KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – One podium was not enough for Reid Mikuta. On Saturday, the final night of the SEC Championships, the Auburn sophomore won silver in the men's 200 breaststroke and broke the all-time program record with a time of 1:52.09.
It was the second medal for Mikuta who earned bronze in the 100 breaststroke and the third medal of the meet for the Tigers after they were shut out a year ago.
Both the men and women finished the SEC meet two spots higher than they did in 2021. The Auburn men scored 827.5 points to place sixth overall, their highest finish since 2018, and the women took seventh with 584 points after finishing ninth last year.
"Great performance from both teams over the course of a five-day meet," head coach Ryan Wochomurka said. "Moving from ninth to seventh on the women's side shows great progress and how we did it in having put together some great relays for them.
"For the men, moving from eighth to sixth and having relays on the podium, having guys score in in A Finals individually. Michael Bonson had a phenomenal meet. Reid Mikuta had a phenomenal meet. And there are a lot of guys that had breakthrough performances.
"It's certainly exciting for the foundation this lays for the future. And it gives us an opportunity to kind of look on how we continue to move up the ranks of this meet with our eyes really set at the NCAA Championships as well."
WOMEN
The Auburn women got an early start to the night session when junior Averee Preble won her afternoon heat in the 1650 freestyle with a season-best time of 16:12.83. Her time was good for sixth place overall, giving her the best finish among the swimmers.
The women had nine compete in finals, including a platform final for diver Gretchen Wensuc.
Ellie Waldrep and Meghan Lee both made the B Final in the 200 backstroke where the two Auburn swimmers touched the wall at the same time to tie for fourth at 1:54.95. Hannah Mattson also advanced to finals and finished sixth in the C Final.
Sophomore Hannah Ownbey set a new personal best in the 200 breaststroke finals. Her time, 2:09.16, was fourth-fastest in the B Final and also moved up her into fourth all-time at Auburn. Ownbey was one of four Tigers to make finals in the event. Valerie Tarazi, Carly Cummings and Brynn Curtis all swam in the C Final. Tarazi paced the group to take 20th.
In the 100 freestyle, freshman Rebekah Hamilton won a swim-off following prelims to grab the last spot in the C Final. Her time in the swim-off (48.59) was a new PR.
MEN
With his record-breaking performance Saturday night, Mikuta now holds the Auburn record in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. His time in finals was an NCAA A Cut.
Sophomore Michael Bonson capped off a spectacular week at SECs with a fourth-place finish in the 1650 freestyle and a new PR, 14:44.63, moving him up to second-fastest in program history. Freshman Mason Mathias also cracked Auburn's Top 10 in the 1650 free with a time of 15:08.97 to place 15th overall at the meet.
Bonson and Mathias also moved up the program's all-time charts with their 1000 free splits. Bonson is now second all-time at 8:55.67, and Mathias is sixth at 9:04.39.
In the 200 backstroke, junior Lleyton Smith also advanced to an A Final where he finished seventh. It was Smith's second A Final of the week. Freshman Nate Stoffle won the B Final in the event with a new PR (1:40.92).
The Tigers had four swimmers make the 100 freestyle finals with sophomore Logan Tirheimer in the B Final and the trio of Aidan Stoffle, Ryan Husband and Christian Sztolcman all qualifying for the C Final. Stoffle had the fastest time of the group in finals at 43.24.
Freshman Henry Bethel closed out his first SEC meet by winning the 200 breaststroke C Final and moving into eighth place all-time at Auburn with a time of 1:55.19. Fellow freshman Jacques Rathle also set a new PR (1:57.02) to take fifth in the C Final.
DIVING
For the second straight night, a Tiger made the platform final. Hunter Kebler made the men's final Friday, and it was Wensuc in the women's final Saturday. Wensuc finished fifth in the final and scored a season-high 271.95 after placing eighth in prelims.
Ashlynn Sullivan and Abigail Farrar finished 12th and 13th respectively in prelims.
FINAL STANDINGS
WOMEN
1. Tennessee, 1313.5
2. Kentucky, 1043
3. Alabama, 1038
4. Georgia, 986
5. Florida, 905
6. Texas A&M, 625
7. Auburn, 584
8. LSU, 541
9. Missouri, 485.5
10. South Carolina, 460
11. Arkansas, 397
12. Vanderbilt, 123
MEN
1. Florida, 1414
2. Tennessee, 938
3. Alabama, 938
4. Georgia, 919
5. Texas A&M, 865.5
6. Auburn, 827.5
7. Missouri, 716.5
8. Kentucky, 600
9. LSU, 505
10. South Carolina, 417.5
Auburn S&D closes SEC Championships with another podium
