BATON ROUGE, La. – It was all business for Auburn Swim and Dive at LSU on Thursday.
From beginning to end, both the women and men dialed up big-time swims as both teams earned dual wins over their SEC foe.
SCORES
Men,
Auburn 208, LSU 92
Women
Auburn, 179, LSU 121
WOMEN
The Tigers went straight to work inside the LSU Natatorium.
Meghan Lee, Anastasia Makarova, Abigail Gibbons and Lexie Mulvihill kicked off the meet with a winning effort in the 200 medley relay. Auburn's B squad of Daisy Platts, Hannah Ownbey, Claudia Thamm and Emma Steckiel weren't far behind to grab extra points.
Mulvihill, Thamm and Steckiel were back in the 50 free later in the meet. Their 2-3-4 finish helped Auburn secure a much-needed haul of points.
Distance queen Emily Hetzer refuses to lose regardless of what pool she's swimming in. Her sub-10 minute swim in the 1,000 free gave Hetzer the victory with fellow teammate Lilly Byrne picking up third. The duo repeated the feat in the 500 free, placing first and third once more Casey Cullen close behind in fourth.
Hetzer had a quick turnaround in the 200 free but another solid effort placed the Haymarket, Virginia native third while Payton Marvin grabbed second with a 1:49.75.
Ellie Waldrep, Meghan Lee, Daisy Platts and Kyla Maloney showed Auburn's depth in each of the backstroke events. In both the 100 and 200, the quartet claimed second through fifth place.
The Orange and Blue's first sweep on the women's side came in the 100 breast. Anastasia Makarova clocked in at 1:01.13 to secure the win. Freshman Ainsley Jones and junior Brynn Curtis weren't too far behind in second and third, respectively.
It was Jones, Curtis and fifth-year Valerie Tarazi who resurfaced for another big-time sweep in the 200 breast later in the afternoon. This time, Jones, the youngster out of Dunwoody, Georgia hit the wall first at 2:13.38.
Casey Cullen collected SEC Freshman of the Week after her breakout performance at the USC Invite and went right back to her winning ways in Baton Rouge. Cullen's 1:58.70 was plenty fast enough to claim the win in the 200 fly.
Lexie Mulvihill's busy day wasn't quite finished. Alongside Payton Marvin, the two hit the wall first and second in the 100 free.
Captain Claudia Thamm continued the winning ways for Auburn in the 100 fly. Her 54.53 was well ahead of LSU and teammates Abby Gibbons and Carly Sebring made sure to lock in some points as well.
Hannah Ownbey absolutely dominated the 200 IM late in the meet. Her 2:00.78 was nearly three seconds faster than the closest competitor, all but assuring the Tiger's victory on Thursday afternoon.
Mulvihill, Thamm, Marvin and Polina Nevmonenko capped off the effort, securing the 400 free relay by over a second and solidifying the win, 179-121.
MEN
Head coach Ryan Wochomurka's men's squad nearly swept the dual and it all began with the 200 medley relay. Brothers Nate Stoffle and Aidan Stoffle along with Reid Mikuta and Kalle Makinen ran out to an early lead and never looked back.
Auburn's distance group kept it rolling in the 1,000 free. Mason Mathias, Grant Davis and Michael Bonson made it a clean sweep for the Tigers.
When the 500 came around, Mathias made sure of an Orange and Blue win in the event. Bonson snagged third.
The law firm of Stoffle, Stoffle and Smith reemerged in the 100 back for yet another sweep for Auburn. Nate led the way with a 47.29 with Aidan and Lleyton Smith close on his heels. Nate would not be denied in the 200 back as well, reaching the wall at 1:46.70.
Mikuta secured wins in both the 100 and 200 breast. Meanwhile, Alejandro Flores picked up points finishing third in the 100. Jacques Rathle did the same in the 200 with his second-place swim.
Evan McInerny conjured up arguably his best swim of the season for the Orange and Blue. His 1:49.05 won the 200 fly and teammate Rusty Jerger hit the wall third to pile on more points for the Tigers.
The 100 fly belonged to Nate Stoffle, collecting his third win of the afternoon. Sohib Khaled, however, impressed the Tiger faithful on hand to grab second.
In the early parts of 2022, the 50 free belongs to Kalle Makinen. Not to be denied on Thursday, Makinen's 19.82 gave the freshman another victory in his young career.
While Makinen was narrowly edged out in the 100 free, the Finnish product and Aidan Stoffle combined for a 2-3 finish.
Germany's own Danny Schmidt outraced fellow Tigers Jacques Rathle and Reid Mikuta in the 200 IM for another event sweep.
Dominant from beginning to end, Christian Sztolcman, Kalle Makinen, Aidan Stoffle and Ryan Husband finished off LSU in the 400 free relay to cruise to victory, 208-92.
DIVING
It was a welcomed Orange and Blue debut for Virginia transfer Walker Creedon. His 300.75 in the 1m was good enough for the victory with sophomore Whit Andrus right behind at 293.18.
Creedon and Andrus were neck and neck again in the 3m portion of the meet. Walker's 345.60 landed the Cary, North Carolina native in second. Andrus took third with a solid 328.13.
Abigail Farrar led the charge for the women's dive team in the 1m. Her 265.13 landed the sophomore in fourth place.
When it came to the 3m, senior Gretchen Wensuc led the way for Auburn, scoring 279.53 for the fifth-best score of the day.
DECK TALK
Head coach Ryan Wochomurka,
"A good day of racing. It is always challenging to go on the road in the SEC. We met the challenge and had great energy throughout the meet. It was great having an incredible turnout of parents, alumni and fans in the stands. War Eagle!"
UP NEXT
Auburn will suit up once more on Nov. 17 when the Tigers head to Athens for the UGA Invite.
