March 22, 2012
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FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Auburn had three swimmers and two relays advance to championship finals on the opening day of prelims at the 2012 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, which got underway Thursday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Senior Drew Modrov, junior Kyle Owens and sophomore Zane Grothe earned spots in the championship finals of their respective events tonight after winning their heats in their morning swims and posting times among the top eight in the country. The 200 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay will also be in the A-final tonight. In addition, senior Karl Krug and sophomore Marcelo Chierighini earned spots in the 50 free consolation final.
Grothe will swim the championship final of the 500-yard freestyle for the second straight year after he broke his own Auburn school record in the with a time of 4:15.55, more than three full seconds faster than his time at the SEC Championships. He had previously set the Tiger mark at 4:16.57 in prelims at last year's NCAA Championships in Minneapolis.
Owens posted the winning time in the final heat of the 200 individual medley with a 1:43.71 to earn the seventh overall seed in the championship final. He was only .41 shy of his seed time, which was the runner-up time at last month's SEC Championships and the fourth-best in the country. It will guarantee an All-America honor for Owens, who finished 19th in the event at last year's NCAA Championships. In addition, he will be Auburn's first entry in a 200 IM championship final at the NCAA meet since James Wike finished eighth in 2007.
Freshman Allen Browning clocked a 1:48.31 in his first NCAA Championship swim to finish 49th overall.
In the 50 freestyle, Modrov clocked a 19.36 to win his heat and finish tied for fifth overall in a time of 19.36, just shy of his career-best time of 19.32. It will be his first appearance in an NCAA Championship final. Krug and Chierighini tied for 11th-place overall in the prelims with matching times of 19.49. It was a career-best time for Chierighini, and it will give Krug his third All-America honor in the event in four years.
Sophomore James Disney-May just missed the consolation with a time of 19.74, finishing 22nd overall. Sophomore TJ Leon clocked a 19.79 to finish 26th, and sophomore Chris Manning was 27th in 19.80.
The 200 freestyle relay team of Modrov, Krug, Manning and Leon got the morning off to a great start and posted the fourth-best qualifying time in the prelims session, clocking a 1:17.44 to win their heat and earn a spot in the championship final.
The team of Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Chierighini and Disney-May wrapped up the prelim session in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:08.45 to finish eighth overall and give Auburn another return swim in tonight's finals. The Tigers finished fourth in their heat and were in sixth position with one heat left, but only two teams - Texas and California - swam faster times to give Auburn a spot in the championship.
Finals get underway at 7 p.m. PT (9 p.m. CT) in all of this morning's events along with 1-meter diving. AuburnTigers.com will post an update after the conclusion of the diving prelims with sophomore John Santeiu's results. Live results and video are available through NCAA.com, and fans can follow @AuburnSwimming on Twitter for updates all day long.
Diving Update - 3:35 p.m. PT: Sophomore John Santeiu finished 26th in the 1-meter preliminary with a score of 263.80. Santeiu will next compete in the 3-meter event, which will take place Friday.
Auburn Swimming & Diving
2012 NCAA Men's Championships - Day 1 Prelims Results
March 22, 2012
Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center - Federal Way, Wash.
Auburn Results
200 Freestyle Relay: 4. Drew Modrov, Karl Krug, Chris Manning, TJ Leon (1:17.44)
500 Freestyle: 5. Zane Grothe (4:15.55 - school record)
200 IM: 7. Kyle Owens (1:43.71), 49. Allen Browning (1:48.31)
50 Freestyle: T5. Drew Modrov (19.36); T11. Marcelo Chierighini (19.49); T11. Karl Krug (19.49); 22. James Disney-May (19.74); 26. TJ Leon (19.79); 27. Chris Manning (19.80)
400 Medley Relay: 8. Kyle Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Marcelo Chierighini, James Disney-May (3:08.45)
1-Meter Diving: 26. John Santeiu (263.80)