Feb. 15, 2017
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - In a day full of personal-bests, Auburn had 27 of them over the course of prelims and finals, Ashley Neidigh's runner-up finish in the 500 free may have been the most impressive of all. A senior, her 500 free time headlined what was a day of massive point grabs and time drops for the Auburn swimming and diving teams at the SEC Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., on Wednesday.
Auburn's women's team sits in third place with 371 points while the men goes into Thursday in second place with 346 points.
"All season we've talked about how important it is to have confidence and they have swum with confidence for a while now," associate head coach Lauren Hancock said. "It's refreshing to see that they are so focused in on each session and within each session each event."
After dropping two seconds off of her previous personal best during Wednesday's prelims, Neidigh raced to a 4:39.91 out of lane 5 in the finals, shaving almost a second-and-a-half off her prelims time, making her the fourth-fastest performer in school history in the event. In doing so she became the first Auburn women's swimmer to finish top-8 in the 500 free at SECs since Katie Gardocki, Maggie Bird and Stephanie Horner finished fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in 2010. Her runner-up finish is also Auburn's highest since 2008 when Bird was the runner-up in 4:40.38.
"I was kind of in disbelief for a little bit because that has been my goal (time) for a few years," Neidigh said. "To finally do it, have the hard work pay off, and also score that many points for Auburn, was just exciting for me."
"That win for Ashley was a testament to how far she's come," Hancock said. "It brought a lot of us to tears because we know the path that she's had. She is very deserving of what transpired tonight and it was one of the most exciting races I've ever been a part of as a coach."
Maddie Cox became the first Auburn female to finish top-eight on the 1-meter since Vennie Danton won the event in 2012 as she placed sixth with a personal-best 313.95, topping her previous personal-best of 307.05 set during prelims. Paired with her seventh-place finish on the 3-meter on Tuesday, Cox became the first Auburn female diver to finish top-eight on both springboards at the conference championships since Danton and Anna Aguero did it in 2012.
"Maddie was really consistent in prelims and increased her personal best in the finals," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "The one thing that we talked about coming into this competition was, 'look at your personal bests throughout the year try and be better than your average.' I've always believed in her ability and this meet is going to be very beneficial to her as we look to the Zone Diving Championships."
The women also had a trio of consolation finals winners in Zoe Thatcher in the 500 free in 4:42.67, Julie Meynen in the 50 free in 22.11, a personal-best and the fifth-fastest time in Auburn history, and Alison Maillard with a personal-best 301.25 on the 1-meter.
Meynen was one of four Auburn women to swim in the 50 free consolation finals, joining 11th-place finisher Allyx Purcell (22.37), Ashton Ellzey (22.55, 14th) and Robyn Clevenger (22.83, 16th).
Aly Tetzloff, Ellzey, Meynen and Purcell also teamed up to take second in the 200 free relay in 1:27.86.
Bailey Nero won the C Final of the women's 200 IM, shaving three-quarters-of-a-second off of her morning personal-best to touch in 1:57.99. Her start helped propel her to the front of the heat early as her 24.91 fly split was the fastest in the heat by .37 seconds. Her finals time moves her from the ninth-fastest to the sixth-fastest performer in Auburn history, surpassing Oliva Scott, Melanie Roberts and Sarah Peterson.
Erin Falconer took 14th in the 500 free in a personal-best 4:44.81.
On the men's side the 200 IM allowed Auburn to make its first big move of the championships, bringing five swimmers back and collecting a total of 76 points. Joe Patching finished fourth in 1:42.63 and Michael Duderstadt eighth in 1:45.45 to top all Auburn finishers. Tommy Brewer was 13th in a personal-best 1:45.50 and Petter Freriksson, swimming the event for the third time due to a swim-off, was 14th in a personal-best 1:45.69. Foster Ballard finished in 1:47.66 to take 24th.
It was another massive points grab for the men in the 50 free as Auburn sent seven to the blocks over the three finals. Zach Apple took fifth in a personal-best 19.23, two spots ahead of Peter Holoda in seventh (19.43). Kyle Darmody took 10th overall in 19.53 and Ziv Kalontarov 15th in 19.86. Hugo Morris (19.84, 19th), Liam McCloskey (20.09, 23rd) and Santiago Grassi (20.10, 24th) rounded out the group. In total Auburn added 86 points to its total in the event.
"We had two very good sessions, and I think the morning was better than the night," associate head coach Sergio Lopez said "The energy that we created this morning and afternoon is going to carry on through the rest of the meet.
"We don't have a guy that goes 17.8 but I think we are building something for the long term," Lopez said. "The depth shows how well these kids train."
The night concluded with both the men's and women's 200 free relay teams earn runner-up finishes, the women in 1:27.86, just .29 behind winner Georgia, and the men in 1:16.03, .36 behind winner Florida.
Thursday morning's prelims session begins at 9 a.m. CT and will include the 400 IM, 100 fly and 200 free.
Wednesday Auburn Finishes & SEC Champions
Women's 500 Free
1. Sarah Gibson (TAMU) 4:40.94 / 4:38.92
2. Ashley Neidigh 4:41.36 (PR) / 4:39.91 (PR)
9. Zoe Thatcher 4:44.25 / 4:42.67
14. Erin Falconer 4:45.81 (PR) / 4:44.81 (PR)
Men's 500 Free
1. Fynn Minuth (SC) 4:12.94 / 4:11.07
26. Alec Morris 4:23.58
28. Russell Noletto 4:25.07 (PR)
41. Bryan Lee 4:27.72 (PR)
47. Colin Bone 4:34.41
Women's 200 IM
1. Meghan Small (UT) 1:54.86 / 1:53.31
17. Bailey Nero 1:58.77 (PR) / 1:57.99 (PR)
31. Caroline Baddock 2:00.50
35. Jessica Merritt 2:01.30 (PR)
36. Natasha Lloyd 2:01.40
41. Jacqueline Hippi 2:02.40
44. Kristen Murslack 2:02.97
Men's 200 IM
1. Chase Kalisz (UGA) 1:42.84 / 1:41.28
4. Joe Patching 1:43.32 / 1:42.63
8. Michael Duderstadt 1:44.80 / 1:45.45
13. Tommy Brewer 1:45.64 (PR) / 1:45.50 (PR)
14. Petter Fredriksson 1:46.24 (PR) / 1:45.71 (PR) [swim-off] / 1:45.69 (PR)
24. Foster Ballard 1:46.45 (PR) / 1:47.66
27. Luis Martinez 1:47.76 (PR)
Women's 50 Free
1. Madeline Banic (UT) 22.00 / 21.54
9. Julie Meynen 22.69 / 22.11 (PR)
11. Allyx Purcell 22.50 / 22.37
14. Ashton Ellzey 22.59 / 22.55
16. Robyn Clevenger 22.74 (PR) / 22.83
45. Shannon McKernan 23.61
47. Breanna Roman 23.66
54. Brooke Malone 23.84 (PR)
Men's 50 Free
1. Caeleb Dressel (UF) 18.51 / 18.46
5. Zach Apple 19.59 / 19.23 (PR)
7. Peter Holoda 19.50 / 19.43
10. Kyle Darmody 19.63 / 19.53
15. Ziv Kalontarov 19.67 (PR) / 19.86
19. Hugo Morris 19.83 (PR) / 19.84
23. Liam McCloskey 19.89 (PR) / 20.09
24. Santiago Grassi 19.95 (PR) / 20.10
Women's 1-meter
6. Maddie Cox 307.05 (PR) / 313.95 (PR)
9. Alison Maillard 301.25 (PR)
35. Miranda Telmanik 222.95
Women's 200 Free Relay
1. Georgia (Smoliga, Burchill, Cameron, Van Landeghem) 1:27.57
2. Auburn (Tetzloff, Ellzey, Meynen, Purcell) 1:27.86
Men's 200 Free Relay
1. Florida (Scarpe, Dressel, Switkowski, Blyzinskyj) 1:15.67
2. Auburn (Apple, Holoda, Kalontarov, Darmody) 1:16.03
Women's Top 5 Team Scores
1. Texas A&M 488
2. Georgia 410
3. Auburn 371
4. Missouri 349
5. Tennessee 344
Men's Top 5 Team Scores
x. Florida 486.5
2. Auburn 346
3. Texas A&M 324
4. Georgia 314
5. Alabama 287