Oct. 27, 2017
In a battle of top-20 squads, Auburn's No. 9-ranked men's swimming and diving team knocked off No. 16 Alabama, 167.5-132.5, on Friday at the Martin Aquatics Center.
"I thought the whole men's team stood up as a unit," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "I know there was some individual highlights but the way we won this was through team swimming. It's clear that Alabama came in with a little bit different agenda than we had. We came to race tough and I thought our guys did that man-to-man."
Luis Martinez, Hugo Gonzalez and Scott Lazeroff each picked up a pair of individual wins while Tommy Brewer, Peter Holoda and Bryan Lee each earned wins as well.
Martinez took the top spot in both butterfly events for the second straight weekend. He won the 200 fly in a season-best 1:46.61 and then made it a personal sweep of the fly events with a win by .01 seconds in the 100, touching in 47.00, seventh-fastest in the country to date.
Gonzalez turned in the sixth-fastest time in the country in winning the 200 back in 1:44.41. It was his second win in the event this season. Gonzalez also touched first in the 400 IM, swimming a 3:51.24. Petter Fredriksson was third in both the 200 back (1:46.93) and 400 IM (4:01.90).
Lazeroff swept the springboard events, taking home top honors twice as Auburn went 1-2-3 on the 3-meter with Lazeroff (363.83) taking first, Logan Andrews scoring a season-best 344.10 to take second and Pete Turnham finishing third (340.35). It was more of the same on the 1-meter as Lazeroff just beat out Turnham for first, scoring a 341.03 to Turnham's 340.13, both of which are season-best scores.
"On the 3-meter we were real consistent," diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Pete still needs to work on finishing his backs and gainers but he really had an awesome top on his inward three-and-a-half. It's unbelievable that it's been four years and this is his senior year. I'm proud of his efforts and what he's done.
"Scott was real steady," Shaffer said. "He actually did a new dive on 1-meter, a front one-and-a-half, three twists, and I think that will be a strong dive for him as the season goes on."
Auburn swept the 200 breaststroke behind Brewer (2:00.31), Spencer Rowe (2:02.30) and Bryar Long (2:05.13). The win was the first of the season for Brewer.
Holoda captured the 50 free in a season-best 19.93, which is the eighth-fastest time in the nation this season. It marked the second straight weekend the senior has won the event. He then returned and took second in the 100 free in a season-best 43.42, which makes him ninth-fastest in the country.
Lee won the 1000 free for a second straight week, touching in 9:19.81.
In the women's lanes, Alabama took home the dual meet win, 167-131.
"I think the Alabama women came in in a different spot than we are," Hawke said. "I thought our women improved from last week in terms of racing tough and getting some wins."
Sophomore Alison Maillard made Auburn 4-for-4 in winning diving events, scoring a season-best 292.80 to win the 1-meter and a 334.88 to win the 3-meter. Erin Norton was just off a season-high score with a 234.45 to take third on the 1-meter and second on the 3-meter with a personal-best 283.13.
"The girls were rock solid," Shaffer said. "Another personal best for Erin and another solid performance for Alison. She did some great dives, missed a couple of entries, but overall we are getting better. This is our third meet in a row with one more week to go. We get through that and maybe it will be time for some training to get better and focus on the mistakes that we made. I'm proud of what they did today."
Aly Tetzloff, the reigning SEC Swimmer of the Week, remained undefeated in the 100 back this season, winning in a career-best 53.28. She just missed out on a second individual win, getting out-touched by .02 seconds in the 100 fly, finishing in 53.02, which is the fifth-fastest time in the country thus far.
Bailey Nero earned her first individual win of the season, winning the 200 fly in a NCAA B cut time of 1:59.16.
Julie Meynen, who had won every dual meet 100 free up until last weekend, returned to the top spot with a 49.92 to take top honors on Friday.
Auburn swept the podium in the 200 back behind Erin Falconer (1:56.79), Caroline Baddock (2:00.29) and Abi Wilder (2:00.88). Falconer's time makes her 16th-fastest in the country.
Carly Cummings captured three second-place finishes, doing so in the 100 breast (1:02.24), the 200 breast (2:13.48) and the 400 IM (4:18.07).
"Carly was a gem of a find in recruiting last year," associate head coach Lauren Hancock said. "We knew we were getting a tough one in her and she will swim whatever we ask of her. She stepped up in breaststroke for us but she's also got a good 200 fly, 200 free, 500 free and 400 IM. We are very pleased with her progress so far."
Auburn hits the road for the first time this season next weekend, competing at South Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 4. The dual meet is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT in Columbia, S.C.