ATLANTA – If the goal was to prove you belong, the Auburn swimming and diving team accomplished that goal this weekend at the Georgia Tech Fall Invitational. The Tigers wrapped up the meet Saturday with another strong day of performances.
The Auburn men, ranked No. 20 coming in, finished second at the meet ahead of Florida State, Georgia Tech and Georgia. With 1154.5 points, they trailed only Florida (1557).
On the women's side, the 15th-ranked Tigers took third place with 1054 points. Georgia scored 1254 points to win while Florida was second with 1215 points.
WOMEN
Sophomore Megan Lee secured the first victory of the night for Auburn, touching the wall first in the 200 backstroke. Lee set a new lifetime best with a time of 1:54.99, which is also one of the top 10 fastest times in the country this season. The Tigers won the B Final as well thanks to freshman Ellie Waldrep who earned a B-cut (1:55.42).
Rebekah Hamilton and Mykenzie Leehy placed third and fifth respectively in the 200 freestyle, each swimming a B-cut time. The duo came back at the end of the night and swam two of the four legs of Auburn's third-place 400 freestyle relay.
The Tigers had four swimmers make the A Final for the 200 breaststroke. Brynn Curtis led the way with a finals time of 2:11.04 and was followed by Hannah Ownbey, Carly Cummings and Val Tarazi. They finished 5-6-7-8 in the night cap.
In the 200 butterfly, freshman Avery Bargeron won the B Final, finishing in 1:58.19.
Senior Emily Hetzer opened the night session with a fifth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle. Hetzer went 16:17.76, earning another B-cut for the weekend.
MEN
What would Reid Mikuta do for an encore after breaking the Auburn record in the 100 breaststroke Friday night? The sophomore won the 200 breaststroke, setting another personal best. His time of 1:53.69 is fifth-fastest in the country this season.
Mikuta was the only A Final winner in Saturday's night session, but junior Lleyton Smith touched the wall second in the A Final of the 200 backstroke. Smith was fastest in prelims with a lifetime best, 1:41.55 – the sixth-fastest time nationally to this point.
In the 1650 freestyle, Michael Bonson and Grant Davis both finished top eight and cracked Auburn's all-time top 10 list for the event. Bonson was fourth Saturday and moved up to third in Auburn history with a time of 14:52.80. At 15:00.48, Davis jumped to fifth on the program's all-time list and placed eighth for the meet. Both swimmers hit B-cuts.
Christian Sztolcman and Rusty Jerger each won B Finals for the Tigers. Sztolcman won the 100 freestyle while Jerger touched first in the 200 butterfly. At 1:46.63, it was a new lifetime best for Jerger, the transfer from Queens University.
Logan Tirheimer and Evan McInerny made the A Final in the same events. Tirheimer placed sixth in the 100 free, and McInerny earned a fifth-place finish in the 200 fly.
DIVING
The men and women were both on platform Saturday. Gretchen Wenscuc led the women with 257.20 points to finish third and hit her NCAA Zone qualifying score while Hunter Kebler's 302.10 was good for fifth on the men's side.
Both Kebler and Whit Andrus earned NCAA Zone scores on their second list, an exhibition list. For Kebler, he improved his mark to 358.25. Freshman Abigail Farrar also secured her Zone score with 231.15 points. She placed sixth in the women's final.
UP NEXT
The swimmers are done competing for 2021. They will return to action in January. However, the divers will take center stage next month at the Auburn Diving Invitational. This year's competition will run from Dec. 15-18 in the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
Tigers close out GT Fall Invite with another solid day
