AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn swimming and diving team lost Saturday's dual meet to a top-10 Florida squad, but it was a performance that included a number of season bests and lifetime bests for the Tigers on both the men's and women's sides.
It was also a meet to recognize the seven Auburn seniors, many of whom competed for the last time inside the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on Saturday.
"It's been a really difficult almost 12 months," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "Just getting to this point, having these meets this week, being able to celebrate our seniors – our senior diver, our senior swimmers – with a dual meet and a ceremony, it says a lot about the team and the ability of this group to come together, stay healthy and have this moment.
"It's certainly not their senior year of dreams with everything involved, but it was great to bring everybody together and be able to support them, show them some love and give back to our seniors after everything they've done for us."
WOMEN
Coming off a pair of individual wins in Wednesday's victory over Florida State, sophomore Averee Preble swam a lifetime-best 9:40.82 in the 1,000 freestyle to snag the first win of the meet for the Auburn women against Florida.
Freshmen Brynn Curtis, Colby Hurt and Hannah Ownbey also finished with lifetime bests in various events in what was the final dual meet of the season. Curtis swam a 2:10.29 to place second in the 200 breaststroke, shaving a full second off her previous lifetime-best time, while Hurt set lifetime bests in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle.
The Tigers fell, 215-84, to No. 8 Florida – splitting the two dual meets this week.
"Our women maybe didn't have the outcome against Florida you want, but you saw really good spirit, good energy from that group, and continued performances throughout the meet," Taylor said.
MEN
The Auburn men went back-and-forth with Florida throughout the meet, and the outcome wasn't decided until the final 400 freestyle relay where the 5th-ranked Gators took first to clinch a 158-142 victory.
It was a performance that included seven first-place finishes for the Tigers, beginning with the 200 medley relay where Christian Ginieczki, Reid Mikuta, Nik Eberly and Logan Tirheimer combined to touch the wall ahead of Florida's top relay team.
It was the first of three wins for Mikuta who swept the breaststroke events, winning both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The freshmen earned NCAA B cuts in both races.
Eberly, a sophomore, also picked up an individual win in the 50 freestyle.
Freshmen Mikkel Gadgaard and Michael Bonson both put in lifetime-best swims on Saturday. Gadgaard just missed winning the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:35.57 – a lifetime best. He came back and won the 500 freestyle. Bonson set new lifetime bests in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle, placing second in both events.
"When you look back at Wednesday, there were four swims and a dive or two that were the difference in the Florida State meet," Taylor said. "Today, we've got to find a way to get our hand on the wall first when it comes down to a meet being on the line. So we've got to continue to learn and grow from that end."
DIVING
Logan Andrews, the lone senior diver, led the way for Auburn on the boards Saturday with a win in the 1-meter competition and a second-place finish on 3-meter. Andrews set a new season best with 318.38 points on 1-meter.
"I'm really proud of him," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "It's always nice for a senior to finish on a solid event and get a win, and I thought he did a pretty decent job on 3-meter. He's really only had about a week of practice since having a little setback."
On the women's side, Ashlynn Sullivan finished second in the 3-meter event with 299.10 points while Gretchen Wensuc scored 270.75 points to take third on 1-meter.
WHAT'S NEXT
It's on to championship season for Auburn. The SEC Championships will begin in February with the women swimming Feb. 17-20, followed by the men the next week, Feb. 23-27. The divers compete the same week as the women.
Auburn celebrates seniors, drops dual meet to Florida
