The Auburn Tigers swept the SEC Championships with the Tiger men and women's squads earning the title Saturday night in the Alabama Aquatic Center. For the Auburn men, who scored 806 points to out-distance Florida with 712, it marks its 14th team title. For the women, Auburn claimed a 761.50-706 win over Florida. It marks the fifth team title for the Tiger women.

"It has been an exciting year," Auburn head coach Richard Quick said. "I think both the men and women's teams have done awesome this year with this acceptance of me coming off of the great Coach David Marsh. Hopefully the transition hasn't been too hard on them. And I think they've grown, both teams have grown through the year. "

Overall it marks the fourth time Auburn has swept the SEC team titles. Florida has swept the event seven times. A total of 32 pool records fell over the course of the four-day event.

"I like how we won this one with all 18 of our scores," co-head Auburn coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker said. "I'm thrilled for the seniors. I'm looking forward to a month from now. We are going to enjoy this one now. It took us a lot of hard work."

Cesar Cielo opened up the 400 free relay for Auburn in record fashion and his Tiger teammates never looked back as the quartet broke the SEC record with a time of 2:50.49. Tennessee was second with a time of 2:53.30. Florida was third with a time of 2:54.34.

The Auburn women's 400 free relay turned in the fastest time in SEC history with a 3:13.09 to claim the relay title. Tennessee was second with a time of 3:16.22. Florida was third with a time of 3:16.63.

Paige Brown of LSU won the women's platform event with a total score of 300.30. Jessica Snowden was second with a score of 273.80 and Elizabeth Hughes of Alabama was third with a total of 248.35.

Mark Dylla of Georgia broke the SEC record in the 200 fly to win the title in a time of 1:42.23. Nicholas Walkotten of USC was second with a time of 1:43.83 and Shane Fraser was third with a time of 1:44.38.

Emily Kukors of Auburn turned in a new pool record time of 1:54.97 to win the 200 fly title. Elizabeth Hill of Georgia was third with a time of 1:56.12 and third went to Katie Kastes of Arkansas with a time of 1:57.87.

In the 200 fly it became a family affair as both Caroline and Clark Burckle won the title right after one another. Caroline won with a time of 2:12.49. Clark then handled the men with a time of 1:56.00.

Cielo of Auburn broke his own SEC record to defend his 100 free title with a time of 41.78. The win marks Cielo's 16th of his career which breaks the previous Auburn record held by Fred Bousquet. He later went on to break that record to open the 400 free relay with a time of 41.25.

"Cesar is just an extraordinarily great athlete, but he's a great team guy," Quick said. "He doesn't like the 200 freestyle, but he stepped up there and got the win in a team battle. To me, that was an indication of the kind of guy he is."

Christina Magnuson of Tennessee swam the fastest time in the nation to win the 100 free. Magnuson turned in a time of 48.08. Ava Ohlgren of Auburn was second with a time 48.33.

Omar Pinzon of Florida swam the second fastest time in the nation and broke the pool record with a time of 1:41.85 to lead a Florida sweep in the event. Teammate Rexford Tullius turned in a 1:42.23 while Roland Rudolf swam a 1:43.65.

Gemma Spofforth of Florida turned in a SEC record time of 1:50.56 to win the 200 back title. Alek Putra was second with a time of 1:53.29 and Melissa Marik was third in a time of 1:54.17.

Sebastien Rouault of Georgia swam the fastest 1650 free in SEC history with a time of 14:35.47. With the win, Rouault has won the event four times becoming the only SEC swimmer to do so. Rouault has never lost a 500 or 1650 free at the SEC Championships in his collegiate career. Teammate Troyden Prinsloo swam a 14:36.50 for second and Christopher Crete was third with a 15:00.14.

Maggie Bird of Auburn won the 1650 free in a time of 15:58.27 to hand the Tigers their fifth consecutive title in the event. That streak is the longest in the event in SEC history.

The next stop for many of the SEC finest will be at the NCAA Championships. The meet is scheduled to begin on March 27 at Federal Way, Wash.

 

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2008 Southeastern Conference Championships
Team Rankings - Final

                        Women - Team Scores                              
     Place School                                          Points
===================================================================
         1 Auburn University                  AU              761.5
         2 Florida, University of             FLOR            706  
         3 Georgia, University of             UGA             566.5
         4 Tennessee, University of           UT              477  
         5 Kentucky, University of            UK              332  
         6 Louisiana State University         LSU             238.5
         7 Arkansas, University of            UARK            229  
         8 Alabama, University of             UA              202.5
         9 South Carolina, University of      SCAR            199  
        10 Vanderbilt University              VU               80  
 
                        Men - Team Scores                               
     Place School                                          Points
===================================================================
         1 Auburn University                  AU              806  
         2 Florida, University of             FLOR            712  
         3 Tennessee, University of           UT              562  
         4 Georgia, University of             UGA             433  
         5 Kentucky, University of            UK              345  
         6 Louisiana State University         LSU             322.5
         7 Alabama, University of             UA              293.5
         8 South Carolina, University of      SCAR            186  

 

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SEC Championship Swimming and Diving - Day Four Quotes

Maggie Bird, Soph., Auburn
Women's 1650-Yard Freestyle

"I don't know what to say. I'm ecstatic. I exhibitioned last year as a freshman at this meet so I never thought I would be able to win the mile. I'm excited."

Sebastien Roualt, Sr., Georgia
Men's 1650-Yard Freestyle

"I'm very happy. I knew it was going to be a challenge to win this one. I've been practicing everyday to get ready for this one. I'm very glad I won this race."

Omar Pinzon, Soph., Florida
Men's 200-Yard Backstroke

"It feels awesome. I've been training pretty hard for this. This is just the results of my hard training. It feels good to have this pay-off."

Christine Magnuson, Sr., Tennessee
Women's 100-Yard Freestyle

"It's been a great meet for me. There hasn't been much more than I could ask for. I'm just really excited about how this one has turned out."

Cesar Cielo, Jr., Auburn
Men's 100-Yard Freestyle

"It feels great. I was really tired today and this was the first time I swam a 200 before this event. I felt like that 200 just got all my energy. I'm just happy to go faster than last year. Everything is setting me up to go faster than last year."

Caroline Burckle, Sr., Florida
Women's 200-Yard Breaststroke

"It feels really good to be able to pull this out. I'm proud of this one."

Clark Burckle, Soph., Florida
Men's 200-Yard Breaststroke

"It's great to get this win. I wanted to go a little bit faster but I just like to race so I think it's awesome."

Emily Kukors, Sr., Auburn
Women's 200-Yard Butterfly

"This is my first time swimming butterfly's at SEC's so it was good to come away with a victory. It's exciting. It's a battle for the team race so we are just trying to put as many points up on the board that we can."

Mark Dylla, Fr., Georgia
Men's 200-Yard Butterfly

"That was an unbelievable swim for me. I came into the meet and my best time was 1:45.5 and this whole year I've been trying to get better. It's unbelievable. I took two and a half seconds off my 100 so I knew big things were going to happen off my 200. I don't even know the math but it's right about three seconds for this one. That's unbelievable for me. I wanted to go out and lead the whole way and I did exactly what I wanted to do. I'm real happy with my performance."

Paige Brown, Jr., LSU
Women's Platform

"I just feel really thankful to be able to get this win for me and my team. I'm so thankful and so proud."

Emily Kukors, Sr., Auburn
Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay

"It's awesome to end the meet on a win and an SEC win. These girls are awesome. We've been training hard all year so this is a great way to end the meet."

Steve Scheren, Jr., Auburn
Men's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay

"This is just the second relay that I've ever been on at Auburn. It's a pleasure and an honor to be a part of the group like this. I never imagined that this could be possible. It's incredible."

Auburn Head Coach Richard Quick

"It has been an exciting year. I think both the men and women's teams have done awesome this year with this acceptance of me coming off of the great Coach David Marsh. Hopefully the transition hasn't been too hard on them. And I think they've grown, both teams have grown through the year. Earlier in the season, the men lost a dual meet to Tennessee pretty badly, but at that time we had a decision to make as a team. They made the right decision to work and improve. The women took on Florida and you can see the kind of competitive they are. They've been behind this whole meet until last night. They're just a never give up attitude. It's an honor to be a part of that."

"It feels great to continue at the NCAA Championship level and the standard of excellence that Auburn has set over the years, not that we have won it every time."

"I think we recruit good people that are good athletes and are willing to work hard in a team concept. We have a great coaching staff. Our administration really supports swimming and diving."

"Cesar is just an extraordinarily great athlete, but he's a great team guy. He doesn't like the 200 freestyle, but he stepped up there and got the win in a team battle. To me, that was an indication of the kind of guy he is."

"They are close friends and certainly when Alexei swam as fast as he did in the 100 butterfly it was an inspiration to Cesar and our whole team. Of course he swam an excellent the first night. Alexei is an outstanding athlete in his own right, but he's overshadowed a little bit by Cesar."

Dorsey Tierney-Walker, Auburn Co-Head Coach

"I like how we won this one with all 18 of our scores. I'm thrilled for the seniors. I'm looking forward to a month from now. We are going to enjoy this one now. It took us a lot of hard work."

On Kara Denby and Emily Kukors:
"They are two individuals that have just gotten better every year. They have such a heart for the Auburn program. They are tremendous people with tremendous character and their leadership this year was so important for us."