Ava Ohlgren Wins 200 IM National Title At Short Course National Championships

Nov. 29, 2007

ATLANTA - Sophomore Ava Ohlgren highlighted the opening night of the 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Short Course National Championships, earning the national title in the 200 IM and an invitation to join the U.S. National team.

Ohlgren opened the day with the top time in the 200 IM prelims with a time of 1:57.63 and topped that time in the finals, winning the event in 1:55.83, a NCAA automatic qualifying time. She bested some of the top swimmers in the country in the event, including former Tiger and Olympian Margaret Hoelzer, who finished sixth in 1:59.22.

With the win, Ohlgren will be invited to join the United States national team for the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships, April 9-13, 2008, in Manchester, England.

"I'm really excited, it is my second international meet that I have qualified for and I really hope I am able to go," said Ohlgren. "I was really excited about winning my first United States national title, I've always been up there but never at the very top, so it was awesome to get to the top."

Head coach Richard Quick was also excited for Ohlgren and very pleased with the way the women's team stepped up in the opening day.

"On the women's side, I thought we had a very good meet today. Ava Ohlgren swam in the 200 IM extraordinary and the girls did an outstanding job in the 500 free, the 50 free was solid and I thought our relay did really well," said Quick. "All-around, I thought it was a really solid performance today."

Co-head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker was equally pleased with how the team performed in its first big meet of the season.

"I thought we were pretty solid, top to bottom for this time of year," said Tierney-Walker. "It is an interesting time of year, training pretty hard and getting ready for finals, we're just trying to keep our priorities straight, studying hard and competing at the level that we should be."

Tierney-Walker said the thing she was most impressed with in Ohlgren's performance was how comfortable she was competing against competition on the national level - something she says is key to her future success.

"The thing that is valuable about competing in a meet like this is competing comfortably in a heat of top-level talent," said Tierney-Walker. "The more and more that Ava gets comfortable, the better she is going to be. She showed tonight that she is certainly a gamer."

Auburn continued its strong presence in the 200 IM, led by senior Emily Kukors with a victory in the B Final with a time of 1:58.53. Following her was teammate Kara Denby in third with a time of 1:59.75. Both Kukors' and Denby's times in the event are "A" cuts. Emile Ewing rounded out the Tiger run in the 200 IM, finishing fifth in the B Final with a time of 2:01.88, a NCAA provisional time.

Auburn's women kept on rolling as three Tigers swam "A" cuts in the 500 freestyle. Kukors led the charge, winning her second B Final of the night with a time of 4:42.71. Right on her heels, though, was Maggie Bird as she finished runner-up in 4:42.80. Freshman Caitlin Geary nearly made it a sweep for Auburn in the event as she finished fourth with a time of 4:44.69.

In the 50 free, Ohlgren led the way again as she finished eighth with a "B" cut time of 22.71. She was followed by Denby as she finished fifth in the B Final with a NCAA provisional time of 23.08. Also competing in the event was former Tiger Jana Kolukanova. The Olympian from Estonia finished fourth in the B Final with a time of 22.97.

On the men's side, Quick was pleased with the way his team competed at all levels, but especially happy with the performance of Scott Goodrich.

"For the men, I thought our 50 freestylers were good and for this time of year it was really good," said Quick. "Scott Goodrich had a really good night with in the 50 freestyle and then again as the leadoff in the medley relay.

"In general, I thought it was a pretty good meet and I think if we just respond again tomorrow morning that will be real important."

Goodrich finished the night with NCAA provisional times in two events. He posted a 19.79 in the 50 free and followed it up with a 47.89 in the 100 back leadoff in the 400 medley relay.

Former Tigers Bryan Lundquist and Eric Shanteau were also represented Auburn well Thursday night. Lundquist posted a time of 19.39 in the 50 free for a third-place finish while Shanteau came in third in the 200 IM with a time of 1:44.12.

Lundquist was the only Auburn swimmer in the 50 free A Final, but Freb Bousquet led a pack of three former Tigers in the B Final as he picked up the victory in 19.29 seconds. Alexei Puninski finished fourth in 19.82 while Goodrich came in sixth in 19.96.

Following Shanteau in the 200 IM was another pack for former Tigers. Placing right behind him in fourth was Doug Van Wie with a time of 1:44.46, followed by James Wike in fifth with a time of 1:44.89. Olympic gold medalist Mark Gangloff rounded out the Auburn representation in the A Final as he finished seventh in 1:46.52.

Former Auburn swimmer and Olympian from the Bahamas Jeremy Knowles placed fourth in the 50 free B Final, finishing in 1:47.84.

In the men's 500 free, freshman Robert Looney was the lone Auburn representative in the finals, finishing seventh in the C Final with a time of 4:27.54.

In the final event of the night, the 400 medley relay, the Auburn team of Scott Goodrich, Michael Silva, Tyler McGill and Alexei Puninski finished third with a time of 3:12.60. But, it was a team made up almost entirely of former Auburn swimmers that stole the show.

Swimming for the Mecklenberg Aquatic Club, former Tigers Van Wie, Gangloff and Knowles teamed up with Michael Smit to win the event with a time of 3:08.62.

Action at the 2007 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Short Course National Championships resumes at 9:30 a.m., Friday with preliminaries in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and the 800 free relay. Finals are set to begin at 6 p.m. at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

Fans can follow the action with live scoring at www.OmegaTiming.com. A free video Webcast of Friday night's finals will be available at www.SwimNetwork.com.