AUBURN, Ala. – If the Auburn Invitational is a precursor to what might happen at the SEC Championships in two weeks, that bodes well for the Auburn swimming and diving team who showcased some fast times in both sessions Friday.
The highlight came at the beginning of the night session when the Auburn men earned an A cut time in the 200 freestyle relay to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The relay team of Aidan Stoffle, Nate Stoffle, Logan Tirheimer and Matthew Yish finished with a time of 1:16.82 – the program's fastest time since the 2017-18 season.
It's the third Auburn relay to qualify for the NCAA Championships this season. The men's 200 medley relay and the women's 200 freestyle relay also have A cuts.
Nate Stoffle, a freshman, also led off the men's 400 medley relay to close out the morning session and his time of 45.93 in the 100 backstroke was a new personal best and also put him at eighth-fastest in Auburn history for the event.
There were a handful of swimmers who made all-time top 10 lists Friday.
Mikkel Gadgaard moved up into a tie for sixth all-time in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:34.12. Lleyton Smith cracked the top 10 in the 100 backstroke, finishing in 46.28. Freshmen Avery Bargeron and Anastasia Makarova both moved into ninth in their respective events – Bargeron in the 100 butterfly (52.43), Makarova in the 100 breaststroke (59.98).
It was a big night for sophomore Meghan Lee who set personal bests in both the 200 backstroke and the 200 IM. Her time of 1:53.00 in the 200 back moved her into seventh all-time, and she is now ninth-fastest in program history in the 200 IM with a time of 1:57.59.
DIVING
Freshman Abigail Farrar earned her NCAA Zone qualifying scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events Friday. Farrar posted personal bests in both events – 267.60 on 1-meter and 312.20 on 3-meter – and led the Auburn women in both competitions.
In his first action of the season, Skip Donald picked up a Zone qualifying score with 339.75 points on 3-meter. Sophomore Hunter Kebler continued his strong run of late with Zone scores on both springboards, including a personal best 313.45 on 1-meter.
UP NEXT
The Auburn Invitational will wrap up Saturday with the final session beginning at 10 a.m. CT. It will also be Senior Day with festivities beginning at 9:30 a.m. for the seniors.
Men's relay qualifies for NCAAs at Auburn Invitational
