AUBURN SWIMMERS EXTEND LEAD AT NCAA MEET

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.---On the strength of a NCAA and United States Open record in the 200 yard medley relay to begin the night, Auburn extended its lead to 110.5 points over second-place Stanford after the second day of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center Friday.

The foursome of Michael Bartz, Adam Jerger, John Hargis and Brett Hawke stormed to the 200 relay win with a time of 1:25.40. Hawke's anchor leg split of 18.62 is believed to be the fastest time ever for a leg, according to officials from the USA Swimming.

"The 200 medley relay really set the tone for the night. All four splits were great," said Auburn coach David Marsh. "Whenever Brett Hawke goes into the water with a chance to take the lead I feel confident."

After 14 events, Auburn has scored 349 points followed by Stanford (238.5), Texas (237) and Georgia (193).

The final day of the championships is Saturday. Should Auburn hold on through the final day, it would mark the first swimming national title championship in school history and the first national title at AU since the 1957 Tiger football team.

Scott Tucker and Jerger also contributed third place points for Auburn in the 200 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, respectively. John Hargis, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, was fifth in the 100 butterfly finals.

"What we are focusing on more now is placing instead of times," said Marsh. "I had said that is we could be 100 points ahead going into Saturday I would feel a lot more confident."

Jerger complimented a full day by setting an Auburn record in the 100 breaststroke preliminaries with a time of 53.88. Senior diver Koffi Kla finished 11th in the 3-meter springboard.

The Tigers capped the evening by finishing second in the 800 yard freestyle relay.

Last Modified March 28, 1997
Auburn Media Relations