AUSTIN - The Auburn women's swimming and diving team wrapped up Friday's second session of the 2011 NCAA Championships in ninth place at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin.
Cal holds the lead with 295 points heading into Saturday's final session, followed by Georgia with 274.5 and USC with 252. The Tigers, with 127 points, are bookended by Minnesota with 139 and Texas A&M with 124.
"Tomorrow we are going to have to show up and give it everything we've got," said Auburn head coach Brett Hawke. "It will be a tight battle between the sixth and 11 spots. We're going to have to show up and be ready to fight."
Freshman Olivia Scott finished sixth in her first individual NCAA "A" final, swimming 52.29 in the 100 fly. The Aurora, Ill., native moved ahead of Alana Dillette to become the fourth-fastest 100 butterflier in school history. Scott's heats time of 52.54 was the seventh fastest of the morning.
"My goal coming into this meet was to just to score and make top eight," said Scott. "To get seventh to start the day was a huge honor. I was nervous coming in but that gave me some extra confidence coming into finals."
Scott was named 2010-11 First Team All-SEC after an eighth-place finish in the 100 fly at last month's SEC Championships in Gainesville, Fla.
Freshman Emily Bos took fifth in the 100 back consolation finals, hitting the wall with a career best 52.77 in the first individual NCAA finals of her career.
"Yesterday was a rough start for me," said Bos. "I wasn't really nervous for this meet until I got on the blocks for yesterday's medley relay. I just wasn't being myself and concentrating on what I know how to do. This morning, thinking about the finals, really boosted my confidence. The relay with the team was great and then picking up fifth in consols was great."
Bos was also named 2010-11 First Team All-SEC after earning three top-10s at conference championships.
"Olivia Scott and Emily Bos have really excelled in their freshman year," said Hawke. "Olivia (Scott) is the second fastest freshman in the country right now and will a lot of great swims in the future. Emily (Bos) is just an exceptional athlete. She swam a lot of races the last two days and shown a tremendous amount of heart. This sets them up well for the future and I'm certainly glad they're on our team."
The Auburn 200 medley relay team of Bos, Lauren Norberg, Scott and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace improved one spot from their preliminary result, taking fourth with a 1:36.62. The Tigers were in seventh place heading into the final 50 when Vanderpool-Wallace threw down another impressive relay leg, hitting the wall in 21.12. The Nassau, Bahamas, native contributed a 21.10 freestyle leg in morning heats.
In a day of near misses, junior Micah Lawrence missed out on finals by three spots, placing 19th in the 100 breast with a 1:00.89. Lauren Norberg placed 34th in 1:01.81 followed by her sister, Lindsey, in 47th with a 1:02.85.
Vanderpool-Wallace just missed the 100 fly finals, touching in at 52.92 for a 21st place finish. Sophomore Lindsey Norberg placed 51st in 54.79.
Junior diver Vennie Dantin placed 17th in three-meter springboard prelims with a score of 311.70. The Conroe, Texas, native was one spot and two-tenths of a point shy from advancing to the consolation finals.
Senior Caitlin Geary led the Tigers in the 200 free, placing 20th with a 1:45.86. Sophomore Becca Jones placed 47th in 1:48.05 followed by senior Micah Martindale in 59th in 1:49.31.
Sophomore Katie Gardocki placed 38th in the 400 IM, touching the wall in 4:19.91.
The Tigers entered Friday competition in sixth place with a total of 80 points earned in Thursday night finals. Vanderpool-Wallace became the first swimmer in Auburn history to win an NCAA women's 50 freestyle title Thursday night, swimming a time of 21.38.
The Championships conclude Saturday with competition in the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving and 400 freestyle relay. Vanderpool-Wallace enters the 100 free as the nation's top seed after setting new NCAA and American records in the event at the 2011 SEC Championships. The Auburn 400 free relay squad is also ranked as the top side in the nation heading into the event.
Saturday prelims are set to commence at 11 a.m. CST, followed by finals at 7 p.m. Live streaming video will be made available via ESPN3.
Complete NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship information can be accessed via www.TexasSports.com.
All-America Honors (18)
Caitlin Geary - 200 IM (honorable mention)
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace - 50 FR, 200 FR-R, 400 MED-R (honorable mention), 200 MED-R
Vennie Dantin - 1-meter springboard
Emily Bos - 200 FR-R, 400 MED-R (honorable mention), 200 MED-R, 100 BK
Hannah Riordan - 200 FR-R
Lindsey Norberg - 200 FR-R
Lauren Norberg - 400 MED-R (honorable mention), 200 MED-R
Micah Lawrence - 400 MED-R (honorable mention)
Olivia Scott - 400 MED-R (honorable mention), 200 MED-R, 100 FLY