeff Shafer. "I was proud of the way Caleb and Emily picked up the slack. They were able to hold their own against some very good divers and score some points in a tight team race."
Also for the men, Puninski won the 100 free in a provisional qualifying time of 44.32 while Goodrich was third (45.65). Tyler McGill won the 200 fly in a season-best `B' cut time of 1:48.00, and Jordan Anderson was second (1:49.44).
Auburn finished 1-2-3 in the 200 IM, led by Joey Schneider (1:50.06), McGill (1:50.22) and Sean Osborne (1:50.82). Osborne also won the 200 breast with a season-best mark of 2:00.93.
In other women's action, Ava Ohlgren won the 1000 free in a personal-best time of 9:52.90, and was second in the 100 free with a provisional time of 50.75. Emily Ewing had a `B' cut time while winning the 200 free (1:50.22), while Haser was second in 1:50.96.
Ewing also led off the winning 200 free relay team that posted a `B' cut time of 1:33.06. She was joined by Rachel Goh, Melissa Marik and Denby.
Auburn will next compete at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships in Lexington, Ky. The diving competition will be held Feb. 2-4, while the swimming action takes place Feb. 7-10.