Oct. 10, 2014
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AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn swimming and diving split its opening dual meet of the season on the road at Indiana Friday at the Counsilmen-Billingsley Aquatics Center.
The Auburn women (1-0) defeated Indiana, 129-113, in their first trip to Bloomington, Ind., while the Tiger men (0-1) fell 149-91 to the Hoosiers. The win for the Auburn women moved the Tigers to 3-0 all-time against Indiana.
"It was nice to see some of our freshmen women step up," head coach Brett Hawke. "It was good to see Valerie Hull and McKenna DeBever swim well for us. I thought Allyx Purcell and Jillian Vitarius also turned in some really good swims this afternoon and I was pleased to see how they performed on the road. "
The Tigers won seven events in the women's meet, including sweeping the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Auburn's women dominated the sprint freestyle events, finishing 1-2-3 in both the 50 and 100 free. Megan Fonteno took the win in the 50 free with a time of 23:04, followed by Ashton Ellzey in second (23.37) and Hull (23.48) placing third.
In the 100 free, Allyx Purcell finished first at 49.82 to pick up her first NCAA `B' cut of the season. Hull claimed second with a time of 51.16, while DeBever was third at 51.61.
Annie Lazor notched a win in the 200 IM with a solid swim of 2:02.97 and DeBever continued with her strong performance taking third touching in at 2:03.97. Natasha Lloyd's victory in the 200 breast (2:17.50) sealed the meet in favor of the Tigers while Sarah Peterson took second with a time of 2:21.91 to give Auburn another 1-2 finish.
Ashley Neidigh won the 1,000 free with a personal best time of 9:52.05 to open the meet, while Zoe Thatcher took third with a time of 10:00.66. Vitarius was impressive for the Tiger women in the opening meet of the season, taking second at 1:58.75 in the 200 back to claim a NCAA provisional cut. The junior was also the top-finisher for the Tigers in the 200 free at 1:49.70 to take third in the event.
Auburn's women finished 1-2 in the 200 medley relay to garner key points early in the meet as the team of Vitarius, Lazor, Fonteno and Purcell took the top spot at 1:41.08. The Tigers closed out Friday's meet with a strong performance in the 400 free relay as the squad of Purcell, Fonteno, DeBever and Hull touched in first at 3:21.22.
On the men's side, Joe Patching picked up a pair of wins, clocking a NCAA `B' cut time of 1:45.75 in the 200 back to cruise to victory. The sophomore also touched in first in the 200 IM, posting a time of 1:48.25 to notch another NCAA provisional cut to start off the year.
"We lost a couple of close races early and I thought Indiana's men were ready for us," Hawke said after the meet. "We've got to address some small issues before we get back in the pool against Alabama and LSU."
Michael Duderstadt took second in the men's 200 breast at 2:01.74, while Zach Warner was third at 2:07.76. Duderstadt also picked up a third-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 44.87. Alex Hancock finished second in the 200 fly at 1:49.67, out-touching teammate Arthur Mendes at 1:49.69.
In diving, Fraser McKean finished in third overall on the 1-meter (362.25) and 3-meter (365.18) springboards for Auburn. Both scores the senior were NCAA Zone qualifying scores. Justin Youtsey also earned NCAA Zone qualifying scores with fourth-place finishes on the 1-meter (326.10) and 3-meter (352.20).
On the women's side, Cinzia Calabretta earned a second-place finish on the 3-meter board with a score of 286.20. The senior also was third on the 1-meter with a 255.30. Both of Calabretta's scores were good enough to make the NCAA zone qualifying standards.
Auburn's women return to action on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m., opening its home slate with Vanderbilt and Notre Dame. The Tiger men will have a few weeks off before traveling to Tuscaloosa on Nov. 1 to take on Alabama and LSU.
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