GREENSBORO, N.C. — A busy day of swimming at the Greensboro Aquatic Center included two overall event wins, two of the top 10 fastest relays in program history and eight individual top-10 performances for Auburn on Friday.
Kicking off the morning session, Lora Komoroczy continued her residency in the 51s in the 100 back. Her 51.94 earned the Hungary native a spot in the evening’s A final. Kyla Maloney (53.30) and Ellis Fox (53.55) each grabbed spots in the B final, while Carissa Rinard (54.25) locked in the C final.
In the men’s 100 back, Ivan Tarasov was flat out on a mission. A 45.65 in prelims not only earned him the No. 2 spot in qualifying but also moved the freshman to the No. 10 spot on the program’s performer list. Sohib Khaled (46.70) and Sam Empey (46.48) would join him in the A final.
Tarasov was not going to be denied the win in finals. A 45.33 was more than enough to out-touch everyone to earn the Tigers’ second victory of the meet.
A trio of Auburn women earned spots in the 200 breast finals. Zoey Zeller’s 2:10.59 jumped the sophomore to no. 10 on Auburn’s all-time performers list and was the third-fastest time of the morning session. Olivia Dinehart (2:12.98) and Audrey Crawford (2:13.08) joined Zeller in the A final. Hanna Schmidt (2:14.68) locked up a spot in the C final.
Zeller was even better at night. A 2:10.25 was another lifetime best for the California native.
Maston Ballew had already posted a top 10 time in the 100 breast on Thursday. On Friday, the freshman climbed further up the top 10 leaderboard in the 200 breast. A 1:55.29 in prelims easily earned Ballew a second swim. Hours later, his 1:53.89 vaulted him up to No. 5 in program history.
Feeling the momentum, Sammie Hamilton dialed up a pair of lifetime bests in the women’s 500 free. Her 4:47.27 locked in a spot in the A final alongside teammate Maggie McGuire (4:48.12). Julia Strojnowska (4:49.41) slid into the B final, while Lilly Gault Abdella (4:51.33) and Taylor Bacher (4:52.04) and Nora Weber (4:56.23) made the C final.
Hamilton found another gear in the evening, hitting the wall in a career-best 4:46.59 to finish fourth overall.
Three more Tigers made it a part in the men’s A final. Daniel Krichevsky (4:19.27), Mack Schumann (4:19.90) and Abdalla Nasr (4:20.97) all locked in second swims.
It was Schumann who led the way in finals. His 4:18.52 to take 5th overall, just out-touching his teammate Krichevsky.
No one has been faster than Elizaveta Klevanovich in the sprints this season. Cruising to a spot in the A final 2ith a 21.91 in the 50 free, the Russian native went for a career-best 21.66 to move up to fourth all-time in Auburn’s top performers list.
It had been three years since Kalle Makinen dropped time in the 50 free. After a 19.35 in prelims, Makinen soared to a 19.09 to move into the program’s top 10 list.
Auburn had two cracks at relays on Friday. Both 400 medley relay teams moved up the all-time leaderboard. On the women’s side, it was Komoroczy, Zeller, Iwasyk and Klevanovich combining for a 3:30.92 and the sixth-fastest time in school history.
Moments later, Tarasov, Ballew, Khaled and Krichevsky delivered the fourth-fastest time in Auburn history at 3:03.70.