Feb. 17, 2018
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Scott Lazeroff likes the excitement of the SEC Championships.
It shows year-in and year-out in his platform performance.
"All the excitement -- the fans, the team -- they all get hyped up a lot more than usual because this is a really fun meet," Lazeroff said.
The junior diver collected a third consecutive top-three finish at the conference championships on Saturday night, finishing second on the platform with a near-personal best score. His score of 452.65 was 8.35 points shy of his career best 461.00 from last year's silver medal finish.
"Scott loves this," diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "I'm really proud of him. What a great contest that was. He has a way to rise to the occasion at these level meets."
Lazeroff had finished fifth during the prelims with a 388.25, giving him a bump of 64.40 points and three places from one list to the next.
"I knew I left a lot of dives in the water (this morning) and I didn't want that to happen again," Lazeroff said. "I was cautious in prelims and tonight I just put it all out there."
Following Lazeroff's electric performance, Auburn's 400 medley relays each earned third-place finishes to give the teams momentum heading into Sunday's final sessions.
"We talked about people getting better this afternoon and we wanted to beat ourselves from this morning," head coach Brett Hawke said. "We put the last two events into our best swimmers hands and told them to go out and do the job. To get on the podium was huge."
In the women's relay, Erin Falconer led off with a 52.48 backstroke leg and Breanna Roman followed with a 59.83 breaststroke leg, putting the women in fifth at the midway point. Haley Black then blasted a 50.69 fly leg, the second-best in the race, to move Auburn up to fourth. Julie Meyen then crushed a 47.93 anchor leg, also the second-fastest in the race to move the women onto the podium with a 3:30.93.
The men's 400 medley relay's path to the podium took on a different look out of lane 1. Freshman sensation Hugo Gonzalez led off in 46.46 to put the team in second after on leg. Tommy Brewer (53.27) and Santiago Grassi (45.18) saw the field catch and pass them on the next two legs, dropping the team to seventh heading into the freestyle leg. That's when Peter Holoda dropped the hammer, going a pool-best 40.80, the only one under 41.89, to move the team up to third with a 3:06.53.
"There were some really big splits in there," Hawke said. "It was good to see Julie come back and put a good swim together. Then Peter dropping a bomb at the end of that relay and swimming past four other teams in the last leg. It was great swimming all around."
The night started out with a pair of career bests out of Bailey Nero and Jewels Harris in the 200 fly. Nero won the B Final with a 1:55.75, which is the 11th-fastest performance in school history. Harris took sixth in the C Final, touching in 1:58.76 as she took 2.15 seconds off of her previous best over the course of two Saturday sessions.
"The women's fly set the tone for us tonight," Hawke said. "We raced aggressively, we raced confident and that's all we want out of our athletes. That sets us up for a really good day Sunday."
Foster Ballard won the C Final of the men's 200 fly with a 1:43.65, which is just outside Auburn's top-25 all-time performances. Luis Martinez took sixth in the same heat in 1:45.64.
Falconer and Sonnele Oezturk both moved up the Auburn charts in the 100 back as Falconer went 52.28 and Oeztuerk 52.61 to take second and third, respectively, in the 100 back B Final. Falconer is now the sixth-fastest performer with the 17th-fastest performance in school history while Oeztuerk is the ninth-fastest performer. Black took sixth in the C Final in 54.12.
As Auburn's only 100 back swimmer on the men's side, Petter Fredriksson took fourth in the B Final in 47.35, which was a .09 drop from his prelims swim.
Roman won the B Final of the 100 breast with a 1:00.41 while Carly Cummings was third in the same heat in a personal best 1:00.96. For Cummings it was a single day drop of 1.24 seconds off her previous best. Brooke Malone equaled her prelims time of 1:01.52 to finish fourth in the C Final.
Brewer took fifth in the B Final of the 100 breast in 53.33 and Spencer Rowe took fourth in the C Final in a personal best 53.60.
Logan Andrews finished 17th on the platform with a 293.10.
Heading into the final day, Auburn's women are in fifth with 528.5 points, behind fourth-place Kentucky (592.5) and ahead of sixth-place Missouri (508). The men are in sixth place with 575.5 points, behind fifth-place Missouri (604.5) and ahead of seventh-place South Carolina (551).
Sunday's prelims session begins at 10 a.m. and will include the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and women's platform competitions.
Livestats are available each session through 12thman.com and each session will air on SECN+.
SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS -- SATURDAY, FEB. 17
AUBURN RESULTS (PRELIMS/FINALS)
WOMEN'S 200 BUTTERFLY
9. Bailey Nero -- 1:56.97 / 1:55.75 (PR)
22. Jewels Harris -- 1:59.35 (PR) / 1:58.76 (PR)
35. Jaden Bellina -- 2:01.00
MEN'S 200 BUTTERFLY
17. Foster Ballard -- 1:44.95 / 1:43.65
22. Luis Martinez -- 1:46.14 / 1:45.64
29. Bryan Lee -- 1:49.89 (PR)
WOMEN'S 100 BACKSTROKE
10. Erin Falconer -- 52.68 (PR) / 52.28 (PR)
11. Sonnele Oeztuerk -- 53.04 (PR) / 52.61 (PR)
22. Haley Black -- 54.00 (PR) / 54.12
27. Caroline Baddock -- 54.34
31. Sarah Margaret Cimino -- 54.67
T40. Annie Boone -- 55.49
42. Abi Wilder -- 55.56
MEN'S 100 BACKSTROKE
12. Petter Fredriksson -- 47.44 / 47.35
26. David Crossland -- 48.58
32. Christian Ginieczki -- 49.47
WOMEN'S 100 BREASTSTROKE
9. Breanna Roman -- 1:00.98 / 1:00.41
11. Carly Cummings -1:01.25 (PR) / 1:00.96
20. Brooke Malone -- 1:01.52 / 1:01.52
MEN'S 100 BREASTSTROKE
13. Tommy Brewer -- 53.07 (PR) / 53.33
20. Spencer Rowe -- 54.01 / 53.60 (PR)
MEN'S PLATFORM DIVING
2. Scott Lazeroff -- 388.25 / 452.65
17. Logan Andrews -- 293.10
WOMEN'S 400 MEDLEY RELAY
3. Erin Falconer (52.48), Breanna Roman (59.83), Haley Black (50.69), Julie Meynen (47.93) -- 3:30.93
MEN'S 400 MEDLEY RELAY
3. Hugo Gonzalez (46.46), Tommy Brewer (53.27), Santiago Grassi (46.00), Peter Holoda (40.80) -- 3:06.53
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 4
1. Texas A&M 953
2. Georgia 748
3. Tennessee 706.5
4. Kentucky 592.5
5. Auburn 528.5
MEN'S TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 4
1. Florida 876
2. Texas A&M 779
3. Georgia 753.5
4. Tennessee 690
5. Missouri 604.5
6. Auburn 575.5