DALLAS – For the second straight day, the Auburn women finished strong with a win in a relay event. However, on Saturday it wasn't enough to win the meet as the Tigers scored 331 points, falling two points shy of Louisville for first at the SMU Women's Classic.
"There were a lot of positives, a lot of fantastic performances," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "I thought the women showed a lot of grit, a lot of toughness. They performed well start to finish. They never at any point let up. So I thought it was a really gutty performance by our women. We pushed a perennial top-five, top-10 program to the limits."
Auburn led the field of six teams by after Friday's action and then after a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay to start Saturday, the Tigers earned their first victory of the day from sophomore Emily Hetzer, who swam the 500 freestyle in 4:39.71 to win the A final.
Two events later, junior Sonnele Oeztuerk narrowly missed another victory for Auburn in the 200 backstroke as she swam the A final in 1:53.25 to finish second. Oeztuerk also placed second in the B final of the 500 free earlier in the meet.
"I thought Sonnele Oeztuerk was outstanding," Taylor said. "She put in a really tough 500 free to get us some big points and then turns around and swam really gutty, really tough in the 200 backstroke – just missing the win there, but performing a time that's always made the NCAA Championship meet."
Seniors Claire Fisch and Julie Meynen were standouts for the second straight day. A day after sweeping the A and B final in the 50 free, the duo did the same Saturday in the 100 free. Fisch finished the event in 48.51 to win the A final, and Meynen took first in the B final with a 48.20, the fastest time in the country to this point.
Junior Jewels Harris followed with a second-place finish in the A final of the 200 fly (1:59.27), and in the same event, Hetzer finished in 1:59.85 to place third in the B final.
In the final event of the meet, Auburn's relay team of Fisch, Meynen, Abbey Webb and Harris swam the 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.28 to earn yet another first-place finish. On Friday, the Tigers closed out the night with a win in the 800 freestyle relay.
Over the two days of competition, Auburn earned a total of 11 victories.
"I think this is something you can absolutely look at and build confidence from," Taylor said. "The women here and the teams back get to see this and say 'Man, those women swam great.' That gives us confidence. Now it's taking those final steps and really starting to break through against high-level teams in meets that come down to the wire."
DIVING RECAP
After winning the 1-meter diving competition Friday, Alison Maillard placed third (289.00) in Saturday's 3-meter competition. Though she missed two of her dives Saturday, she was still named Diver of the Meet.
"Overall, it was a good learning experience," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "To know that we both have to focus and bear down on starts and being a little bit more competitive, giving yourself a chance to do great dives, and then ultimately finishing the dives a little bit sharper, cleaner."
Scores (Final)
1. Louisville: 333
2. Auburn: 331
3. Northwestern: 315
4. Iowa: 242
5. Miami (FL): 230
6. SMU: 223