DALLAS, Texas – A gritty effort for the No. 17 Auburn women saw the Tigers finish second at the SMU Classic on Saturday. Meanwhile, the No. 16 men capped off a fourth-place finish inside the Robson and Lindley Aquatics Center.
Much like Friday night, the women’s medley crew kicked off the session in style. Lora Komoroczy, Anastasia Makarova, Abby Gibbons and Lexie Mulvihill turned in a 1:37.25 to start Saturday with a win.
On the men’s side it was Nate Stoffle, Henry Bethel, Sohib Khaled and Kalle Makinen who combined for a 1:24.45 and second place.
Freshman Julia Strojnowska impressed in the 500 free, hitting the wall at 4:55.53 for sixth. Mason Mathias also continued his strong start to the season in the 500, clocking a 4:24.84 for fourth overall.
Makarova was back on the blocks quickly for the 200 breast. Her 2:16.35 was good enough for fourth. However, freshman Audrey Crawford blew away the B final with a 2:11.01.
On the men’s side, it was Jacques Rathle’s 2:00.44 that earned Auburn a fourth-place finish.
Fresh off a stellar performance in the 100 back on Friday evening, Ellie Waldrep kept it going in the 200 back on Saturday. Her 1:55.58 was the third-best time of the day. Komoroczy took the second spot in the B final with a 1:56.84.
Stoffle narrowly missed the podium in the men’s 200 back, hitting the wall fourth with a 1:43.66.
In the diving well, it was another productive day for Kyleigh Kidd and Ethan Swart. Both hit NCAA Zones cuts in the 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively. Kidd’s 271.40 was good enough for a second third-place finish in Dallas. Meanwhile, Swart put up a solid 356.65 to snag fourth.
Polina Nevmovenko dialed up an impressive 48.71 in the 100 free to start the second half of session two with a third-place effort. Makinen nearly equaled Nevmovenko’s performance when he swam a 43.24 for fourth on the men’s side.
In the 200 fly, Gibbons solidified a fourth-place finish with a 2:00.33. Danny Schmidt grabbed third on the men’s side with an even 1:46.00.
Ellie Waldrep swam a 2:03.26 to grab fifth in the 200 IM. It was Crawford, though, who gave the Orange and Blue another lift, winning her second B final of the day with a 1:59.55.
The Auburn women capped off an electric day with a thrilling 1:29.50 in the 200 free relay from Mulvihill, Komoroczy, Gibbons and Nevmovenko. The win was enough to jump SEC foe Texas A&M and finish second overall.
Meanwhile, Makinen, Stoffle, Khaled and Jon Vanzandt finished up the proceedings with a second-place finish and a time of 1:17.98.
SCORES
Men
Indiana – 326
Louisville – 308
Virginia Tech – 303
Auburn – 261
Texas A&M - 233
SMU – 231
Women
Louisville – 329
Auburn – 294
Texas A&M – 293
Miami (FL) – 278
Virginia Tech – 253
SMU – 227