Feb. 20, 2016
Joe Patchingmade Auburn history on Saturday night. Michael Duderstadt repeated history. The #HungarianHammer would not be denied on the championships' final swim. And in the end the Auburn men's swimming and diving team did what it set out to do, be better than it was last year.
When all the races were done and all the dives were scored, Auburn finished in second place to Florida, its third runner-up finish in the last four years. But for head coach Brett Hawke's team it was a huge improvement over last year's third-place showing where it won just one title, none of which came in the racing lanes, but no one is satisfied.
"We worked our butts off this year, but it's hard to lose and we want to make sure we don't have this feeling again," Hawke said. "Joe (Patching) and Duder (Duderstadt) were amazing all meet and again tonight. It just goes to show the strength of our program. We won a lot of 200s here and that hasn't happened in our program in a long time.
"I'm really proud of the guys and the way they fought to the end, but it's hard to swallow. We'll come back and we'll be better for it next year."
Not to be left in the shadows, Auburn's women were also better, and not just marginally. After placing sixth last year, Auburn jumped up to fourth, besting Florida and Missouri down the stretch.
"I'm extremely proud of the women," Hawke said. "We started this meet in ninth place and we fought all the way back to fourth. We beat some really good teams. The women showed a lot of heart, a lot of grit. We proved to ourselves that we can compete for a championship and that's what we want to be doing. We're one step closer."
Auburn won six titles -- two each by Joe Patching and Michael Duderstadt and one by Hugo Morris along with the final relay, the 400 frees relay. It also had four relay second-places.
Patching, who entered the meet having never won a medal, became the first Auburn swimmer to ever win the 200 IM and the 200 back at the SEC Championships. And not just a single championship, but in a career. He touched in 1:40.14 to win the 200 back on Saturday after winning the 200 IM on 1:42.21.
"This morning it went well but I felt like I had more, particularly in the second 50 (yards)," Patching said. "I felt strong to the 100 and then it was a bit of a fight to the wall in the end. I wanted to get under that 1:40 mark but there will be plenty more opportunities to do that.
"I came into the meet very open with what was going to come and I think the 200 IM gave me good momentum into the other races," Patching said. "To come out today and perform like that really bodes well for the rest of the season."
Duderstadt, who was medal-less just like Patching, swept the breaststroke events, the first time that has happened since Mark Gangloff did it in 2004 and the fourth ever to do it in Auburn history. He reached the top of the podium with a personal-best 1:53.50 in the 200 breast on Saturday, the third-best time in school history.
"I was real nervous going into it but a lot calmer than I was going into the 100," Duderstadt said. "It felt real good. This was the first time in a while I swam a real solid 200 breaststroke.
"It means a lot personally (to sweep the breaststroke events)," Duderstadt said. "I saw a tweet this afternoon that said something about the last time it happened it was Mark Gangloff. I think it put too much pressure on me and I kind of forgot about it and let it happen -- and luckily it happened. It was cool to do."
The men then closed out the championship by racing past Florida to win the 400 freestyle relay title in 2:48.64. As has become customary, Holoda anchored the team with the fastest split in the field, piggybacking on great swims by Arthur Mendes, Kyle Darmody and Duderstadt.
Beyond the titles, Auburn had a very solid final session at the Mizzou Aquatic Center on Saturday night.
...Ashley Nedeigh (16:13.03) and Zoe Thatcher (16:15.24) each clocked personal-bests in the mile to place fifth and sixth, respectively.
...Holoda (42.42), Mendes (42.69) and Darmody (43.29) took third, fifth, and seventh, respectively in the 100 free finals while Zach Apple was the runner-up in the consolation finals in a career-best 43.47.
...Annie Lazor (2:08.31) and Natasha Lloyd (2:09.37) both set personal-best in finishing three-seven in the 200 breaststroke.
...And then there was Maddie Cox, a springboard diving specialist that found her way into the finals, where she placed eighth (232.80). Teammate Morgan Mullins was 12th (229.35).
"What a great performance," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "We don't really consider her a platform diver and she did it to help the team and was real consistent. To final at her first SEC Championship is a great feather in her cap as we move forward. I'm proud of everybody that competed and contributed to the team's success this year. Overall as I see it, it was a great meet for us."
With the NCAA Championships a month away in Atlanta, Auburn's future became exponentially brighter thanks to the week's showing in Columbia.
"We will take a lot of momentum, a lot of positive swimming, a lot of positive energy and a lot of belief in this team," Hawke said.
A one-hour wrap-up show of the entire championship will air on ESPNU on March 2 at 3 p.m. CT (men's) and 4:30 p.m. (women's).
SEC CHAMPION & AUBURN FINISHES
Women's 1650 Freestyle
1. Brittany MacLean (UGA) -- 15:36.52
5. Ashley Neidigh -- 16:13.03
6. Zoe Thatcher -- 16:15.24
Men's 1650 Freestyle
1. Akaram Mahmoud (USC) -- 14:35.49
14. Grant Schenk -- 15:11.33
19. Alec Morris -- 15:19.59
23. Russell Noletto -- 15:31.62
Women's 200 Backstroke
1. Lisa Bratton (TAMU) -- 1:50.64
6. Caroline Baddock -- 1:53.78
13. Sarah Reynolds -- 1:54.89
15. Jillian Vitarius -- 1:55.67
24. Erin Falconer -- 1:58.77
Men's 200 Backstroke
1. Joe Patching -- 1:40.14
22. Taylor Copeland -- 1:45.40
Women's 100 Freestyle
1. Natalie Hinds (UF) -- 47.35
10. Aly Tetzloff -- 48.94
22. Allyx Purcell -- 49.71
Men's 100 Freestyle
1. Caeleb Dressel (UF) -- 41.07
3. Peter Holoda -- 42.42
5. Arthur Mendes -- 42.69
7. Kyle Darmody -- 43.29
10. Zach Apple -- 43.47
18. Jacob Molacek -- 43.81
22. Ziv Kalontarov -- 44.18
Women's 200 Breaststroke
1. Bethany Galat (TAMU) -- 2:07.83
3. Annie Lazor -- 2:08.31
7. Natasha Lloyd -- 2:09.37
Men's 200 Breaststroke
1. Michael Duderstadt -- 1:53.50
13. Tommy Brewer -- 1:57.16
22. Jordan Jones -- 1:59.13
Women's Platform Diving
1. Rachel Rubadue (TENN) -- 300.45/330.50
8. Maddie Cox -- 241.80/232.80
12. Morgan Mullins -- 229.35
21. Carly Scheper -- 207.65
Women's 400 Freestyle Relay
1. Tennessee -- 3:12.04
5. Auburn (Tetzloff, Purcell, Falconer, Ellzey) -- 3:17.67
Men's 400 Freestyle Relay
1. Auburn (Mendes, Darmody, Duderstadt, Holoda) -- 2:48.64
Women's Team Scores
1. Texas A&M -- 1166.5
2. Tennessee -- 1139.5
3. Georgia -- 1099.5
4. Auburn -- 797
5. Missouri -- 764
Men's Team Scores
1. Florida -- 1275
2. Auburn -- 1223
3. Georgia -- 1010
4. Alabama -- 915
5. Missouri -- 902
Additional Auburn Quotes
Joe Patching
On the team atmosphere this week...
"It's been electric the whole time. Every time someone swims we pass the energy on to one another. It's a great motivator to try and win a championship. Every time we get on the podium we are spreading the energy and spreading the love to one another."