Weekend Review

Weekend in Review

Auburn Wins Battle of Tigers

The national champion Auburn men and the perennially-contending Auburn women both got their seasons off to a solid start over an improving LSU squad in Baton Rouge. The Auburn men won 167-133 thanks to double wins from Kohlton Norys (1:41.08, 200 FR; 1:48.07, 200 BK), Louisiana native Adam Klein (55.50/2:00.96; 100/200 BR), and diver Kelly Marx (350.04, 1M; 366.07, 3M). The Auburn women also had three double winners in freshman Katie Gardocki (4:53.71/10:01.17; 500/1,000 FR), Melissa Marik (54.48, 100 BK; 50.34, 100 FR), and Ava Ohlgren (54.92, 100 FL; 2:02.03, 200 IM). Amanda Kendall (23.33, 50 FR; 1:49.48, 200 FR) and Craig Hamilton (4:34.79/9:22.42; 500/1,000 FR) both grabbed two wins each for LSU who was without the services of Mary Beck for the meet. LSU did open the meet with a bang by sweeping both medley relays.

Heels and Dawgs Split

The North Carolina men and Georgia women both claimed dual meet wins in Athens on Friday night. UNC grabbed a super close 156-144 decision over the Georgia men, their first over the Bulldogs since October of 2004. Vinny Prior swept the breaststrokes (56.40/2:02.08) but was the only UNC swimmer or diver to win more than one event as six different athletes won each of the other six individual victories for the Heels. For Georgia, swimmers Morgan Scroggy (55.23, 100 BK; 50.08 100 FR) and Wendy Trott (4:48.33, 500 FR; 9:46.19, 1,000 FR)  and diver Hannah Moore (1M, 278.32; 3M, 272.77) were double winners to help the Dawgs cruise to an easy win over the UNC ladies.

Gators Win SMU Classic

Florida cruised to a 44-point win at the 2009 SMU Swimming & Diving Classic in Dallas. Theresa Crippen swept the IM’s (2:03.26/4:17.23), Shara Stafford grabbed the 100 and 200 frees (50.20/1:48.14), and Gemma Lowe claimed both butterfly races (55.13/2:00.69) to lead the Gators to the overall team win. Louisville, fresh off a defeat of Tennessee last weekend, placed second, grabbing wins in the 50 free, 400 free relay and one-meter springboard. Wisconsin won twice as many events as the Cardinals but finished 29 pts. behind Louisville once the smoke cleared. The Badgers were paced by Maggie Meyer sweeping both backstrokes (54.07/1:57.92) and Ashley Wanland doing likewise in the breaststrokes (1:02.33/2:13.05) as well as wins in the 200 free (1:33.08) and 400 medley (3:43.32) relays. The host Mustangs finished in fourth, nine points behind Wisconsin, with 271 pts and were followed by Florida State (257) and Rice (186). The Gators also claimed wins over both Arkansas (175-133) and Kansas (205-103) in Fayetteville on Saturday, despite missing nine of its top athletes.

Longhorns Cruise to Collegiate Plunge Win

The Texas Longhorns won 14 of 17 events to roll to a win at the first-ever Southwest Collegiate Plunge in Mansfield, Texas. The Burnt Orange were led by U.S. Olympian Ricky Berens who claimed the 100 fly (48.35) and 100 back (48.35), Jimmy Feigen who swept the sprint frees (20.62/45.08) and NCAA champion diver Drew Livingston (383.47, 1M; 356.32, 3M). The Texas A&M men, who have had their share of October troubles with Big 12 foe Missouri over the last several years, was the surprise second-place finisher, comfortably eclipsing the Tigers for second, 719-656, while the host Mustangs were fourth at 614. One swimmer from each of the three teams claimed individual race wins.