GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Auburn women wrapped up their season Saturday on the fourth and final day of the NCAA Women's Championships.
Freshman Brynn Curtis led the way in the 200 breaststroke, placing 25th in prelims with a new lifetime best. She was one of three Tigers to swim the event. Auburn also had a pair of swimmers in the 1650 freestyle, including sophomore Averee Preble who finished her first NCAAs with a 24th-place finish.
"All in all, we finished out with some strong individual performances," Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. "There are some things we're going to work on a lot moving forward – spring and summer and into next year. I believe that Auburn has a big future ahead of it, but we certainly need to work on some things and continue to work to get better."
DAY 4 HIGHLIGHTS
Curtis had the swim of the day for Auburn in the 200 breaststroke. The freshman was second in her heat, and with a new lifetime-best time of 2:09.35, she moved up to fourth all-time at Auburn for the event. It was the 13th-fastest 200 breast time in school history.
"Brynn Curtis dropping under 2:10.00 for the first time – one of the fastest times in Auburn history, just outside of scoring – bodes really well for our young freshman moving forward," Taylor said.
Fellow freshman Hannah Ownbey, swimming in her third event of the meet, finished 41st overall in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:11.88. A DQ wiped out what would have been a season-best performance from senior Carly Cummings in the event.
Next up for the Tigers were Preble and Emily Hetzer in the 1650 freestyle heats. Preble placed 24th with a time of 16:17.69 while Hetzer finished in 16:23.03, good for 31st overall. It was the third event of the meet for Hetzer who also swam in the 200 and 500 freestyle.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Gary Taylor
On Carly Cummings' career at Auburn…
"I think she's certainly shown a lot of leadership throughout the season. She's someone that our younger athletes listen to and want to emulate. I think both Jewels (Harris) and Carly are very much that way. She works hard in the pool, outside the pool as well, and bleeds orange and blue. She loves the Auburn program. She wants to see it be great. You don't really every have to question that, and that says a lot in regards to her being an Auburn woman."
UP NEXT
With the women's season over, the focus turns to the NCAA Men's Championships next week. Auburn will have a trio of swimmers – Nik Eberly, Mikkel Gadgaard and Christian Sztolcman – competing at the meet, slated for March 24-27 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Women’s S&D closes season at NCAA Championships
