AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn swimming and diving team swept SEC foe Kentucky on Friday as part of a double dual meet with the Wildcats and North Carolina State.
The Auburn men were impressive in their 200-100 victory, earning their first win of the season, while the women finished ahead of Kentucky in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, to secure a 157-143 win over the reigning SEC champions.
"Proud of both teams," Auburn head coach Ryan Wochomurka said. "For the men to beat Kentucky is good for us. Certainly, for the women to beat the No. 12 team in the country and reigning SEC champions, to me that's a paradigm-shifting win for our program. That's what we're trying to do – instill some belief back into our program and to our team that we can compete at an elite level.
"To have the opportunity to knock off the No. 12 team, the defending SEC champions, it's exciting. It's exciting for us on where we are right now and what we can do moving forward and certainly let everybody in the country know that we're here to play."
Both the men and women fell to North Carolina State.
WOMEN
For the second straight meet, senior Emily Hetzer gave the Tigers early momentum with a win in the 1000 freestyle. She also won the 500 freestyle and finished fourth in the 200 freestyle.
Freshmen Ellie Waldrep and Avery Bargeron stepped up and played a major role in beating Kentucky. Waldrep finished second in the 100 backstroke while Bargeron took second in the 200 butterfly and then edged out the Wildcats' top finisher to place third in the 100 butterfly. Both times (100 fly – 53.88; 200 fly – 1:59.19) were season bests.
Waldrep also led off the second-place 200 medley relay team for Auburn that also featured Hannah Ownbey, Claudia Thamm and Emma Steckiel.
But it was the women's 400 freestyle relay, featuring Rebekah Hamilton, Mykenzie Leehy, Steckiel and Thamm, that clinched the meet for the Tigers.
MEN
Sophomore Reid Mikuta continued his strong start to the season. He picked up Auburn's first win, hitting the wall first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.11. He then nearly beat NC State's record holder in the 200 breaststroke, finishing second by less than a second.
Other highlights included the Stoffle brothers who both had a third-place finish. Sophomore Aidan Stoffle swam the 100 backstroke in 47.83 to place third while freshman Nate Stoffle was third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.51
Fellow freshman Andrew Simmons finished third in the 200 backstroke at 1:46.52, improving his time from last week's meet at Florida State.
Aidan Stoffle also swam on both of Auburn's top relays, which each finished ahead of Kentucky. The two relays also featured sophomore Ryan Husband.
DIVING
Senior Conner Pruitt swept the springboards to highlight Auburn's divers in Friday's meet. Pruitt narrowly won the 3-meter with a score of 401.65 and then posted a score of 367.20 to win the 1-meter event.
"A really good bounce back for Connor after a disappointing performance at Florida State," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "To go 400 on 3-meter is always a goal of ours, and a 367 on 1-meter and two wins – that's a big plus to his confidence and his development in getting back to the level of competitiveness I know he's got in him."
Sophomore Hunter Kebler earned an NCAA Zone qualifying score on 3-meter (337.95).
On the women's side, junior Ashlynn Sullivan finished third on both 1-meter and 3-meter.
WHAT'S NEXT
Auburn will be back home in the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on Friday, Nov. 5 to host Georgia for a dual meet. The first event is scheduled to begin a 1 p.m. CT.
Auburn S&D sweeps Kentucky in double dual meet
