March 14, 2018
2018 Women's NCAA S&D Championships - 800 FR
COLUMBUS, Ohio - It only took one event for the Auburn women's swimming and diving team to get into the flow of the 2018 NCAA Championships.
Racing in the 800 free relay, Auburn's quartet of Erin Falconer, Aly Tetzloff, Sonnele Oeztuerk and Jessica Merritt posted the program's fastest time since 2007 and scored in the event for the first time in over five years, finishing in 7:01.95.
Falconer, a junior that has swam leadoff on the 800 free relay for three straight years, led off the 2018 squad in a personal-best 1:45.00, which put Auburn ahead of the pack at the first exchange.
"I love being the first to race in the meet because it brings excitement," Falconer said. "We were all ready to race, have fun and swim fast times. Since I've been here we have been just outside the top 16 so scoring in one of our weaker relays is pretty exciting."
Falconer's time was the 17th-fastest performance in school history for a 200 free and set the stage for the remaining three legs.
Tetzloff's 1:46.39 on the second leg dropped Auburn into fifth, a position it maintained on the third leg as Oeztuerk went 1:46.17.
Merritt then posted a 1:44.39 anchor leg, which was the second-fastest final leg in the heat and moved the Tigers up from fifth to second in the heat, .05 seconds behind heat winner UCLA (7:01.90).
"The excitement was pretty high and the four of us worked really hard to score points in that relay," Merritt said. "I didn't know I was going that fast. I was breathing to my right so I could only see in certain directions. But I knew as a relay alternate this was my only shot to score points for the team so I was giving it all I had. Those last 75 (yards) I just told myself to get to the wall as fast as I could."
Stanford won the race in 6:46.93. Auburn finished 15th.
The finish marked the first time Auburn has scored in the 800 free relay since the 2012 championships, when Auburn placed 12th. It was also the fastest time posted by Auburn in the event since the 2007 foursome of Ava Ohlgren, Emile Ewing, Emily Kukors and Adrienne Binder went 7:01.05 to finish second.
The meet kicks into full swimming and diving mode on Thursday with prelims and finals of the 200 freestyle relay, the 500 freestyle, the 200 IM, the 50 freestyle, 1-meter diving and the 400 medley relay. Competition begins at 9:00 a.m. CT and can be watched live on Buckeye Vision through the Ohio State website, ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
2018 NCAA S&D Championships
NCAA Champions & Auburn Finishes
800 Freestyle Relay
1. Stanford -- 6:46.93 (Drabot -- 1:42.99, Eastin 1:41.13, Forde -- 1:42.94, Ledecky -- 1:39.87)
15. Auburn -- 7:01.95 (Falconer -- 1:45.00, Tetzloff -- 1:46.39, Oeztuerk -- 1:46.17, Merritt -- 1:44.39)
Team Standings
1. Stanford -- 40
2. Michigan -- 34
3. California -- 32
4. Tennessee -- 30
5. Texas -- 28
15. Auburn - 4