Nov. 18, 2016
Another day, more success. After busting out on day one of the Georgia Tech Invitational on Thursday, Auburn's women's swimming and diving team extended its lead on the field and saw more season- and personal-best times show up on the board during Friday's prelims and finals sessions.
"After this morning we felt a disconnect between how the women were analyzing post-race and how the coaches were analyzing," Auburn associate head coach Lauren Hancock said. "These women chose Auburn because they want to be great ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" in and out of the pool. However, that strong desire can manifest itself into a style of thought that prevents merited celebrations.
"In other words, these ladies are very hard on themselves," Hancock said. "It's a great quality to possess, but not when it gets in the way of smiling after a great race! They recognized that what we were seeing was positive, gritty racing and well-split intelligent swimming.
"They came back tonight and in many cases swam season-best and even lifetime-best times," Hancock said.
Auburn again had just one individual event winner on the night, that being Haley Black in the 100 fly in a personal-best 52.33. But Auburn piled up the points with its depth, putting 12 swims in the championship finals.
Both of Auburn's relays took second place with the 200 medley relay of Aly Tetzloff, Natasha Lloyd, Black and Julie Meynen going a season-best 1:38.80 to open the night session. The 800 free relay team of Zoe Thatcher, Erin Falconer, Jessica Merritt and Caroline Baddock closed out the night session with a 7:15.99 in Auburn's first attempt at the event this season.
Between relays Auburn saw three individual events with three championship finalist and another with two.
In the 400 IM Thatcher scored a NCAA provisional time of 4:13.58 to place fourth, Neidigh hit a 4:15.14 for another provisional time to finish seventh and Bailey Nero took ninth (4:19.64).
Following Black's lead in the 100 fly, Tetzloff touched second in 52.44, a NCAA B cut, and Ashton Ellzey finished 10th in 55.21.
"Haley and Aly stole the show with their stroke-for-stroke one-two 100 fly finish, both swimming under the time it took to make NCAAs last year," Hancock said. "We have women who now believe they can swim multiple events and bring the same, if not more, intensity and quality than the event before. This belief breeds versatility and depth and that's what's allowed us to extend our lead even further tonight."
Breanna Roman dropped a personal-best 1:01.57 to finish fourth with a NCAA B cut in the 100 breaststroke. Right behind her was Natasha Lloyd in fifth (1:01.71) and Brooke Malone in eighth (1:02.54).
Falconer added a fourth-place finish and a NCAA provisional time in the 200 free (1:47.40) while Baddock was eighth in the same event in 1:50.31.
Tetzloff rounded out the individual championship swims with a fourth-place finish in the 100 back in NCAA B cut time of 54.32.
In the diving well Maddie Cox and Alison Maillard each advanced to the finals of the 1-meter. Cox finished fourth (278.55) and Maillard was seventh (273.50).
"When you are in a contest with 47 people you have to learn how to manage your body and the mental aspect when you are diving every 20- to 25 minutes," Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "We didn't do that very well but hopefully we'll learn because that's the way the zone meet will play out. We're making progress but we are not where we want to be. But we're at least heading in the right direction."
Auburn's men's divers also competed on Friday night, taking their turn on the 1-meter. Scott Lazeroff placed second with a 371.15 and Pete Turnham was fifth with a 350.85.
"It was another strong day, especially on the men's side," Shaffer said. "In the prelims both Scott and Pete put together real solid lists to qualify for the finals. Justin (Checchin) missed finals by a point but he put up another personal best (299.35). That's encouraging and you can see he is progressing. In the finals both Pete and Scott had a chance to win."
After two nights the No. 11-ranked Auburn women hold a 150-point lead over second-place No. 16 Florida, 760-610. Alabama is in third (581), Arkansas fourth (465) and South Carolina fifth (449).
Saturday's events will be the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breaststroke, 200 fly, platform diving and the 400 free relay.
Prelims begin every day at 10 a.m. ET and finals at 5:30 p.m.
Live stats and video will be available through the Georgia Tech website, ramblinwreck.com, divemeets.com and ACC Network Extra.
Team Scores Final
1. Auburn 346 760
2. Florida 246 610
3. Alabama 228 581
4. Arkansas 224 465
5. South Carolina 186 449
200 Medley Relay Time
2. Tetzloff, Lloyd, Black, Meynen 1:38.80
EX. McKernan, Roman, Ellzey, Clevenger 1:41.18
EX. Pittman, Murslack, Nero, Merritt 1:42.15
400 IM Time
4. Zoe Thatcher 4:15.17/4:13.58
7. Ashley Neidigh 4:17.65/4:15.14
9. Bailey Nero 4:19.46/4:19.64
14. Kristen Murslack 4:21.74/4:20.83
17. Jacqueline Hippi 4:23.43/4:22.65
32. Oda Gjerde 4:30.73
100 Butterfly Time
1. Haley Black 52.49/52.33
2. Aly Tetzloff 53.04/52.44
10. Ashton Ellzey 54.81/55.21
11. Bailey Nero 54.96/53.92
15. Julie Meynen 54.97/54.98
20. Maddie Martin 55.01/56.08
36. Sierra Jett 56.33
50. Genny Pittman 57.20
200 Freestyle Time
4. Erin Falconer 1:48.64/1:47.40
8. Caroline Baddock 1:49.35/1:50.31
18. Jessica Merritt 1:49.59/1:51.61
24. Shannon McKernan 1:51.05/1:50.89
34. Jacqueline Hippi 1:52.37
49. Camille Porter 1:54.05
58. Oda Gjerde 1:56.00
61. Caroline Schirmer 1:56.95
69. Annie Boone 1:58.19
100 Breaststroke Time
4. Breanna Roman 1:01.74/1:01.57
5. Natasha Lloyd 1:01.45/1:01.71
8. Brooke Malone 1:03.78/1:02.54
19. Jessica Merritt 1:04.67/1:05.82
100 Backstroke Time
4. Aly Tetzloff 54.37/54.32
13. Shannon McKernan 55.58/55.15
18. Haley Black 56.21/56.78
20. Genny Pittman 56.36/57.15
32. Annie Boone 57.20
38. Robyn Clevenger 57.63
52. Lauren Dunn 59.09
3M Diving (Men) Score
2. Scott Lazeroff 356.45/371.15
5. Pete Turnham 351.25/350.85
11. Justin Checchin 299.35
1M Diving Score
4. Maddie Cox 265.30/278.55
7. Alison Maillard 276.10/273.50
26. Claire Schuermann 220.15
36. Miranda Telmanik 199.80
800 Freestyle Relay Time
2. Thatcher, Falconer, Merritt, Baddock 7:15.99
EX. Neidigh, McKernan, Porter, Gjerde 7:26.17