Dec. 3, 2011
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ATHENS, Ga. - A victory for Auburn sophomore Olivia Scott in the 100-yard butterfly and a win by senior Vennie Dantin in three-meter diving highlighted the Tigers' Saturday performances at the Georgia Fall Invitational.
"It was a good day of racing," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "We came in with a good attitude, definitely a little heavy in the legs, but they're not feeling sorry for themselves and they're racing tough. I saw some really good swims tonight. Kyle Owens' 100 back was outstanding, Olivia Scott's school record...just a fantastic achievement anytime you can swim that fast at this point in the season. It was a good day two performance, and I'm looking for them to come back in the morning and be ready to finish it off."
Scott broke the Auburn school record in the preliminaries with a time of 51.86, then came back with a 52.04 in the championship final to outpace teammate Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, whose record Scott broke in the morning session. Vanderpool-Wallace led most of the race but saw Scott overtake her in the final 15 yards; Vanderpool-Wallace was the runner-up in 52.17.
"(How much faster Scott can get) is up to her, she's working hard without a ton of rest," Hawke said. "I hope there's a lot more there, I'm just excited to see a sophomore swimming at her level."
Dantin provided another victory for the Tigers as she continued her dominance in the 3-meter diving event, scoring a 348.30 in the final to earn her fifth win of the season in the event. Teammate and classmate Anna Aguero took second place in the event with a 322.25; she was the top qualifier in preliminaries with a 332.05. Freshman Shanna Schuelein finished seventh with a 265.40, and Cinzia Calabretta took 10th place (second in the consolation final) with a 276.60.
In men's diving, Adam Godzinski took third place in the 1-meter final with a score of 312.30, while John Santeiu (292.95) was sixth and Michael Beran (291.40) was seventh.
Another highlight of the night came from freshman Sarah Peterson, who made her way into the Auburn record books in the 400 individual medley. Her time of 4:13.09 won the consolation final and was the eighth-fastest time in the event in Auburn history, earning an NCAA `B' cut in the process.
The Tigers opened up the meet with a pair of runner-up finishes in the 200 medley relay. The women's team of Emily Bos, Lauren Norberg, Scott and Vanderpool-Wallace led off the meet with a 1:37.37, falling less than a second shy of an NCAA automatic qualifier and within tenths of a second of the winning team from California. On the men's side, it was Kyle Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Nimrod Hayet and Drew Modrov posting a 1:26.41 to take second place, a scant .18 seconds behind Cal.
Owens had another strong performance Saturday, following up his win Friday in the 200 IM with a runner-up finish in the 100 back. His time of 46.54 fell a miniscule one-hundredth of a second behind Cal's Tom Shields and just .26 seconds shy of an A-cut. Max Murphy (47.91) and Brandon Siemasko (49.41) took sixth and seventh, respectively, in the championship final. James Disney-May had a strong swim in the 100 back B-final, posting a B-cut time of 48.48.
Three Tigers also scored in the top eight in the 100 breast with Ferguson (54.71) and Chandler Gerlach (55.30) posting B-cuts and Chris Manning (55.61) finishing eighth, just shy of a B-cut time. Peter Haas went 57.25 to take 14th in the B-final.
In the 100 fly, Marcelo Chierighini posted Auburn's first B-cut time of the year with a 48.10 to finish fifth, and TJ Leon was seventh in 49.13. Owens took third in the B-final with a 48.37.
Grothe posted a 1:36.85 to finish fourth in the 200 free and post a B-cut, while Modrov was seventh with a 1:38.52. Disney-May actually had the fastest Auburn time in the event, a B-cut mark of 1:36.24, to win the consolation final; Sam Parker was fifth in the heat in 1:39.58. And in the 400 IM, Chris Kramer clocked a 3:55.89 to finish seventh in the championship final while freshman Allen Browning earned a B-cut with a time of 3:53.13 in the consolation.
On the women's side, Bos finished eighth in the 100 back finals with a 53.75; her prelim time of 52.88 was a season-best and just shy of an A-cut. Scott was 15th with a B-cut time of 54.68 (she went 54.31 in prelims), and Hannah Riordan clocked a 55.28.
Lauren Norberg earned a fourth-place finish in the 100 breast finals with a 1:00.47, just .10 higher than her prelim time of 1:00.37; both marks are NCAA `B' cuts. Abby Duncan (1:02.16) and Laura Johnson (1:02.79) also picked up B-cuts in the consolation final, and Lindsey Norberg won the C-final with a B-cut mark of 1:02.16.
Becca Jones (1:47.82) and Katie Gardocki (1:47.93) had Auburn's two top times in the 200 freestyle final as both posted B-cuts.
Auburn's men's 800 freestyle relay team of Browning, Grothe, Disney-May and Modrov posted a 6:30.74 to earn a B-cut and finish second in the final event of the night. The women earned a sixth-place finish and another B-cut as Jones, Gardocki, Scott and Megan Fonteno went 7:13.72.
The Auburn men remained in first place with 611 points, followed by California with 523 and Georgia with 481. Georgia leads the women's meet with 715 points, with Cal in second (534.5) and Auburn in third (409).
The final day of the Georgia Invitational gets underway at 9:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m. CT) Sunday with preliminary heats in the 200 back, 200 breast, 100 free and 200 fly. The divers will have a one-list final in the platform event, and the evening session begins with timed finals in the 1650 free at 3 p.m. (2 p.m. CT). The meet wraps up with finals in the aforementioned events along with the 400 freestyle relay. Live results are available through GeorgiaDogs.com, and updates can be found by following @AuburnSwimming on Twitter.
Auburn Swimming & Diving Results
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011
Georgia Fall Invitational - Gabrielsen Natatorium - Athens, Ga.
Men's Team Scores: 1. Auburn (611), 2. California (523), 3. Georgia (481), 4. Indiana (397), 5. Virginia (384), 6. Florida (109 - diving only), 7. Maryland (52 - diving only), 8. Alabama (26 - diving only), 9. UNC Wilmington (4).
Women's Team Scores: 1. Georgia (715), 2. California (534.5), 3. Auburn (409), 4. Indiana (364.5), 5. Virginia (358), 6. Harvard (114), 7. Maryland (68 - diving only), 8. Florida (60 - diving only), 9. Alabama (20 - diving only).
Auburn Top Finishers
Men: 200 Medley Relay: 2. Owens, Ferguson, Hayet, Modrov (1:26.41); 400 IM: 7. Kramer (3:55.89); 100 Fly: 5. Chierighini (48.10); 200 Free: 4. Grothe (1:36.85); 100 Breast: 5. Ferguson (54.71); 100 Back: 2. Owens (46.54); 1M Diving: 3. Godzinski (312.30); 800 Free Relay: 2. Browning, Grothe, Disney-May, Modrov (6:30.74)
Women: 200 Medley Relay: 2. Bos, La. Norberg, Scott, Vanderpool-Wallace (1:37.37); 400 IM: 9. Peterson (4:13.09); 100 Fly: 1. Scott (52.04); 200 Free: 18. Jones (1:47.82); 100 Breast: 4. La. Norberg (1:00.47); 100 Back: 8. Bos (53.75); 3M Diving: 1. Dantin (348.30); 800 Free Relay: Jones, Gardocki, Scott, Fonteno (7:13.72).