Dec. 6, 2008
ATLANTA - The 2008 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming Short Course National Championships came to a close on Saturday night with the Auburn men and women claiming two national championships, three automatic NCAA times, and 19 provisional cut times.
The men, led by senior Matt Targett, finished the night with one national champion relay team, two automatic NCAA cut times, and four provisional times.
With another national champion race, the men claimed first-place in the final race of the night, the 400 freestyle relay. Gideon Louw, Tyler McGill, Steve Scheren and Targett took the race in 2:41.19, which set the new championship record and gave the relay team an automatic cut time for the NCAA championship.
Targett found his first individual NCAA automatic cut time of the season, and second A cut of the night, in the 100 freestyle. He went from wall-to-wall in 41.93 seconds and placed third in the event. Following Targett was Louw in 42.79 seconds, giving him a provisional cut for NCAAs. Also in the race was Olympian and former Tiger George Bovell, who finished with a time of 42.98.
In the men's 1650 free, Auburn took seventh and eighth, respectively, with Robert Looney in 15:12.82 and Will Dove in 15:14.32. Both Looney and Dove's time met the NCAA provisional B cut time.
Taking sixth in the 200 backstroke, Kohlton Norys went the distance in 1:43.77, which gives him another B cut time for the weekend. Also in the race was Max Murphy, who finished in 1:45.40.
Olympian Eric Shanteau took a second-place finish in the 200 breaststroke, coming to the wall in 1:52.27. Swimming for the Tigers in the race was Adam Klein, who finished in 1:59.08
Robert Looney placed third in the B-final of the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:46.67, Behind Looney was McGill and Andrew Mitchell, who finished in 1:47.60 and 1:48.22, respectively.
In the women's events, the Tigers claimed one meet championship relay, one NCAA automatic cut time, and 15 provisional times.
The women finished the night with a first-place, national championship time of 3:15.29. The relay team consisted of Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Melissa Marik, Emile Ewing and Ava Ohlgren. The time created a new meet record and also gave the team a B cut time for NCAAs. Getting another provisional cut time in the race was the relay team of Alana Dillette, Margo McCawley, Jenny Von Juoanne and Caitlin Geary, who finished in fifth with a time of 3:21.52.
In the 1650 free, Maggie Bird took a third-place finish with 16:13.63 after the distance swim. Bird was followed closely to the wall by Geary in fourth with a time of 16:14.29. Also placing in the top eight was Chelsea Haser, who took seventh in 16:18.06. All three of the Auburn women recorded NCAA provisional times in the race.
The women collected four B cuts as they took control in the 200 backstroke. Leading in the race was Julianne McClane who finished second in the A-final, coming into the wall in 1:53.52. Behind McClane was Marik in 1:56.59. In the B-final, Erica Meissner took first at 1:55.95 and Ewing won the C-final in 1:57.09. All four of the women took provisional cuts in the race.
Moving into the 100 free, Vanderpool-Wallace took first in the B-final, clocking in at 47.90 seconds. Third in the heat was Marik in 49.45 and Ohlgren came in fifth with 49.57. Vanderpool-Wallace, Marik and Ohlgren all posted B cut times in the race.
Picking up two more provisional cuts for the night were Micah Lawrence and Josefin Wede, who posted times of 2:13.48 and 2:15.19, respectively.
Ohlgren found her second provisional cut time of the night after the 200 butterfly. She finished second in the race and logged a time of 1:56.01.
During the weekend meet, the Tigers finished with four national champions, five NCAA automatic bids, and 51 provisional cut times.
The Tigers are finished with competition for the 2008 calendar year, but will return to action on Jan. 8, 2009 at Texas. The Auburn divers, however, will compete December 18-20 in the Auburn Diving Invitational.