March 16, 2017
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Alison Maillard became Auburn's first female freshman to score on the 1-meter and the 200 freestyle relay team took seventh on the first full night of action at the 2017 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Maillard, from Houston, became Auburn's first diver to score on a springboard since 2012 as she finished 12th on the 1-meter (287.80). She had advanced to the consolation finals by placing 14th in prelims (279.00), where it took a 287.45 to make top-8 while a 270.40 did not advance out of prelims.
"I thought I might be able to make finals and when I did I was pretty excited. Once in I just wanted to go out and have fun and dive like I have been," Maillard said. "It's easy to get wrapped up in the atmosphere with everything going on, but I able to do what I know how to do and it worked out."
Auburn's last diver to score on the 1-meter was Vennie Dantin, who took third in 2012.
"You are looking at 51 competitors in the competition so there is not a lot of room for error," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "I'm really proud of Alison's effort. It is a really difficult environment to come into and compete, especially as a freshman. She did everything we asked today; dive consistently and let the results fall where they may. She's been very loose and confident since she's been here and that really helped her perform to her best today."
Auburn's 200 free relay team of Aly Tetzloff, Ashton Ellzey, Julie Meynen and Allyx Purcell combined to go 1:27.73 out of lane two in the championship final, which was just shy of the quartet's prelim time of 1:27.51. Tetzloff led off in a personal-best 22.16, bettering her time by .03 seconds from the morning prelims. Ellzey then went 22.15, Meynen 21.67 and Purcell 21.75.
"It was a really good start for the program," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "The four girls did their job this morning, as that is where points are scored. They set the tone for us early and were very close to the school record on both swims. We only lose one senior off the relay (Purcell) and the fastest swimmer is a freshman (Meynen) so it's a good sign for the future.
The All-America honors are the first for Meynen and Tetzloff, the second for Ellzey and the seventh for Purcell.
Auburn finished 18th in the 200 free relay a year ago.
After seven events, Auburn has 29 points, already surpassing last year's total with 14 events to go.
ESPN3.com will stream the championships finals sessions live on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday's evening session, Thursday's sessions along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on NCAA.com and indianasportscorp.org/ncaasd. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, March 28. Live results for the championships will be available on NCAA.com.
Thursday Auburn Finals Results & NCAA Champions
200 Freestyle Relay
1. California (Weitzell 21.59, Murphy 21.83, Bilquist 21.26, Osman 20.91) 1:25.59
7. Auburn (Tetzloff 22.16, Ellzey 22.15, Meynen 21.67, Purcell 21.75) 1:27.73
1-Meter Diving
1. Alison Gibson (Texas) 287.45/332.60
12. Alison Maillard 279.00/287.80
1. Stanford 213
2. California 136
3. Texas 119
4. Georgia 112
5. Texas A&M 108
17. Auburn 29