Feb. 21, 2009
AUBURN - The Auburn men's swimming and diving team won its thirteenth consecutive SEC Championship Saturday to the tune of 880-626 over second-place Florida, tying the Gators for the most consecutive conference titles.
The Auburn women lost out to Florida 744-730.5, the third closest SEC Championship in history. Five-time individual SEC Champion.
The women took a late lead over rival Florida but lost it with just one event to go. Junior Ava Ohlgren repeated as SEC Champion in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and picked up two NCAA "A" cuts in the process.
Junior Ava Ohlgren won the Commisioner's trophy for high points scorer, splitting the award with Florida's Gemma Spofforth.
The Auburn men were led by a flawless Matt Targett. The 2009 SEC Male Swimmer of the Year claimed a new SEC record every time he entered the water, a perfect 7-of-7. The 2008 Australian Olympian swam a 40.41 split to finish the day.
"Going out there and winning those four team titles meant more to me than the three individual events," said Targett. "I love the team aspect to college swimming. There's something to be said for walking out there with your best friends and throwing down a record time.
"I love this team. I'm happy to be back in Auburn. We're going to do some great things in Texas."
Day four started for the Tigers with the 1,650 free. Dove placed seventh, hitting a new top-time of 15:05.10. The Cary, N.C., native was followed in 10th by sophomore Robert Looney, touching in at 15:23.42. The Tigers last victory came in 1999 as Kevin Clements swam a 15:18.55.
The Auburn men had entered Saturday with a sturdy 182.5 point lead over second-place Florida and aimed to add some extra padding.
Junior Pascal Wollach looked for a sweep of the backstroke events but fell short, placing third in the men's 200. The Calgary, Canada native did, however, pick up an NCAA "A" cut for his time of 1:41.24. Sophomore Kohlton Norys (1:41.24) and freshman Max Murphy (1:43.10) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Norys started prelims by winning the men's 200 back prelims, touching in at 1:41.84.
"The team just tried to focus on winning," said Auburn co-head men's coach Brett Hawke. "That's what Richard wanted us to do. He wanted us to finish the job we started earlier in the year. We stayed focused throughout the whole meet. Now it's just a feeling of relief that it's over and Richard was here to see it tonight."
With 654.5 points, the Tigers had already clinched the title. By day's end, Auburn would win by the third largest margin in SEC Championship history.
The Auburn men's sprinters looked continue their dominance Saturday night in the 100 free finals - and they did. The Tigers went 1,2,3. Auburn Olympian Matt Targett set a new SEC record and NCAA top-time, touching in at 41.55 to take first, his third 2009 SEC individual title. South African Gideon Louw placed second in 41.97 followed by senior Jakob Andkjaer in 42.36.
The 100 free is an event dominated by Auburn in recent years after winning the last six titles and 10 of the last 13.
Following his record-setting performance in prelims, senior Logan Madson placed third in the 200 fly, touching in at 1:42.15. Junior Tyler McGill (1:44.34) placed seventh.
Madson set the SEC 200 fly record in prelims but lost it to Goergia's Mark Dylla's 1:41.61 in the finals. The Tigers have won 10 200 fly titles with the last coming from Jeremy Knowles in 2004.
Dan Mazzaferro repeated as SEC Platform Champion, scoring an SEC record 487.90 through six dives. Kelly Marx posted a 423.85 to place second. The pair also finished 1,2 in Thursdays 3-meter competition.
"It was awesome to repeat," said Mazzaferro. "I had a solid list this morning and I had a main goal of coming in and beating Steve's record. He was a great diver and it would be a great accomplishment to do that. To know that I am good enough to beat the NCAA record, is a huge encouragement to get through these next four or five weeks of training until NCAAs."
Sophomore Adam Klein hit an "A" cut in the men's 200 breast, placing second with a 1:53.84. Junior Michael Silva (1:58.65) and freshman Genaro Prono (1:59.13) placed ninth and 10th, respectively. Klein gave the Tigers' their first "A" cut in the event.
The Tigers have won the 200 breast nine times but not since Dave Denniston accomplished a three-peat from 1999-2001.
The Tigers finished their championship route posting a new US Open record in the 400 FR. The team of Andkjaer, Louw, Norys and Targett sets a new US Open, NCAA, SEC record of 2:46.03.
The Tiger women went into Saturday's finals trailing the first-place Gators by eight after cutting a 57 point Thursday deficit. Georgia was only 27.5 points back of the Tigers.
The Auburn women advanced 12 to finals in Day 4 prelims, including seven in A final events. First-place Florida sent eight to A finals with three in consolation. Third-place Georgia, 27.5 points behind Auburn, had five in consolation and nine in the A finals.
Starting off in the 1,650 free, the Auburn women gained a crucial five points on both Florida and Georgia. Junior Maggie Bird finished third with a 16:03.00 followed by senior Chelsea Haser (16:12.65) in fifth and sophomore Micah Martindale (16:24.32) in tenth.
Florida responded by going 1,2,3 in the women's 200 back. Sophomore Erica Meissner swam a 1:54.08 to place fifth. Senior Julianne McLane (1:54.92) finished sixth and senior Emile Ewing (1:55.57) finished in eighth.
The Auburn women placed second and third in the 100 free to take a narrow half-point lead. Freshman Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace placed second with a 48.04 followed by sophomore Cailtin Geary in second with a 49.09. Junior Melissa Marik (48.89) placed 8th.
Auburn has only three championships in the 100 free with the last coming from Eileen Coparropa in 2004.
Auburn maintained its newfound lead over the Gators while only advancing two swimmers to the consolation finals for the 200 breast. Sophomore Melanie Roberts won the B final for the Tigers, timing in at 2:12.16, a new top-time. Sophomore Josefin Wede (2:15.71) placed fourth. Although the Tigers did not have a competitor in the finals, Auburn gained three points on the Gators. However, a 2,3 finish from the Bulldogs brought Georgia back to within 12.5 of the Tigers.
Florida's strength in numbers gave Auburn troubles down the stretch as Ava Ohlgren was the lone Tiger in the women's 200 fly finals, hitting an "A" cut time of 1:54.94. Florida's Jemma Lowe set a new SEC record for the win while fellow Gators came in fourth and sixth. Auburn dropped from first to third and 22 points out of the lead with only the 400 FR to go.
The Auburn women's 400 FR team closed the day setting a new SEC record, with a 3:12.00.
The Auburn men's and women's teams hit 50 new NCAA automatic qualifying times as well as 12 SEC Championship, eight Auburn, two US Open record and one American record.
AUBURN AWARDS
Commisioner's Trophy (High Scorer)
Men's Athlete - Matt Targett
Women's Athlete - Ava Ohlgren/Gemma Spofforth (UF)
SEC Male Swimmer of the Year - Matt Targett
Co-SEC Male Diver of the Year -Dan Mazzaferro/Aaron Fleshner (UA)
Men's Coach of the Year - Richard Quick/Brett Hawke
Men's Diving Coach - Jeff Shaffer
Women's Coach of the Year - Richard Quick/Dorsey Tierney-Walker
A CUTS
MEN
50 free (Targett, Andkjaer, Louw)
100 free (Targett, Louw)
100 back (Wollach, Norys)
200 back (Wollach)
100 breast (Klein)
200 breast (Klein)
100 fly (Andkjaer, McGill, Targett, Anderson)
200 fly (Madson)
200 IM (Tyler McGill)
200 MR (White, Silva, Targett, Andkjaer)
800 FR (Louw, Wollach, Dove, McGill)
200 FR (Andkjaer, Targett, Norys, Louw)
400 FR (Louw, McGill, Scheren, Targett)
WOMEN
200 free (Geary)
100 back (Goh, McCawley, Dillette, Marik, McLane)
200 fly (Ohlgren)
200 IM (Ohlgren)
400 IM (Ohlgren)
200 MR (Goh, Lawrence, Dillette, Vanderpool-Wallace)
400 FR (Ohlgren, Vanderpool-Wallace, Marik and Geary)
800 FR (Ohlgren, Geary, Marik, Bird)
NEW US OPEN RECORDS
Women's 800 FR (Ohlgren, Geary, Marik, Bird)
Men's 400 FR (Andkjaer, Louw, Norys, Targett)
NEW AMERICAN RECORDS
Women's 800 FR (Ohlgren, Geary, Marik, Bird)
NEW NCAA RECORDS
Women's 800 FR (Ohlgren, Geary, Marik, Bird)
Men's 400 FR (Andkjaer, Louw, Norys, Targett)
NEW SEC CHAMPIONSHIP RECORDS
Women's 100 Back (Goh)
Women's 400 IM (Ohlgren)
Women's 400 FR (Ohlgren, Vanderpool-Wallace, Marik, Geary)
Women's 800 FR (Ohlgren, Geary, Marik, Bird)
Women's 400 MR (Goh, Lawrence, Ohlgren, Vanderpool-Wallace)
Men's 50 Free (Targett)
Men's 100 Fly (Targett)
Men's 200 Fly (Madson)
Men's 200 FR (Andkjaer, Targett, Norys, Louw)
Men's 200 MR (White, Silva, Targett, Andkjaer)
Men's 400 MR (Wollach, Klein, Madson, Targett)
Men's 400 FR (Andkjaer, Louw, Norys, Targett)
Men's Platform (Mazaferro)
NEW POOL RECORDS
Women's 200 IM (Ohlgren)
Women's 400 IM (Ohlgren)
Women's 400 MR (Goh, Lawrence, Ohlgren, Vanderpool-Wallace)
Women's 800 FR (Ohlgren, Geary, Marik, Bird)
Women's 400 MR (Goh, Lawrence, Ohlgren, Vanderpool-Wallace)
Men's 50 Free (Targett)
Men's 100 Free (Louw)
Men's 100 Back (Wollach)
Men's 100 Fly (Targett)
Men's 200 Fly (Madson)
Men's 800 FR (Louw, Wollach, Dove, McGill)
Men's 200 MR (White, Silva, Targett, Andkjaer)
Men's 400 MR (Wollach, Klein, Madson, Targett)
Men's 400 FR (Andkjaer, Louw, Norys, Targett)
NEW AUBURN INDIVIDUAL RECORDS
Women's 200 Free (Geary)
Women's 100 Back (Goh)
Women's 400 IM (Ohlgren)
Men's 500 Free (Dove)
Men's 100 Back (Wollach)
Men's 100 Fly (Targett)
Men's 200 Fly (Madson)
Men's Platform (Mazzaferro)