ATLANTA – Reid Mikuta, Conner Pruitt, Aidan Stoffle and Auburn's 400 medley relay all scored points and earned Honorable Mention All-America honors at the NCAA Men's Championships on Friday.
Mikuta, Pruitt and Stoffle each advanced to the B Final in their respective events.
Mikuta broke his own Auburn record in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall first in the B Final with a time of 51.32. The sophomore set the record earlier this season at 51.33. It was the first individual NCAA final for Mikuta who was 12th-fastest in prelims.
Stoffle finished seventh in the B Final of the 100 backstroke to place 15th overall. Stoffle and his brother, Nate Stoffle, both set personal bests in prelims with times of 45.36 and 45.39. The duo moved up to third and fourth respectively in Auburn history. Aidan was 16th in prelims while Nate finished 18th. Junior Lleyton Smith swam a 46.13 to take 33rd.
It was the second straight consolation final on the boards for Pruitt. After advancing on 1-meter Thursday, the senior scored 388.25 in the 3-meter prelims to finish 10th and earn a second list. Pruitt finished eighth in the 3-meter consolation final and was 16th overall.
The Tigers closed the night with a season-best time (3:04.90) in the 400 medley relay, good enough to get on the board at 16th overall. It was the fifth-fastest time in program history.
Nate Stoffle led off the relay and swam a 45.91 in the backstroke leg. He was followed by Mikuta who nearly matched his record time from earlier in the night, swimming a 51.34 on breaststroke. Aidan Stoffle was next up with the butterfly leg, going 45.15, before Logan Tirheimer anchored and swam 42.50 in the 100 freestyle.
As a team, Auburn picked up 14 points on the night.
In prelims, freshman Jacques Rathle secured a top-25 finish in the 400 IM. His time of 3:44.02 was 24th-fastest in the field. Sophomore Michael Bonson also swam the 200 freestyle and finished 44th with a time of 1:35.03.
The Tigers will be back to wrap up the NCAA Men's Championships on Saturday. All six swimmers are scheduled to compete again along with the 400 freestyle relay. Prelims begins at 9 a.m. CT.
Auburn record, All-America honors highlight Day 3 at NCAAs
