March 24, 2018
NCAA Championships - Saturday Prelims | Men's NCAA Championships - Saturday Finals
The 2018 Men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close on Saturday night at the University of Minnesota. Auburn collected a top-10 finish in the final relay and three more top-16 individual swims on the final night.
"We came in with eight swimmers and two divers and we hit in a lot of areas, we did a lot of great things, but we missed in some spots as well," Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. "This meet is so close and so deep, you just can't have any misses. It wasn't a perfect meet for us but there were certainly some bright spots, especially the way Zach Apple swam. It was phenomenal for him and for our program."
400 Freestyle Relay
Auburn closed out the meet with a tie for seventh in the 400 free relay, clocking a 2:49.30. Apple led off with a 41.79 split, which was tied for the second-fastest leadoff leg of the heat. He was followed by Liam McCloskey, who went 42.83, Peter Holoda (41.76) and Santiago Grassi (42.63).
100 Freestyle
Apple blitzed the field ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" and his personal-best ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" in winning the B Final of the 100 free in 41.36, which makes him the second-fastest performer in school history behind only Cesar Cielo. His time represented a 0.49 second drop from his prelims time. Holoda took fifth in the heat (13th overall) in his final individual race for Auburn, clocking a 42.09.
Apple finished the championships with five All-America honors, finishing top-9 in all three of his individual events and swimming on a pair of top-16 relays. He also collected a school record (200 free ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:31.18) and a total of 10 top-25 performances across his three events. He was also the team's individual high scorer, racking up 38.5 of the team's 98.5 points.
Apple, who finished third in the 100 free and tied for fifth in the 50 free, earned All-America honors in the same three individual events last year, tying for fourth in the 50, taking 14th in the 100 and 12th in the 200. He now has collected 13 All-America honors over three seasons.
Holoda finishes his career with 15 All-America honors, having garnered four at this year's championships, four in 2017, six in 2016 and one in 2015.
200 Breaststroke
Tommy Brewer swam a 1:55.66 to finish seventh in the B Final. The placing earns the junior the first All-America honors of his career after placing 19th in the event a year ago.
Platform
Junior Scott Lazeroff earned honorable mention All-America honors for the third straight season, finishing 13th overall with a 345.60.
"I'm proud of Scott for finishing top 16 for the third straight year, because it is not easy to do," diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "There was more depth in that contest than in his previous years, but in the same sense, with a little better finishes on his dives, I feel that he had the ability to dive at night, not just in the consolation finals."
Needing 60 points on his final dive of prelims, he scored a 64.35 to secure the 15th-best score out of prelims at 351.75. He then averaged a 57.60 on his second list, scoring a 79.20 on his final dive to secure his final place.
"He moved up from 15th to 13th in the consos and that's a plus," Shaffer said. "We'll set the sights and goals and continue to work on the skills, the form and the finish that will make him competitive to be in position to score four straight years next year,"
Lazeroff is the first Auburn diver to finish top-16 on the platform for three straight years since Kelly Marx did it at four straight championships (2007-10).
1650 Freestyle
Freshman Josh Dannhauser posted a 15:07.88 in his second-ever collegiate mile competition to finish 39th. His time is the 16th-fastest performance in school history and included a 9:05.71 split after 1,000 meters, which is the 11th-fastest performance in school history.
Championship Overview
Auburn finished in 12th in the team race with 98.5 points. Texas claimed a fourth-straight national championship with 449 points, topping second place Cal (437.5) by just 11.5 points. Indiana (422) was third, NC State (385) fourth and Florida (347) fifth.
2018 NCAA S&D Championships
NCAA Champions & Auburn Finishes
1650 Freestyle
1. Anton Ipsen (NCSU) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 14:24.43
39. Josh Dannhauser ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 15:07.88
200 Backstroke
1. Austin Katz (TEX) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:37.53
27. Hugo Gonzalez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:41.41
100 Freestyle
1. Caeleb Dressel (FLA) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 40.68/39.90
9. Zach Apple ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.85/41.36
13. Peter Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 42.17/42.09
X. Santiago Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" SCR
X. Liam McCloskey - SCR
200 Breaststroke
1. Ian Finnerty (IU) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:51.08/1:50.17
15. Tommy Brewer ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:54.27/1:55.66
200 Butterfly
1. Andreas Vazaios (NCSU) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:39.68/1:38.60
37. Luis Martinez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 1:44.48
Platform
1. Colin Zeng (TENN) ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 437.40/466.35
13. Scott Lazeroff ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 351.75/345.60
400 Freestyle Relay
1. NC State ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 2:44.31 (Held ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.05, Ress ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 40.62, Molacek ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.02, Stewart ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.62)
T7. Auburn ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 2:49.01 (Apple ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.79, McCloskey ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 42.83, Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 41.76, Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 42.63)
Team Standings
1. Texas - 449
2. California ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 437.5
3. Indiana ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 422
4. NC State - 385
5. Florida ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 347
12. Auburn ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 98.5
Auburn's All-American Honors
(8 Individuals, 20 Honors)
Zach Apple ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 50 Free, 100 Free HM, 200 Free, 200 FR HM, 400 FR
Tommy Brewer ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 Breast, 400 MR HM
Hugo Gonzalez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 IM HM, 400 MR HM
Santiago Grassi ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM, 400 FR, 400 MR HM
Peter Holoda ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 100 Free HM, 200 FR HM, 400 FR, 400 MR HM
Scott Lazeroff - Platform
Luis Martinez ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM
Liam McCloskey ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 200 FR HM, 400 FR