Jan. 12, 2017
Peter Holoda and Julie Meynen each swept the sprint freestyle events, with Zach Apple picking up a pair of runner-up finishes, but it was not enough for either team to overcome Texas on Thursday afternoon at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center. The No. 12 Auburn swimming and diving men fell to No. 2 Texas, 164-136, while the No. 14 Auburn women fell to No. 5 Texas, 156-139.
"Even though we didn't come away with the (team) win, we fought really hard and got some individual wins," head coach Brett Hawke said.
Meynen and Holoda started the individual sprint domination by taking home top honors in the 50 free. Meynen touched in 22.75 to win the event by .01 seconds over Texas' Rebecca Millard while Holoda topped teammate Apple by .25 seconds. The win was Meynen's fourth of the year in the event while it was Holoda's third.
Meynen and Holoda both made it a sprint-free sweep with wins in the 100 free. Meynen, now undefeated in the event this year, touched in 49.89 while Holoda claimed his third win of the season, touching in 43.82. Once again it was Apple finishing second, touching in a season-best 44.20.
"I thought Peter and Julie were extremely good today, extremely strong," Hawke said. "I thought Aly Tetzloff had a phenomenal swim."
Auburn also took home a sweep in the 100 fly as Tetzloff won the women's race in 53.05 and Luis Martinez the men's race in 47.41. It was the fifth time winning the event for both this season. Tetzloff also brought home a personal-best in the 100 back, placing second in 53.88.
Kyle Darmody won the 100 back in a time of 47.31, out-touching Texas' John Shebat by .12 seconds.
Holoda, Apple, Hugo Morris and Darmody closed out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay (2:56.55).
Ashley Neidigh started the meet off with a personal-best 9:41.98 in the 1000 free. That time is the third-fastest in program history, trailing just the 9:38.12 by Adrienne Binder and 9:40.06 by Hayley Peirsol, both from over a decade ago. Neidigh's time was a drop of almost three full seconds from her previous best set in the fall of 2014.
Competing for the first time this season, senior Allyx Purcell took fourth in the 50 (23.12) and 100 free (50.76) and was on Auburn's top 400 free relay team.
"It was really nice to see Allyx back," Hawke said. "That really put a smile on my face. It was nice to see her compete. She's had a long road back from shoulder surgery."
In the diving well, Maddie Cox (304.73) and Alison Maillard (297.75) finished second and third, respectively, on the 3-meter, with Maillard also placing third on the 1-meter (271.73). Pete Turnham also had a third-place finish on the 3-meter (360.75).
"We did some good stuff and we did some things we need to fix between now and conference," diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "To a tee each individual is able to step up and at one time hit a particular dive, but where we are falling short in competitions is we're not doing our best every time. The guys did five really solid dives and both missed one in the 3-meter contest."
Miranda Telmanik dove tower while the women's 3-meter competition was going on, hitting her first zone qualifying score with a 228.53.
"The highlight of the day was Miranda making the zone score," Shaffer said. "She earned it. She dived well. She had to go 225 and she went 228 and really did an outstanding job. To see her come from being a gymnast to not even being a diver two years ago, she's put two years in and she's getting to participate in the NCAA Zone Championships (Mar. 6-8). That's pretty cool and rewarding for me as a coach."
Auburn completes its dual meet schedule on Saturday, Jan. 21, when Florida comes to the James E. Martin Aquatics Center. The meet, which will air live on SECN+, begins at 10 a.m.
"We're looking forward to hosting Florida," Hawke said. "I think there are adjustments that still need to be made, some kids are pretty tired, but overall I'm happy coming off Christmas training to see them race this way."