AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn's Santiago Grassi and Christian Sztolcman picked up right where they left off Wednesday with standout performances in Thursday's prelims at the SEC Championships.
Grassi swam the sixth-fastest time in the men's 100 butterfly to qualify for the A-Final. It will be the second straight night the senior will swim in an A-Final as he finished fifth overall Tuesday in the men's 100 freestyle final after securing the second-fastest time in prelims.
For Sztolcman, the men's 200 freestyle prelims Thursday was just the latest fast swim in what has been a breakthrough week for him. The sophomore finished in 1:33.62 to take second in his heat and third overall for the event. He just missed his lifetime-best time (1:33.26) that he set during the first leg of the men's 800 freestyle relay Tuesday.
On the women's side, Auburn senior Alison Maillard will have an opportunity to her second SEC title Thursday night. Maillard, who won gold in the 1-meter event Tuesday, qualified for finals in the 3-meter competition with 324.05 points.
In all, the Tigers will have 13 swimmers and one diver competing in Thursday's finals.
Women's 400 IM
12. Emily Hetzer, 4:11.62
Men's 400 IM
None
Women's 100 Fly
12. Jewels Harris, 52.80
22. Robyn Clevenger, 53.66
Men's 100 Fly
6. Santiago Grassi, 46.17
11. Christian Ginieczki, 46.42
18. Matthew Yish, 46.93
23. Nik Eberly, 47.26
Women's 200 Free
10. Claire Fisch, 1:45.66
10. Abbey Webb, 1:45.66
15. Jessica Merritt, 1:46.12
22. Julie Meynen, 1:46.94
Men's 200 Free
3. Christian Sztolcman, 1:33.62
23. Lleyton Smith, 1:36.84
Women's 3-Meter Diving
2. Alison Maillard, 324.05