Dec. 5, 2015
ATHENS, Ga. -- Michael Duderstadt, Hugo Morris and Justin Youtsey each won individual titles and Peter Holoda raced down the field as the 200 medley relay anchor leg as Auburn continued racing at the UGA Fall Invitational on Saturday. With two of three days completed, both Auburn's men's and women's teams stand in third place.
"Really tough racing tonight and I was impressed with the way the team pressed hard and fought hard," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "I asked them before the session started to find a way to challenge themselves in a way maybe they hadn't done before. You could really tell that they were really digging deep tonight."
Morris was the first to claim an individual title on Saturday, winning the 200 free in 1:34.56, lowing his time by .44 from this morning's swim. Zach Apple was sixth (1:38.88) in the B Final.
"We tell our guys all the time to swim with intention and that's what Hugo's doing," Hawke said. "He is swimming to win. He made his mind up before the race began that he was going to win."
Duderstadt was the next to win an event, touching in 52.14 in the 100 breaststroke. Jacob Molecek also swam in the A Finals, finishing sixth in 54.31 while Thomas Brewer won the C Final (55.43).
Justin Youtsey brought Auburn it's third individual title on the 1-meter, scoring a 352.35 as Auburn finished 1-4-7 in the event. Scott Lazeroff was fourth with a 320.45 after a 332.40 in prelims while Pete Turnham was seventh with a 297.00 after scoring a 344.40 in prelims.
"I'm really proud of the improvement made in competition," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "We started off with real strong prelims from everybody. The things they are doing are what I am trying to get them to do in practice."
Holoda got the night started off with a huge anchor swim to bring Auburn the 200 medley relay title. Kyle Darmody led off in 21.70 before turning it over to Duderstadt, who went 23.33. Arthur Mendes touched in 20.70 before Holoda dropped an 18.83 anchor leg to bring home the title.
"The whole relay itself -- plus Holoda swimming over the top of the California anchor -- it was an amazing split," Hawke said.
In the women's races, Zoe Thatcher picked up a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM, lowering her personal best by over three-and-a-half seconds to 4:09.50, fifth-fastest in school history. She was joined in the championship finals by Ashley Neidigh, who took seventh (4:14.46) and Annie Lazor, who was eighth (4:18.61).
Lazor touched second in the 100 breast in 59.94, three spots ahead of Natasha Lloyd in fifth (1:00.63). Beatriz Travalon (1:01.97) and Kristen Murslack (1:02.61) were third and fifth, respectively, in the B Final while Breanna Roman won the C Final (1:02.70).
The women's 200 medley relay of Ashton Ellzey (22.47), Allyx Purcell (21.88), Shannon McKernan (22.86) and Aly Tetzloff (22.24) began the night with a third-place finish. The 800 free relay team of Thatcher (1:46.40), McKernan (1:48.02), Neidigh (1:47.64) and Erin Falconer (1:49.64) closed out the night with a fifth-place finish in 7:11.70. Murslack took fourth in the B Final (4:17.24).
"We started off really strong with the 200 relay," associate head coach Lauren Hancock said. "Probably the best event overall tonight was the 400 IM. We had a lot of best times, a lot of drops from prelims."
Joe Patching (3:43.97) and Sam Stewart (3:49.19) went five-six in the A Final of the 400 IM, Jordan Jones was second (3:50.75) and Russell Noletto was sixth (3:56.19) in the B Final and Foster Ballard was sixth (4:02.49) in the C Final.
Auburn won the B and C Finals in the women's 100 fly with Alex Merritt (53.42) winning the B Final and Bailey Nero (53.81) the C Final. Caroline Baddock was runner-up to Merrit (53.52) and Sarah Reynolds was fifth (54.17) in the B Final while Tetzloff took seventh (53.74) and Maddie Martin took eighth (53.76) in the A Final.
In the men's 100 fly, Arthur Mendes was fourth (46.74), Holoda was sevent (47.12) and Liam McCloskey was eighth (47.20) in the A Final. William McKinney was fourth (49.20) and Taylor Copeland was eighth (50.32) in the C Final.
In the women's 200 free, Falconer was fifth (1:48.03) and McKernan eighth (1:48.80) in the B Final and Michelle Turek was seventh (1:50.17) in the C Final.
Auburn had seven race the women's 100 back. Jillian Vitarius (53.14), Caroline Baddock (53.24) and Reynolds (53.93) went 4-5-6 in the A Final, Tetzloff (54.60), McKernan (55.72) and Genny Pittman (55.87) went 1-6-7 in the B Final and Haley Black (56.08) took second in the C Final.
"This is a great benchmark for us," Hancock said of the meet. "We had just a couple of days rest coming in, we put on our fast suits so mentally they feel engaged, ready and prepared to swim fast. This gives us a good idea if the training is working, what do we need to adjust heading into February."
Joe Patching (47.48) took sixth in the A Final of the 100 back, Kyle Darmody (48.03) and Mendes (48.07) went 3-4 in the B Final and Joshua Booth (48.15) and Taylor Copeland (49.38) went 1-5 in the C Final.
Maddie Cox placed fourth on the women's 3-meter with a 296.50 in finals after a 269.00 in prelims.
In the women's team standings, Virginia is first (658.5), Georgia is second (627), Auburn is third (538), Penn State is fourth (369.5) and Florida State is fifth (227).
In the men's team standings, Georgia is first (663.5), California is second (599), Auburn is third (583.5), Virginia is fourth (333) and Florida State is fifth (310).
The UGA Fall Invitational concludes on Sunday. Prelims begin at 9:30 a.m. ET and the finals at 3 p.m. Events contested will be the 1650 free, the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay and platform diving. Live stats are available at www.georgiadogs.com/livestats/c-swim/15gainv/.