AUBURN, Ala. – For the first time in three years, the Auburn and men women both earned wins over Alabama to make it a sweep over their in-state rival Thursday afternoon.
"This rivalry means a lot to the people of the state, as well at the university and the athletic department here," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "Our energy and sheer emotion, from start to finish, through some of the downs and many of the ups, was reflective of that. These athletes raced with a lot of heart and those that were on the sidelines were really loud and really vocal. Those that competed really got the job done.
"I'm so proud of the overall heart, pride, energy, and positive emotion that they competed with today. It was outstanding and I couldn't have asked for more from the team."
It was a 169-131 victory for the 13th-ranked Auburn women, who began to seize control of the meet in the 50 free where Julie Meynen, AJ Kutsch and Claire Fisch finished 1-2-3 to earn 16 points for the Tigers before the first diving break.
Meynen would go on to win the 100 free as well, finishing in 49.39.
Junior Carly Cummings proved to be a standout in Thursday's meet as she won three different events. Cummings placed first in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and then made it 3 for 3 with another first-place finish in the 200 IM where she finished in 2:00.79.
The Auburn men, who lost at Alabama a year ago, found themselves trailing at the first diving break. However, they rallied to win five straight races en route to a 175-125 victory.
"They came out with so much energy, fire, and passion and earned some hard-fought victories," Taylor said. "Even when something didn't quite go our way, they never let up and continued to focus on the race at hand."
It was another all-around outstanding performance for senior Santiago Grassi, who won both the 100 and 200 butterfly events and also took second in the 100 free behind teammate Thomas Heinzel. Both finished the 100 free in under 45 seconds.
Heinzel swam the first leg in the 400 freestyle relay where he and teammates Jack Armstrong, Owen Upchurch and Christian Sztolcman finished first in the meet's final event.
Sophomore Aryan Makhija swept the distance freestyle events on the men's side, winning the 1,000 free and then turning around to place first in the 500 free.
DIVING RECAP
Senior Alison Maillard continued her impressive start to the season with wins in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. Maillard scored 321.98 points on the 1-meter and then followed that with 328.35 points in the 3-meter event.
On the men's side, sophomore Conner Pruitt set a new personal best (373.13) to win the 1-meter competition but came in second in the 3-meter event with 386.55 points.
"I thought it was a solid team performance," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Obviously on the women's side, Alison stepped up and showed her expertise. She's starting to make some corrections on her big dives. I'm really proud of her front three-and-a-half pike and the start of her back two-and-a-half pike. She's got to keep her feet together, but it's getting there.
"On the men's side, Conner did a great job on 1-meter. On 3-meter, he just started off a little bit slow. He hit his last two dives real strong to make it closer, but in a six-dive contest, you can't give one away. We need to be better at performing all six dives to the best of our ability."
Freshman Ashlynn Sullivan finished second in the 3-meter competition and earned an NCAA zone qualifying score with 297.15 points.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Auburn swimmers won't compete again until 2020 when Virginia comes to the James E. Martin Aquatic Center for a dual meet on Jan. 4. The divers, however, will be back in action later this month to host the Auburn Diving Invitational, beginning Dec. 16.