ATHENS, Ga. – Auburn's backstroke unit shined as the Tigers continued to knock down season and personal bests on night two of the UGA Fall Invite.
With one day to go, the Auburn women hold steady in second with 524.5 points while the men are in third with 455.
SCORES
MEN
Florida – 760
Georgia – 494
Auburn – 455
Florida State – 433.5
Michigan – 341.5
Georgia Tech – 240
WOMEN
Florida – 710.5
Auburn – 524.5
Michigan – 447
Georgia – 431
Florida State – 274
Georgia Tech – 211
MEN
German international Danny Schmidt continues to shine in the medleys. Schmidt produced a 3:42.33 to hit the wall second overall in the 400 IM and jump to 4th all-time in the event. Jacques Rathle, who also qualified for the A final, placed fifth with a 3:44.68. Evan McInerny finished 12th overall, Collin Klingman snagged 19th and freshman Britton Spann took 22nd.
Sohib Khaled was the top finisher in the 100 fly, dropping time to get to fifth at 46.27. Kalle Makinen also made the A final and swam a 46.50 to place seventh. Logan Tirheimer took 10th in the B final and Rusty Jerger snagged 15th. Lucas Thomas would hit the wall 17th overall as freshman Andrew Billito took 22nd.
Pacing Auburn in the 200 free was Michael Bonson with a 1:34.05 and fifth place. Ryan Husband was right behind in sixth at 1:34.49 and Mason Mathias hit the wall seventh in a loaded A final. Freshman Benjamin Chateigner, Jon Vanzandt and Josh Noll clogged up 13th, 14th and 15th. Drew Jordan rounded out the Tigers who made finals in the event in 22nd.
At 52.16 in the 100 breast, Henry Bethel wasn't too far off his pace from last season at NCAAs. He took third while Alejandro Flores tied for sixth in the A final. Liam Heary did well to make the C final and moved up to 19th overall in the night session.
Nate and Aidan Stoffle qualified 1-2 in the morning in the 100 back. The dynamic duo both went sub-45 seconds as Nate narrowly missed his own school record at 44.93 and Aidan's 44.98 was a personal best. Andrew Simmons dropped time in the C final to finish 20th and Andrew Billito grabbed a second swim and secured 24th.
WOMEN
The quartet of Meghan Lee, Anastasia Makarova, Abigail Gibbons and Lexie Mulvihill combined for 1:36.70 in the 200 medley relay, fourth place and an NCAA B cut.
After an impressive showing in the 200 IM on Thursday, senior Hannah Ownbey was even better on Friday in the 400 IM. Her 4:08.55 was a new personal best and fourth place overall. Maggie Gholston qualified for the C final and took 19th overall while Freshman Katie Russell grabbed 22nd.
In the 100 fly, Meghan Lee dropped .21 seconds from her prelims time to finish third with a 51.91. Freshman Morgan Carteaux did well to earn a place in the A final and carded a 52.85 to snag seventh overall.
Teammate Avery Bargeron would hit the wall 10th, Lexie Mulvihill came in 13th, Abigail Gibbons snagged 14th, Carissa Rinard secured 22nd and Casey Cullen rounded out the event in 23rd.
When it came to the 200 free, Polina Nevmovenko led all Tigers to make the A final and would hit the wall eighth overall at 1:45.82. Wyllo Hanson dropped time from prelims to finish 14th at 1:46.26. Averee Preble, Kensley Merritt and Maggie McGuire took 19th, 20th and 21st, respectively.
Breaststroke queen Anastasia Makarova finished sub-1-minute at 59.62 in the 100. She would finish fourth, freshman Zoey Zeller snagged 10th, Olivia Dinehart came in 11th, Brynn Curtis grabbed 14th and Aislyn Barnett secured 20th.
Ellie Waldrep made sure Auburn lived up to its backstroke U moniker. Her 51.98 in the 100 back was the gold standard on Friday. Kyla Maloney also made the A final and took fifth at 52.68. Youngsters Jade Castro and Maggie McGuire made the B final and took 10th and 12th, respectively. Michelle Kaner and Carissa Rinard followed their fellow freshmen in the C final to snag 19th and 20th.
DIVING
Hunter Kebler went for a personal best 324.60 in prelims on the 1-meter but managed to raise the bar, grabbing a 329.80 in finals to finish seventh overall. Talan Blackman and Alex Just would finish 19th and 20th, respectively.
Ashlynn Sullivan also made finals on the 3-meter with a 275.50. She would rise to sixth in finals, scoring a 297.65. Meanwhile, Kyleigh Kidd did well to make consoles and lodged a personal best 306.15 in her second list. Kayla Walsh also earned a second set of dives and grabbed 15th overall. Abigail Farrar would snag 20th.
UP NEXT
The final day of the UGA Fall Invite is slated for Saturday, Nov. 18. Prelims begin at 8:30 a.m. CT inside Gabrielsen Natatorium and finals are slated for 4:30 p.m. CT. Both sessions will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, November 18
200 back
100 free
200 breast
200 fly
Platform diving – Men & Women
400 free relay
Top times continue to roll in for the Tigers on day two of UGA Fall Invite
