AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn men's swimming and diving team closed out the season on Saturday afternoon at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
Senior Foster Ballard closed out his career with a 26th-place finish in the 200 fly (1:42.96) while classmate Tommy Brewer also finished 26th in the 200 breaststroke (1:54.88). Fellow senior Liam McCloskey finished 39th in the 100 free (43.66).
"Liam, Tommy and Foster finished (their Auburn careers) today and I appreciate them embracing this staff and giving their all for the coaches and for Auburn," first-year Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "They've really set the trend moving forward. I couldn't be more proud of them. They underwent the biggest changes this year based on a new staff going into their senior year but they never let it get to them. They really stepped up to the challenge of leading the team and the program and setting the foundation for the future."
Junior Santiago Grassi, who earned All-America honorable mention on Friday in the 100 fly with an 11th-place finish, finished 34th in the 100 free with a personal-best 43.13, which was 0.19 seconds faster than his SEC Championships time (43.32).
Sophomores Josh Dannhauser finished 25th in the mile (14:55.94), the third-fastest 1650 free of his career, and Spencer Rowe finished 37th in the 200 breaststroke (1:55.66).
In the diving well, freshman Conner Pruitt finished his championships with a 25th-place finish on the platform (300.10). He also finished 28th on the 3-meter and 34th on the 1-meter over the course of the week.
"Conner grew tremendously (this season)," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "The experience at the NCAA Championships will really help him in the future.
"His list on platform was a little off the mark and his second dive (30.45) really took him out of contention," Shaffer said. "He continued to fight back and did really good fifth- (63.00) and sixth-round (54.45) dives but it was just a little too little too late. But again, a tremendous freshman season and he has a bright future ahead of him both individually and contributing to Auburn's team success."
"All-in-all I'm really proud of the effort, determination and grit I saw from this team start to finish," Taylor said. "From dive to touch I never questioned the effort. These guys were all in for Auburn and performed to the best of their abilities. Certainly we want to continue to grow from this but there is a bright future in front of us. I'm excited with where we are going."
Auburn Results
1650 Freestyle
25. Josh Dannhauser – 14:55.94
100 Freestyle
34. Santiago Grassi – 43.13
39. Liam McCloskey – 43.66
200 Breaststroke
26. Tommy Brewer – 1:54.88
37. Spencer Rowe – 1:55.66
200 Butterfly
26. Foster Ballard – 1:42.96
Platform
25. Conner Pruitt – 300.10
Auburn All-America Honors (1 individual, 1 honor)
Santiago Grassi – 100 Fly HM
-- War Eagle –