Dec. 5, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. - Both the Auburn men's and women's 200 freestyle relay teams collected NCAA automatic qualifying times and 15 swimmers earned `B' cuts to highlight the first day of action at the Georgia Invitational on Friday.
Auburn's men's 200 free relay squad of Kyle Darmody, Michael Duderstadt, Arthur Mendes and Jacob Molacek took second, touching in at 1:18.04, to match the NCAA automatic qualifying standard. The time by the Tigers would be the fourth-best time in the nation heading into the weekend.
For the Auburn women, it was the team of Allyx Purcell, Megan Fonteno, Ashton Ellzey and Valerie Hull that opened the session with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:28.41 in the 200 free relay, finishing third. That mark ranks inside the top-5 in the nation, so far this season. Purcell led off the event with a lifetime-best 22.14 in the 50 free, which ranks as the fifth-fastest time in Auburn history.
"I thought we came out tonight and had a much better performance than we did this morning," head coach Brett Hawke said. "We came back and raced really well. It's always good to get `A' cuts in the middle of the season. Overall, we are lot better at this point in the season than we were this time last year in the relays."
Darmody lowered his time in the 50 free to a season-best 19.69, finishing third in the championship final. Mendes continued his strong performance during the opening day of action, setting a personal-best at 19.75. Jones finished third in the B-final with his fastest time of the season at 20.14.
Purcell went 22.24, taking fourth overall in the women's 50 free championship final. Megan Fonteno set a personal-best at 23.39 as the senior took second (10th overall) in the B-final, while Valerie Hull's 22.65 was a season-best for the freshman to finish 14th. Ashton Ellzey took 23rd overall, clocking a 23.18 in the C-final.
Joe Patching won the consolation final of the 200 IM with a season-best time of 1:44.76 to lower his NCAA `B' cut time. Michael Duderstadt took 13th overall with a near personal-best swim of 1:46.48, while Alex Hancock was 14th overall with a 1:47.81 in the B-final. Jordan Jones earned a 19th-place finish in the C-final at 1:49.37, while Molacek tied for 21st with his time of 1:50.02.
McKenna DeBever lowered her NCAA `B' cut time in the 200 IM C-final, touching in at 1:59.80 to take 20th overall. Annie Lazor's 2:00.55 finished 21st overall.
Zoe Thatcher was 12th in the women's 500 free consolation final. The freshman was faster in the night session, posting a 4:43.28. Her swim ranks as the ninth-best time in school history in the event. Ashley Neidigh finished 23rd overall in the event, swimming a 4:50.73 in the C-final. In the men's 500 free, Logan Samuelson went 4:32.58 in the C-final for the Tigers.
The Tigers closed out the first day of action with `B' cuts in the 400 medley relay on both sides. In the men's final, Patching, Duderstadt, Mendes and Darmody claimed third at 3:10.11, while Jillian Vitarius, Natasha Lloyd, Fonteno and Purcell were fourth at 3:34.28 for the Auburn women.
Fraser McKean led Auburn's men in diving, placing second overall on the 1-meter with six-dive list of 369.40 in the 16-diver final. Justin Youtsey scored 325.40 to finish fourth, while Pete Turnham was ninth at 293.45 to give all three men's divers a top-10 finish. Cinzia Calabretta led the Auburn women with a 263.40 on 3-meter to place 11th overall, while Morgan Mullins logged a 244.85 to finish 14th.
Day two of the Georgia Invitational gets underway Saturday at 8:30 a.m. CT with preliminaries for the 400 IM, 100 back, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 fly. Auburn's divers will continue in the action as the men compete on the 3-meter springboard, while the women drop down to the 1-meter. Live scoring can be found on GeorgiaDogs.com.
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Georgia Invitational - Day One Results
December 5, 2014
Gabrielsen Natatorium - Athens, Ga.
Men's Top Performer:
200 Free Relay: 2. Darmody, Duderstadt, Mendes, Molacek (1:18.02); 500 Free: 24. Samuelson (4:32.58); 200 IM: 9. Patching (1:44.76); 50 Free: Darmody (19.69); 1M Diving: McKean (369.40); 400 Medley Relay: 3. Patching, Duderstadt, Mendes, Darmody (3:10.11).
Women's Top Performer:
200 Free Relay: 3. Purcell, Fonteno, Ellzey, Hull (1:28.41); 500 Free: 12. Thatcher (4:43.28); 200 IM: 20. DeBever (1:59.80) 50 Free: 4. Purcell (22.24); 3M Diving: Calabretta (263.40) 400 Medley Relay: 4. Vitarius, Lloyd, Fonteno, Purcell (3:34.28).