ATHENS, Ga. – An exciting day of racing left Auburn Swim and Dive with an impressive point total after day one of the UGA Invitational. The Women hold the top spot after the first day of action while the Men secured second, only a handful of points behind Florida.
SCORES
Men
Florida, 339.5
Auburn, 322
Georgia, 290
Florida State, 192.5
Georgia Tech, 96
Women
Auburn, 327
Florida, 294
Georgia, 265
Florida State, 188
Georgia Tech, 153
WOMEN
Lexie Mulvihill, Emma Steckiel, Claudia Thamm and Rebekah Hamilton got things going Thursday evening in the 200 free relay. Racing Florida right to the wall, the Tigers were just .03 seconds behind the Gators to claim second place with a 1:29.15.
Distance queen Emily Hetzer dropped nearly a second off her prelim time to secure a fourth-place finish in the 500 free. Meanwhile, Tulane transfer Lilly Byrne, who made the B final, shaved off over three seconds, hitting the final wall at 4:43.99.
In the 200 IM, Hannah Ownbey continued to drop time this season. Her 1:57.46 was the fourth-fastest swim while teammate Meghan Lee hit the wall sixth at 1:58.45. Val Tarazi did well in the morning to make the A final and Ellie Waldrep wrapped up twelfth, making the B final.
The Tigers closed out the evening with a dazzling performance in the 400 medley relay. Meghan Lee, Anastasia Makarova, Claudia Thamm and Lexie Mulvihill combined for a 3:32.47, a full two seconds faster than their best time this season and a second-place finish.
MEN
Auburn's quartet of Kalle Makinen, Logan Tirheimer, Nate Stoffle and Aidan Stoffle put on a show in the 200 free relay. Shaving nearly two seconds off their best time this season, the boys slammed in at 1:16.43, earning the Tiger's first A cut of the season and a second-place finish.
Swimming the second-fastest 500 free in school history, Michael Bonson led the charge for the distance group on Thursday night. His 4:13.30 earned Bonson second, Mason Mathias turned in a fifth-place finish and Grant Davis wound up seventh. Mathias and Davis each earned spots in the A final via top-10 swims earlier in prelims.
Auburn had another trio in the A final of the 200 IM. Reid Mikuta closed out in sixth at 1:44.49 with teammates Jacques Rathle and Danny Schmidt right behind. Mikuta's effort was just .01 seconds off a top-10 time in program history.
The duo of Kalle Makinen and Logan Tirheimer flashed some speed in the 50 free going taking fifth and sixth, respectively, in the evening. Earlier in the B final, Mihalis Deliyiannis and Ryan Husband both dropped time to go 1-2 in the heat, finishing ninth and tenth overall.
Auburn saved its loudest effort for the final race of the evening. Nate Stoffle, Reid Mikuta, Aidan Stoffle and Kalle Makinen shocked the crowd in Athens not only winning the 400 medley relay but claiming the fastest time in the country and an NCAA A cut in the process.
DIVING
Welcome back to action, Conner Pruitt. The Fifth-year man out of Opelika relished the opportunity to dive once again for the Orange and Blue. After a solid showing in the prelims in the 1-meter, Pruitt dialed up an impressive 376.90 to secure his first win of the season.
All four men's divers made the finals and secured a spot in Zones. Whit Andrus solidified fourth place with a 317.75 and Hunter Kebler grabbed fifth at 315.75. Walker Creedon finished eighth.
It was Ashlynn Sullivan who made the biggest, or smallest, splash for Auburn in the 3-meter. Her 303.40 secured third place and gave Sullivan her first Zones qualification of the season.
Fellow Tiger Gretchen Wensuc also qualified for Thursday's finals after a strong prelims. The Denver, Colorado native finished eleventh.
UP NEXT
Auburn remains in Athens for two more days during the UGA Invite. The Toyota US Open looms for a select group of the Orange and Blue while coach Shaffer's divers await the Auburn Diving Invitationals in mid-December.
Auburn Swim and Dive score big on Day 1 of UGA Invite
