March 22, 2008
Complete Results
Day 3 Finals Results
Notes | Photo Gallery 
COLUMBUS, Ohio - For the seventh year in a row, the Auburn women's swimming and diving team finished its season as one of the top two teams in the country as the Tigers ended the 2008 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships runner-up to Arizona.
The Tigers have won five of the last seven NCAA team titles with the only other second-place finish coming in 2005 to Georgia.
Auburn finished the meet with 348 points, trailing Arizona and their 484 points. Stanford came in third with 343 while Texas A&M followed in fourth with 315. California rounded out the top five with 291 points.
Arizona becomes the first non-SEC team to win the NCAA team title since 1998 when a Stanford team coached by current Auburn head coach Richard Quick took the title.
Auburn led after the first few events in the opening session, but Arizone pulled ahead to finish the first day with a slight lead. The Wildcats extended that lead on Friday, but Auburn was able to maintain its hold on second.
The Tigers never let go of that second-place position, despite a threat by Stanford late in the night after the Cardinal pulled within three points following platform diving. Auburn solidified its spot in the final relay, taking fourth to Stanford's fifth to hold them off.
"Our team showed great courage today," said co-head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker. "When you come to NCAAs, No. 1 it is about coming here and No. 2 it is about fighting, fighting for points, and this team did that today.
"We told them before the session that today was less about the scoreboard and more about getting your hand on the wall and fighting and this team did that today."
Tierney-Walker was also proud of the fight shown by seniors Kara Denby and Emily Kukors, along with sophomore Ava Ohlgren. All three Tigers earned seven All-America honors, joining a list of only 13 Auburn swimmers who had previously accomplished that feat.
"Kara Denby was outstanding today," said Tierney-Walker. "Kara, along with Emily Kukors and Ava Ohlgren, I'm so proud of them and how hard they worked this week."
Co-head coach Richard Quick was also pleased with the team's Saturday performance. With the score indicating that Arizona had all but won the championship, he was proud of how the team came out ready to compete.
"I was really proud of them today," said Quick. "We had a real tough day yesterday and today was a measure of everyone's character and I thought we stepped up real hard today. I am proud of this team both as athletes and as people."
Ohlgren had the top performance for Auburn on the night, setting a new school record in the 200 fly with at time of 1:54.64. She breaks the record set by Kukors at the SEC Championships and holds two Auburn records with the other being in the 400 IM, set earlier this week.
"I felt great about that race," said Ohlgren. "I went out real smooth like in my 400 IM and my arms did not feel like they were going to fall off, so I was happy about that."
Sophomore Maggie Bird opened the final session by taking fourth in the 1650 free with a time of 15:59.81, a time that is short of her personal-best but would rank fourth all-time at Auburn.
"There were a few little details that I need to work on to get better, but overall I'm happy with it," said Bird. "I'm really excited about my improvement, I've made a lot of strides since last year. Still not quite as fast as I would like to be, but I'm happy."
Also scoring for Auburn in the 1650 free was freshman Micah Martindale as she finished 14th with a time of 16:14.33.
Freshman Erica Meissner followed in the 200 back, finishing eighth with a time of 1:55.92. Earlier in the day, Meissner swam a 1:54.87 in the prelims, the fourth-fastest time ever at Auburn.
Margo McCawley and Melissa Marik also swam in the 200 back, finishing 10th and 13th overall, respectively. McCawley clocked a time of 1:55.01, the fifth-fastest time ever at Auburn, while Marik touched in at 1:55.78.
In the 100 free, it was Denby leading the team with a fourth-place finish, clocking a 48.20 in the final. The senior swam a 47.92 in prelims, becoming the first Auburn swimmer ever to break 48 seconds and breaking her own school record.
Kukors swam in the consolation final, finishing 15th overall with a 49.20.
In the only other individual swimming event on the evening's program, freshman Melanie Roberts finished eighth in the consolation final to come in 16th overall with a time of 2:13.53.
With second-place on the line, the 400 free relay team of Ohlgren, Kukors, Emile Ewing and Denby touched in at 3:13.65 to finish fourth in the final event of the night, finishing second to Arizona in the team championship race.
With the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships complete, the focus now turns to the men's team as the Tigers head out to Federal Way, Wash., for the 2008 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, March 27-29.
2008 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships
Champions and Auburn Finishes
1650-Yard Freestyle
1 - Emily Brunemann (Michigan) - 15:53.69
4 - Maggie Bird - 15:59.81
14 - Micah Martindale - 16:14.33
29 - Chelsea Haser - 16:36.18
200-Yard Backstroke
1 - Gemma Spofforth (Florida) - 1:50.70
8 - Erica Meissner - 1:55.92
13 - Melissa Marik - 1:55.78
100-Yard Freestyle
1 - Lacey Nymeyer (Arizona) - 47.50
4 - Kara Denby - 48.20
15 - Emily Kukors - 49.20
200-Yard Breaststroke
1 - Rebecca Soni (Southern California) - 2:06.32
16 - Melanie Roberts - 2:13.53
200-Yard Butterfly
1 - Saori Haruguchi (Oregon State) - 1:52.39
3 - Ava Ohlgren - 1:54.64
Platform Diving
1 - Brittany Viola - 362.60
400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1 - Arizona (Lacey Nymeyer, Anna Turner, Lara Jackson, Taylor Baughman) - 3:11.34
4 - Ohlgren (48.49), Kukors (48.21), Ewing (49.46), Denby (47.49) - 3:13.65