ATHENS, Ga. – Claire Fisch, Julie Meynen, Aly Tetzloff and Erin Falconer put an exclamation point on the end of the 2019 SEC Championships at Georgia on Saturday night, setting the SEC Record in winning the 400 free relay in the final event of the meet.
"Those women have been awesome all year," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "We've really counted on those four for a number of different reasons. They've come together on relays all week. I told them to go out and show everyone what they had and they performed at a high level at the end of the meet. To have two juniors and two seniors on there, what a way for those seniors to end their career at the SEC Championships."
"I don't know about the record but I knew with these three girls in front of me that we were going to go fast," Falconer said immediately following the race.
The 400 free relay record of 3:10.45 was the fourth Auburn school relay record to fall on the week as the team set the school mark in the 200 medley relay (1:35.73) on Tuesday, the 200 free relay (1:27.05) on Wednesday and the 400 medley relay (3:29.06) on Friday.
"We felt like if the training was good, the buy-in was where it needed to be, these women were capable of a whole lot," Taylor said. "At the same time you have to come out and perform and all of them did individually and on relays all week. They earned every bit of it."
Fisch and Tetzloff swam on all four relays, Falconer swam on three, Meynen and Carly Cummings were each on two and Robyn Clevenger was on one.
The 400 free relay win was also the third title of the meet for the women with Falconer winning the 200 free on Thursday and Tetzloff taking gold in the 100 back on Friday. The three titles represent the most won by the women's program since it won four in 2012.
As a team, Auburn's women finished sixth with 883 points. Texas A&M won the title for the fourth year in a row, scoring 1107 points.
In the men's meet, Auburn finished eighth with 661.5 points. Florida won the title for the seventh year in a row, scoring 1233 points.
"These guys have been challenged all year and it has not been easy," Taylor said. "I think up front it was a little up-and-down but they really came together over the last two-and-a-half to three months. We had a lot of lifetime best performances and a number of guys score and really help this program."
WOMEN'S 1650 FREESTYLE
Freshman Emily Hetzer posted a 16:01.02 to finish fourth in the mile, becoming the fifth-fastest performer with the 15th-fastest performance in school history. That was her second-fastest collegiate mile behind only her 16:05.48 from the November Georgia Tech Invitational.
Hetzer had split a 4:52.34 at the 500 yard mark and 9:43.80 at the 1000 yard mark before splitting a 58.36 or better per 100 yards until the end.
MEN'S 1650 FREESTYLE
Josh Dannhauser swam the third-fastest mile of his career to capture eighth on Saturday night. His 15:00.61 trailed only his 14:52.29 from last year's SEC Championships and 15:00.59 from this year's Georgia Tech Invitational for his fastest swims.
Aryan Makhija became the fourth-fastest miler in school history as he blasted a 15:03.82 in only his second collegiate mile, the first coming two weeks ago at the Auburn Invitational. The mid-year addition swam a 4:33.50 first 500 and was at 9:07.56 at the 1000 yard mark, finishing 10th overall.
Seniors Bryan Lee (15:17.23) and Russell Noletto (15:26.82) also swam personal-bests in finishing 19th and 22nd, respectively.
WOMEN'S 200 BACKSTROKE
Erin Falconer picked up another medal, this one bronze, as she clocked the third-fastest 200 back of her career in 1:51.57. While she was on the podium, teammate Sonnele Oeztuerk was just one spot off of it, finishing fourth in 1:52.37, which was the fourth-fastest 200 back of her career.
"Getting to race in finals with Sonnele was really exciting," Falconer said. "I was pretty excited with another top-three finish."
Falconer and Oeztuerk had qualified second and third, respectively, during prelims. Falconer's 1:51.43 in prelims and Oeztuerk's 1:51.94 were both the fastest times of their careers and made them the second and third-fastest performer in school history behind only Kirsty Coventry.
The 200 back completed what was a very successful week for the senior Falconer, who won her first-ever SEC title with a win in the 200 free and also finished fourth in the 100 back.
"This was by far one of my best meets ever," Falconer said. "It makes it so special being a senior and being a part of something new with the new coaching staff and trying to establish ourselves in the SECs again. This week I was focusing on having fun. The times are going to be there but the memories are going to be there forever."
Falconer had previously finished 24th as a freshman, 12th as a sophomore and fifth as a junior.
Oeztuerk had finished seventh in the event as a freshman last season.
Abi Wilder finished 21st with a personal-best 1:55.57.
MEN'S 200 BACKSTROKE
David Crossland (1:44.58) and Christian Ginieczki (1:45.19) both posted personal-best times in finishing 25th and 29, respectively.
WOMEN'S 100 FREESTYLE
Claire Fisch (47.62), Julie Meynen (47.80) and Aly Tetzloff (48.04) placed fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively as Auburn occupied the first three lanes of the pool. Fisch and Tetzloff swam nearly identical times from prelims, both adding just.01 seconds, while Meynen was .42 faster that what she did in the morning.
"We train together every day and that exact scenario is what we train to do," Fisch said of being on the blocks with her two teammates.
The three were in Lanes 1, 2 and 3 in the finals after qualifying third, fifth and seventh, with Fisch's 47.61 prelims time being a personal-best and the 15th-fastest performance in school history at the time.
Robyn Clevenger finished 15th in 49.24 after posting a career-best 48.93 to post the 12th-fastest time of the morning. Clevenger had never returned for a night-time swim in the event before Saturday, with her previous best finish coming last year when she was the first alternate (25th).
MEN'S 100 FREESTYLE
Liam McCloskey finished third in the B Final with a 43.19, a nearly identical time to what he swam in prelims. He had qualified 14th with a 43.17, a drop of .22 seconds off his previous best of 43.39 from the 2018 SEC Championship Finals when he finished 12th.
WOMEN'S 200 BREASTSTROKE
Val Tarazi finished third in the C Final in 2:12.68, which was .28 seconds faster than her swim from the morning when she qualified 22nd with a then- personal best 2:12.96.
Carly Cummings had tied for 18th in prelims (2:11.93) but was then disqualified in finals for an illegal dolphin kick.
MEN'S 200 BREASTSTROKE
Tommy Brewer tied for fifth with the third-fastest time of his career, touching in 1:54.73. His 1:54.96 in prelims was the fourth-fastest performance of his career and qualified him sixth, making him an A Finalist for the first time in his career.
Spencer Rowe led from start to finish to win the B Final in a personal-best 1:54.02, which made him the 13th-fastest performer in the country and the fifth-fastest performer in school history. His 1:55.71 qualified him 10th out of the morning swims, putting him in the B Final for the second straight year after he finished 11th last year as a freshman. Had he swam in the A Final, he would have finished fifth.
MEN'S PLATFORM
Conner Pruitt finished seventh with a 374.15 on his second list. He had qualified third with a 380.70 first list. That was just 1.20 points shy of his career best 381.90 from the Georgia Tech Invitational. Pruitt finished his first SEC Championships with an 11th-place finish on the 1-meter, a 19th-place finish on the 3-meter and his seventh-place showing on tower.
"I was really pleased with Conner stepping up in his first SEC platform contest and qualifying third with a really solid list," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "The experience that he gained diving in the finals against the NCAA defending champion should bode well to really set him up for a great future."
Logan Andrews, who finished 17th at last year's SEC Championships with a 293.10, scored a 295.60 during prelims to finish 14th. He also finished 14th on the 1-meter and 13th on the 3-meter over the course of this week's conference championships.
"Logan was consistent," Shaffer said. "He could have been a little more aggressive on his first two dives but he hung in there and scored valuable team points."
The divers will now turn their attention to the Zone Championships, held March 11-13 at the Martin Aquatics Center, as they try to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"Conner has the ability and the drive to succeed at the next level," Shaffer said. "This meet should help motivate Logan to dive up to the level that I feel he can do. He has to be a little more competitive, a little more aggressive and more focused on making the corrections and competing every day in practice. If he can do that he's going to be right there as well."
WOMEN'S 400 FREESTYLE RELAY
Joined by her fellow 100 free A Finalists Tetzloff and Meynen as well as Falconer, Fisch put Auburn in the lead from the start, blistering a personal-best 47.48 to put Auburn ahead of the field by .98 seconds.
"I was super nervous for the 100 (free) and I didn't go the time I wanted to in my individual," Fisch said. "When they put me first I thought it was my shot to go a little bit faster and I did. That's all I ever want to do is drop times."
Meynen followed with a 47.54 split, giving Auburn a .73 second edge over Arkansas and 2.01 second edge over eventual runner-up Missouri, which finished in 3:14.48.
Tetzloff's third 100 of the day pushed the lead even further before Falconer anchored the team to the podium.
"Those three girls were in the A Final so to be on that relay is an honor," Falconer said. "There is no one else I would want swimming in front of me. I trust all of them and how fast they all are. Getting up on the blocks and going last is nerve-wracking but when I saw the lead we had I just knew that something special was going to happen."
The 3:10.45 broke the SEC mark of 3:11.23 set by Georgia in 2013 as well as the 3:11.49 school mark set by Hannah Riordan, Olivia Scott, Emily Bos and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
MEN'S 400 FREESTYLE RELAY
Santiago Grassi (43.32), McCloskey (43.01), Christian Sztolcman (43.35) and Brewer (43.44) closed out the meet with an eighth-place finish in 2:53.12.
SATURDAY'S FULL RESULTS
Women's 1650 Freestyle
4. Emily Hetzer – 16:01.02
24. Jaqueline Hippi – 16:48.02
Men's 1650 Freestyle
8. Josh Dannhauser – 15:00.61
10. Aryan Makhija – 15:03.82
19. Bryan Lee – 15:17.23
22. Russell Noletto – 15:26.82
Women's 200 Backstroke
3. Erin Falconer – 1:51.43 / 1:51.57
4. Sonnele Oeztuerk – 1:51.94 / 1:52.37
21. Abi Wilder – 1:56.21 / 1:55.57
35. Annie Boone – 1:58.23
43. Sarah Margaret Cimino – 2:01.80
Men's 200 Backstroke
25. David Crossland – 1:44.58
29. Christian Ginieczki – 1:45.19
Women's 100 Freestyle
4. Claire Fisch – 47.61 / 47.62
5. Julie Meynen – 48.22 / 47.80
6. Aly Tetzloff – 48.03 / 48.04
15. Robyn Clevenger – 48.93 / 49.24
29. Jessica Merritt – 49.78
47. Sierra Jett – 50.42
59. Shannon McKernan – 51.49
Men's 100 Freestyle
11. Liam McCloskey – 43.17 / 43.19
32. Christian Sztolcman – 44.02
33. Owen Upchurch – 44.03
42. Thomas Heinzel – 44.52
45. Matthew Yish – 44.62
46. Grady Ottomeyer – 44.63
Women's 200 Breaststroke
19. Val Tarazi – 2:12.96 /2:12.68
DQ. Carly Cummings – 2:11.93 / DQ
Men's 200 Breaststroke
T5. Tommy Brewer – 1:54.96 / 1:54.73
9. Spencer Rowe – 1:55.71 / 1:54.02
Men's Platform
7. Conner Pruitt – 380.70 / 374.15
14. Logan Andrews – 295.60
27. Justin Checchin – 220.40
Women's 400 Freestyle Relay
X
Men's 400 Freestyle Relay
8. Grassi (43.32), McCloskey (43.01), Sztolcman (43.35) Brewer (43.44) - 2:53.12
TEAM SCORES
Women
1. Texas A&M – 1107
2. Florida – 788.1023.5
3. Kentucky – 927.5
4. Tennessee – 919.5
5. Georgia – 883.5
6. Auburn - 883
Men
1. Florida - 1233
2. Missouri – 1137
3. Tennessee - 917
4. Texas A&M - 907
5. Georgia – 862.5
8. Auburn – 661.5
-- War Eagle –