AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn women's team closed out the 2020 SEC Championships in style with a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay Saturday. It was the second women's relay team to claim gold this week, and it pushed the Tigers ahead of Texas A&M for fifth place overall.
Seniors Julie Meynen, Claire Fisch and Robyn Clevenger were a part of both relays while freshman Abbey Webb took the place of AJ Kustch in the Saturday's winning relay.
"This was our last SECs in our home pool, and you just have to get your hand on the wall and win," Clevenger said. "Now, to do it a second time – it just makes you want to cry."
"I can't say enough about those four women," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "They finished out the meet 3:09.18, which is an SEC record by almost a second and a half, breaking the record from last year that was set by a pretty similar group of Auburn women. It was a proud moment for the team and for the program. It was awesome to be in this facility and close out the women's meet that way."
On the men's side, Auburn finished eighth at this year's SEC Championships with 697 points.
Including the winning 400 freestyle relay, the Tigers had a total of three trips to the podium Saturday. Meynen took bronze in the women's 100 freestyle, finishing with a lifetime-best 46.96. It was the senior's fourth medal of the week as she was a part of both relay wins and also won bronze in the 50 freestyle on Wednesday night.
Freshman Gretchen Wensuc made her first diving final Saturday and responded with a personal best (276.90) to win bronze in the women's podium event. The Auburn divers won a total of four medals in six events, including two from senior Alison Maillard.
Maillard, who was SEC champion on the 1-meter, was named the SEC Female Diver of the Meet.
"It's just a real honor," Maillard said. "I remember being a freshman and a girl named Lauren Reedy won it. She is just such a wonderful human being, worked her tail off all the time and just dove her heart out. So this award has always meant that to me. To medal twice after never having medaled and to end up with an SEC Diver of the Meet, I couldn't ask for a whole lot more."
Gallery: (2/22/2020) SEC Swimming & Diving Championship Day 5
1650 FREE
Sophomore Emily Hetzer and freshman Averee Preble both made Auburn's top 10 all-time performers list in the 1,650 freestyle Saturday. Hetzer, who set the Auburn record with her 1,000 freestyle split (9:37.31), just missed podium with a B-cut time of 15:55.28 to place fourth. Preble finished the race in 16:06.54 and was sixth overall.
"Averee finishes in a time that always makes the NCAAs," Taylor said. "Emily Hetzer drops six seconds off her lifetime-best performance and breaks the school record in the 1,000 free on the way out to finish fourth. That was a great way to start for the women."
On the men's side, sophomore Aryan Makhija also swam a lifetime best and finished fifth for the Tigers. His time of 14:53.57 makes him the school's third-fastest swimmer in the event.
200 BACK
Swimming in the A-final Saturday night, junior Sonnele Oeztuerk earned an eighth-place finish. Both Oeztuerk (1:53.49) and senior Abi Wilder, who was 16th, swam B-cut times in the final. Wilder's time of 1:55.14 from prelims was a new lifetime best.
The Auburn men had two swimmers in the B-Final. Freshman Lleyton Smith swam a lifetime best in prelims and then went fast in the finals, finishing in 1:42.54 to place 11th. Junior Christian Ginieczki also dropped his time from prelims and finished 16th overall.
100 FREE
Though Meynen was the only one to make podium, Auburn had five swimmers make the finals for the women's 100 free and three make the A-Final. Like Meynen, Fisch swam a new lifetime best (47.27) to finish fourth in the A-Final. And Webb, who swam a lifetime best in prelims, finished eighth in the same final with a time of 49.04.
All three swimmers are on Auburn's all-time top 10 list with Meynen second and Fisch fourth.
For the men, Christian Sztolcman also swam a lifetime best (43.37) to finish 22nd overall. The sophomore made the finals in all three events he participated in at this year's SEC Championships.
200 BREAST
Junior Carly Cummings just missed her lifetime best but finished second in the B-Final and 10th overall with a time of 2:10.10. Sophomore Val Tarazi also scored points for the Tigers with a sixth-place finish in the C-Final. Tarazi placed 22nd overall.
WOMEN'S PLATFORM DIVING
Wensuc proved the stage was not too big Saturday. The freshman finished third in prelims with a score of 268.50 to qualify for her first SEC Championship diving final. And then she delivered yet again with another personal best (276.90) in the final to win the bronze medal.
"It's just an awesome performance," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "I could see it coming. She's really gritty. She works really hard, and her hard work really got her into the finals with a personal best. And she bettered it this evening in a really tough contest.
"But what a great week from everybody. We've got six divers, and everybody scored. We at least had one finalist in every event. I just couldn't be more proud of the work that they've put in."
400 FREE RELAY
With a time of 3:09.18, the women's 400 freestyle relay team broke the SEC record and the school record that was set last year by the Tigers. For Meynen, Fisch and Clevenger, it was their last swim for Auburn at home in the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
"It feels amazing honestly," Meynen said. "We couldn't have finished the meet on a better note. We tried to defend our (400 freestyle relay) title this year, and it was awesome."
The Auburn men finished in a tie for fifth in the 400 freestyle relay. Senior Santiago Grassi, who was one of the standouts all week, started the race with a lifetime best leadoff performance. Sztolcman and Thomas Heinzel swam next and kept that momentum going, and then it was senior Owen Upchurch, in potentially the final swim of his Auburn career, bringing it home.
TEAM STANDINGS
Women
1. Tennessee, 1108
2. Florida, 1079.5
3. Kentucky, 987.5
4. Georgia, 986
5. Auburn, 866
6. Texas A&M, 851
7. Alabama, 748
8. Missouri, 500
9. South Carolina, 427
10. Arkansas, 422
11. LSU, 417
12. Vanderbilt, 150
Men
1. Florida, 1194
2. Texas A&M, 975.5
3. Georgia, 953.5
4. Alabama, 935.5
5. Missouri, 846.5
6. Tennessee, 817
7. Kentucky, 724
8. Auburn, 697
9. LSU, 517
10. South Carolina, 504