KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After securing a bronze medal in the men's 200 medley relay Wednesday, Auburn swimming and diving was back on the podium Friday night at the SEC Championships with Reid Mikuta earning bronze for his performance in the men's 100 breaststroke.
Mikuta finished third in the A Final, and his time of 51.41 was the second-fastest time in Auburn history. The sophomore set the Auburn record (51.33) in November.
It was the highlight on another strong day for the Tigers who had six compete in A Finals as well as six swimmers move up among Auburn's all-time Top 10 performers. The men remain sixth through four days of competition while the women jumped three spots to seventh.
WOMEN
Freshman Avery Bargeron and sophomore Meghan Lee led the way for the Auburn women as both advanced to A Finals on Friday. Bargeron finished sixth in the 200 butterfly final, her first SEC final, and Lee took seventh in the 100 backstroke final with a time of 52.18. Both swimmers moved up to seventh all-time at Auburn in their respective events.
Lee was joined by freshman Ellie Waldrep in the 100 back finals. Waldrep, swimming her second final of the week, touched the wall second in the B Final at 52.58.
In the 100 breaststroke, mid-year enrollee Anastasia Makarova put together one of the top swims of the week to win the B Final. The freshman finished with a time of 59.36, the second-fastest time in Auburn history behind Micah Lawrence.
Seniors Carly Cummings and Valerie Tarazi also made the 100 breast finals. Cummings placed sixth in the B Final while Tarazi took sixth in the C Final.
Lee, Makarova and Bargeron were joined by senior Mykenzie Leehy in the 400 medley relay where the Tigers finished eighth overall to close the night.
MEN
Mikuta was one of 10 from the men's team to compete in a final Thursday.
Nate Stoffle and Lleyton Smith both made the A Final for the 100 backstroke. Stoffle just missed podium as he finished fourth with a new PR, 45.60, that moved him into a tie for sixth all-time at Auburn. Smith finished seventh in the A Final, but his prelims time (46.00) was a personal best and good for 10th in Auburn history.
Junior Aidan Stoffle also cracked Auburn's top 10 in the 100 backstroke with a time of 45.76 in the B Final. The elder Stoffle finished second in the B Final and placed 10th overall. Trevor McGovern qualified for the 100 back finals and took sixth in the C Final.
Evan McInerny and Mason Mathias represented Auburn in the 200 butterfly finals, and both set new personal bests in the C Final. McInerny touched the wall third with a time of 1:45.23, and Mathias finished fifth with a time of 1:45.41.
In the 100 breaststroke, both of Mikuta's swims were under the NCAA A Cut line. He became the first Auburn men's swimmer to medal in the 100 event since Michael Duderstadt won gold at the 2017 SEC Championships. He was joined in finals by Henry Bethel and Adriel Sanes. Bethel finished sixth in the B Final, and Sanes was seventh in the C Final.
The Auburn men also picked up an NCAA A Cut in the 400 medley relay with the two Stoffle brothers, Mikuta and sophomore Logan Tirheimer serving as the anchor in the 100 freestyle leg. The Tigers finished fifth with a season-best time of 3:05.45.
DIVING
Sophomore Hunter Kebler made his first SEC final on men's platform Friday. Kebler was eighth in prelims with a score of 340.10 and then came back in the final and scored 355.35 points to place seventh overall. Both scores were NCAA Zone qualifying scores for Kebler who now has eight Zone scores on platform this season.
Freshman Whit Andrus finished 14th in prelims with a score of 287.25.
UP NEXT
Auburn will wrap up the SEC Championships on Saturday with the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststoke and 1650 freestyle. The teams will also compete in the 400 free relay in the final event of the meet. Prelims begin at 8:30 a.m. CT with finals at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Diving will also finish up with the women's platform event. Prelims begin at 11 a.m. CT.
Watch: Prelims | Finals
Mikuta makes podium, both teams enjoy strong fourth day
