Feb. 18, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Auburn will have five men in the championship final of the 100-yard freestyle as the sprinters and backstrokers provided a huge boost to the Tigers' title hopes in Saturday's preliminaries at the 2012 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships.
The Tigers got big swims where they needed them most. Of Auburn's 13 scoring men's entries in the final day of preliminaries, 10 made it back for finals with eight in the championship and two earning consolation swims. The Tigers will also look to have a scoring swim or two in the 1650 freestyle later this afternoon.
"We came out fighting this morning," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "We knew what we had to do. We set up the first two races perfectly, and Stuart Ferguson looked awesome in the breaststroke. But then we had that unfortunate disqualification in the 200 fly. We've put ourselves in position to win, we've just got to come in and swim well tonight."
Auburn's men will carry a 20-point lead over Florida into tonight's finals, the third straight year the margin has been 30 or less entering the final night of competition. The women are currently in fourth place, just 3.5 points behind the Gators for third with Georgia and Tennessee holding the top two spots.
Marcelo Chierighini led a contingent of five Auburn swimmers that qualified for the 100 freestyle finals, giving the Tigers their largest-ever group in a 100 free championship. Chierighini's time of 42.71 was the top qualifying mark with Drew Modrov just behind him in 42.90. Karl Krug qualified fourth with a 43.33, James Disney-May was fifth in 43.46, and Chris Manning took eighth in 43.58. In addition, TJ Leon earned a spot in the consolation final, qualifying 16th with a 44.25
In the 200 backstroke, Kyle Owens was the top qualifier with a 1:43.47, and Max Murphy took fourth in 1:45.29. Brandon Siemasko earned a consolation finals spot with a 10th-place time of 1:46.38, just .19 seconds shy of the eighth-place time.
Ferguson continued his strong performances in the breaststroke, posting a career-best 1:56.15 to earn the second qualifying spot with the fourth-fastest time in Auburn history. Chandler Gerlach went out fast but ran out of gas in the last 100 yards, clocking a 2:04.44 to finish 19th.
The 200 butterfly finished the morning on a sour note for the Tigers. Allen Browning swam a 1:49.49 to earn the second alternate spot, but Alex Hancock's time of 1:47.72 that would have been good enough for ninth place was wiped out by a disqualification for an alternating kick.
On the women's side, Auburn will return three swimmers for championship finals. Emily Bos earned a sixth-place finish in the 200 backstroke prelims with a 1:56.12, and Erica Belcher just missed the finals with a 19th-place time of 2:01.20.
Sarah Peterson earned her second championship appearance of the week with a time of 2:12.37 to qualify eighth in the 200 breaststroke, and fellow freshman Abby Duncan was 16th with a 2:14.47 to make the consolation. Laura Johnson posted a B-cut time of 2:16.10 to finish 21st.
In the 100 freestyle, Haley Krakoski qualified seventh for a spot in the championship final with a time of 49.53. Five Tigers earned spots in the consolation final - Olivia Scott (49.66) 10th, Hannah Riordan (49.67) 11th, Becca Jones (49.93) 13th, Megan Fonteno (49.94) 14th, and Kelsey Winters (50.18) 16th.
Auburn did not have any scoring entries in the women's 200 butterfly. Katherine Daniels swam an exhibition time of 2:01.91.
Women's platform diving continues through the afternoon, and the early heats of the 1650 freestyle begin at 3:45 p.m. ET. Sam Parker swims the first men's heat at 4:04 p.m., Siena DeVenuto is in the second women's heat at 4:21 p.m., and Chris Kramer will swim the second men's heat at 4:39 p.m. Zane Grothe and Katie Gardocki will be in the fastest heats of the mile, which will be the first event of the finals session tonight.
Finals get underway at 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT) with live results and live video available through UTSports.com. Fans can follow the live blog at AuburnTigers.com or @AuburnSwimming on Twitter for updates throughout the meet.
Diving Update - 1:50 p.m. ET: Seniors Vennie Dantin and Anna Aguero both advanced to the women's platform diving finals. Dantin finished in second place in the prelims with a 300.15 while Aguero was sixth with a 255.90. Shanna Schuelein finished 15th with a 221.20, and Cinzia Calabretta was 17th with a 219.70. Dantin will conclude her Auburn career having scored in every single event she entered in SEC Championship competition, going 10-for-12 in advancing to championship finals.
Auburn Swimming & Diving Results
2012 SEC Championships - Day 4 Prelims
Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatics Center - Knoxville, Tenn.
February 18, 2012
Men's Qualifiers:
200 Back: 1. Owens (1:43.47), 4. Murphy (1:45.29), 10. Siemasko (1:46.38)
100 Free: 1. Chierighini (42.71), 2. Modrov (42.90), 4. Krug (43.33), 5. Disney-May (43.46), 8. Manning (43.58), 16. Leon (44.25)
200 Breast: 2. Ferguson (1:56.15)
Women's Qualifiers:
200 Back: 6. Bos (1:56.12)
100 Free: 7. Krakoski (49.53), 10. Scott (49.66), 11. Riordan (49.67), 13. Jones (49.93), 14. Fonteno (49.94), 16. Winters (50.18)
200 Breast: 8. Peterson (2:12.37), 16. Duncan (2:14.47)