ATLANTA – It was the final meet day of the 2021-22 season for Auburn on Saturday as the men closed out the NCAA Championships in Atlanta. The Tigers finished 29th overall with 22 points, securing the program's highest finish at NCAAs since 2018.
"It was a fantastic week," Auburn head coach Ryan Wochomurka said. "When you look at the totality of the week and the totality of our season, you see incredible progress and growth for this group. We had 11 guys here, eight of them rookies at this meet, so to walk away with six All-Americans, scoring relays again and putting points on the board, I'm incredibly proud of the group that represented our program this week in Atlanta."
In Saturday's prelims, Lleyton Smith had the top finish of the day for the Tigers. The junior placed 19th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:40.54. Freshman Nate Stoffle also swam the 200 back and touched the wall in 1:41.49, good for 30th overall.
Coming off a finals appearance in the 100 back Friday, junior Aidan Stoffle finished 45th in the 100 free prelims at 43.21.
Reid Mikuta and Jacques Rathle took 37th and 43rd respectively in the 200 breaststroke prelims. Mikuta, an Honorable Mention All-American in the 100 breast, swam a 1:55.25 while Rathle set another personal best on the week with a time of 1:56.43.
Sophomore Michael Bonson wrapped up his week in the 1650 free, breaking 15:00 for the third time this season. His time of 14:58.11 was good for 23rd place.
The Tigers closed the meet with the 400 freestyle relay, finishing fifth in their heat and 21st overall with the group of Logan Tirheimer, Christian Sztolcman, Aidan Stoffle and Matthew Yish. Sztolcman had the fastest split at 42.63 on the second leg.
In all, Auburn had two relays and three individuals finish in the points at this year's NCAA meet, and with six Honorable Mention All-Americans, it was the most since 2018. Senior Conner Pruitt was the first men's diver to score points for the Tigers since 2018.
"We've gained tremendous experience," Wochomurka said. "And we understand now with eight rookies here at this meet – we've seen the level, we've seen the game, and now we can come back next year with that experience in mind to really play and position ourselves to continue to climb the ladder of where we ultimately want to be."
Auburn men notch best finish at NCAA meet since 2018
