March 26, 2016
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ATLANTA - Scott Lazeroff finished third on the platform, one of three top-eight finishes for the Auburn Swimming and Diving team on Saturday night, as the program finished 10th at the 2016 NCAA Championships at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center.
"It was nice to get a couple of A Finals tonight," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "Hugo (Morris) swum hard all week and fought tonight and finished eighth. Scott Lazeroff, what an outstanding young freshman. To finish third in that field with the way the guys were diving was huge."
Lazeroff scored a personal-best 436.75 in the finals after advancing with a 399.25 during prelims. His top-eight finish made it four straight years Auburn has had a top-16 finisher on the platform and the 12th year in head coach Jeff Shaffer's tenure that Auburn has had a top-eight finisher. It is also the best finish by an Auburn diver on the platform since Steven Segerlin won it in 2007. He is also now qualified for the US Olympic Diving Trials.
"Platform is my favorite event and I didn't do so well on 1- and 3-meter," Lazeroff said. "I wanted to show everyone that I'm here and ready for the next three years. I just had fun and it paid off."
"Just a great performance by Scott today," Shaffer said. "We started his platform collegiate career here (at Georgia Tech) in November and he scored a 410. We knew what he was capable of. He rebounded from some average performances on springboard and tower is his love and that's what he's best at. Most importantly he gave us valuable points to move up in the team standings.
"We put a lot of emphasis on platform," Shaffer said. "We have a great facility and it's an important event. When you have the opportunity to have a quality performance and train every day to prepare, it's an event that I push strongly. Platform is a very valuable part of our program."
Morris earned All-America honors in the 200 fly with an eighth-place finish, stroking a 1:42.06. The placing was a big jump from his 35th-place finish at last year's championships. In finishing eighth he became the first Auburn swimmer to advance to the championship finals of the event since Logan Madson took third in 2009.
Arthur Mendes finished 12th in the consolation finals of the 200 fly, swimming a 1:43.15 in the night session. This marked the second time he swam in the consolation finals in his career, finishing 14th in 2014.
Auburn's 400 freestyle relay closed out the championship with a seventh-place finish (2:50.93).
"It's always the expectation of the program and coaching staff to have the highest of standards," Hawke said. "There were some swims out there that we're super proud of, some school records, some personal-bests. At the end of the day we always want more. I'm proud that we fought back to get into the top 10. There are 20 great programs in the NCAA and any one of them can beat you on any given day. I'm proud of the top 10 and we'll just keep fighting."
Texas won the team championship with 541.5 points. Auburn came in 10th with 167 points.
NCAA Champion & Auburn finishes
200 butterfly (prelims/finals)
1. Joseph Schooling (Texas) -- 1:41.16/1:37.90
8. Hugo Morris -- 1:41.64/1:42.06
12. Arthur Mendes -- 1:42.58/1:43.15
Platform (prelims/finals)
1. Zhipeng Zeng (Ohio State) -- 509.25/499.10
3. Scott Lazeroff -- 399.25/436.75
400 free relay
1. NC State -- 2:46.81
7. Auburn -- 2:50.93 (Mendes 42.82/Darmody 43.08/Molacek 42.84/Holoda 42.19)
Team Scores
1. Texas -- 541.5
2. California -- 351
3. Florida -- 334
4. NC State -- 314
5. Georgia -- 239.5
10. Auburn - 167