Jan. 10, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 1-ranked Auburn women's swimming and diving team showed why they are the best in the country Thursday as the Tigers dominated No. 16 Texas, 157-80. Auburn's men battled with the Longhorns to the last event of the meet, but came up short as the No. 8 Tigers fell to top-ranked Texas, 129.5-113.5.
Auburn returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 12 with the completion of its Texas roadtrip. The men take on No. 20 Texas A&M while the women face off against No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 12 Southern Methodist.
Action in the meet is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. A free video Webcast is available at www.AggieAthletics.com.
The No. 1-ranked women's team came out and swept Texas in the first event of the meet, taking the top three spots in the 200 medley relay, and never looked back as the Tigers cruised to a 157-80 win.
Auburn won all 11 swimming events at the meet, led by senior Emily Kukors and sophomore Ava Ohlgren. Kukors earned her fifth "A" cut of the season, winning the 400 IM with a time of 4:10.97 - a mark that also ranks sixth all-time at Auburn.
The rest of the Tigers accounted for 12 NCAA provisional times, including three from Ohlgren, along with her three wins.
"The women have been training with great consistency for a couple of months and I'm really pleased to see that paying off," said co-head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker. "To win at the NCAA Championships, individuals need to be available to contribute points in multiple events and we're really focusing on that.
"It is especially nice to get a win against a team like Texas, who has a great history and Kim Brackin has done a fantastic job here. For us to come in and win in events that maybe we don't normally swim is a great testament."
For Tierney-Walker, the win was especially sweet as she was able to leave victorious from her alma mater.
"I love coming back here," said Tierney-Walker. "I was part of a great tradition as an athlete here and I've been fortunate that I've been able to expand that and be a part of a great tradition at Auburn as a coach."
The Tigers set the tone early in the meet, taking the top three spots in the 200 medley relay. The team of Melissa Marik, Kara Denby, Alana Dillette and Emile Ewing earned the win with a time of 1:42.71 - the fastest time at Auburn this season.
Freshman Micah Martindale followed with a win in the 1,000 free. Her time of 9:46.41 in the event ranks fourth all-time at Auburn.
Fresh of swimming anchor in the relay win, Ewing returned to the pool for a win in the 200 free. The junior took the win with a "B" cut time of 1:49.07.
Ohlgren followed with her first of three individual wins at the meet. The sophomore posted a "B" cut time of 23.11 in the 50 free for the win. She also finished in a "B" cut time of 4:47.11 to win the 500 free, immediately following with a "B" cut 2:16.63 to win the 200 breast.
Also earning individual wins were senior Kara Denby in the 100 free (50.28), Julianne McLane in the 200 fly (2:01.91) and Margo McCawley in the 200 back (2:00.53). For McCawley, it marked the first individual win in a dual meet of her career.
After starting strong, Auburn made sure to finish strong, taking the win in the 200 free relay to cap off the night. The team of Caitlin Geary, Kara Denby, Emile Ewing and Emily Kukors posted a "B" cut time of 1:33.42 to take the win.
In the diving events, newcomer Courtney Brown took third on both springboards. Brown scored a 196.26 on the 1-meter and a 188.62 on the 3-meter.
"I was especially pleased with Courtney," said head diving coach Jeff Shaffer. "Every meet we go to, she does something better and we are getting closer and closer."
Trailing late in the meet, the No. 8 Auburn men's swimming and diving team made a push for the lead in the final two events, but came up short as No. 1-ranked Texas pulled out the 129.5-113.5 win at the Texas Swimming Center.
The Tigers won four of the 11 swimming events and one of the two diving events in the meet. Texas led throughout most of the night, but sophomore Jon Hiett and freshman Adam Klein jumped out to take first and second in the 200 breast, the next to last event of the night, to put Auburn in position to squeeze out the win in the 400 free relay.
Auburn led the first half of the relay, but Texas made a late push to take over first place and secure the win. The top Tiger relay teams finished second and third behind the Longhorns for the 16-point loss.
"The men's team grew a lot tonight," said head coach Richard Quick. "Some people stepped up that haven't stepped up before, but we need a few more people to step up, obviously. "I was proud of our growth and I'm excited about their vision for the rest of the season. We had a lot of good swims throughout the meet and we need to build on that."
Highlighting the meet for Auburn was the return of Cesar Cielo to the lineup. Making his first appearance for Auburn this season, Cielo came out and took care of business quickly - winning the 100 free with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 43.09.
Cielo topped that time at the end of the meet, swimming a 42.87 leadoff in the 400 free relay. He was followed by Steve Scheren, Kohlton Norys and Luke Weniger as the team finished second with a "B" cut time of 2:58.26. He opened the meet by swimming anchor on the winning 400 medley relay team with Scott Goodrich, David Maras and Tyler McGill. The team finished with a "B" cut time of 3:15.56.
Goodrich swam a "B" cut 48.30 in the 100 back as the leadoff in the 400 medley relay.
"You don't ever want to look over an athlete like Cesar Cielo," said Quick. "When he steps on the pool deck, everybody on the team gets better. He is an awesome athlete and he has done terrifically well today, he inspired everybody."
Aside from his return to the team, the day was made even more special for Cielo as it was his 21st birthday.
Also earning a win for Auburn was Alexei Puninski in the 50 free. He finished with a NCAA provisional time of 19.97 to take the win. Goodrich followed in second with a time of 20.63.
Will Dove had a big night for Auburn as well, leading the team in the 500 and 1,000 free. The sophomore took second in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:19.62, the fastest time for an Auburn swimmer in the event this season. Dove also finished third in the 500 free with a time of 4:30.65.
Fellow sophomore Tyler McGill also led the Tigers in a pair of events. The Champaign, Ill. native finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.11, the fastest at Auburn this season. He also came in third in the 200 fly, leading the team with a time of 1:47.63.
Freshman Kohlton Norys and junior Steve Scheren led Auburn in the two remaining swimming events. Norys came out on top in the 200 back, placing third with a time of 1:46.73, while Scheren was fifth in the 200 free with a time of 1:40.20.
"Kohlton Norys is an example of someone who really stepped up tonight, a young freshman comes in and drops four seconds in the 200 backstroke to lead the team," said Quick. "I don't believe in moral victories, but I am proud of our growth here today."
In the diving events, it was Auburn plastering its scores at the top of the leaderboard. Even though Texas' Matt Cooper took first in the 1-meter, the Tigers followed up by taking the next four spots. Dan Mazzaferro led the group by taking second with a season-best score of 331.42 while Kelly Marx followed in third with a score of 312.07.
Scott Morgan finished fourth overall with a 299.77 with Caleb Dunnichay rounding out the Auburn representation with a fifth-place score of 287.32.
On the 3-meter, it was Marx coming out on top of Cooper as he took the win with a personal-best score of 369.60. Mazzaferro followed in third with a 339.45 while Dunnichay came in fourth with a 324.45. Morgan rounded out the event for Auburn, finishing seventh with a score of 285.53.
"Anytime you come in to compete against a quality diving program like Texas, it is going to be exciting," said Shaffer. "It raises the bar a little bit and we stepped up real well today. There are a lot of positives we can take away from this meet. Corrections are being made, we need to work some more on our form and finishing dives, but overall I am very pleased with their performance today."
The Tigers finish up their Texas road trip on Saturday with a meet at No. 20 Texas A&M. Action is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. at the Student Rec Center Natatorium. Fans can follow the action live by watching the free video Webcast at www.AggieAthletics.com.