Auburn women’s swimming and diving turned in a dominating performance on Saturday at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center, sweeping Notre Dame and Vanderbilt to open its home slate.
The Auburn women (3-0, 1-0 SEC) defeated the Irish, 192-102, to mark the Tigers fifth-straight win over Notre Dame. Auburn also defeated SEC foe Vanderbilt, 201-75 to earn the sweep.
“I’m really impressed with how this team is coming together,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “You know we don’t have a team full of big names, we have a team full of girls that want to be great. They are working hard together as a team and competing as a team. I definitely think we saw that today.”
The Tigers won 14 out of 16 events including sweeping the 200 medley and 400 free relays for the second straight meet. Ashley Neidigh (500 and 1000 free) and Allyx Purcell (50 and 100 free) doubled for the Auburn women as nine different Tigers picked up an individual win in the meet.
Purcell picked up her second NCAA provisional cut of the young season, touching the wall first in the 50 free at 22.95. Natasha Lloyd won the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.23 to earn her first NCAA ‘B’ cut of the 2014-15 season, edging Notre Dame’s Emma Reaney, the reigning NCAA Champion and American record holder in the 200 breast, by 0.16 seconds.
Jillian Vitarius turned in a strong performance in the 100 back, finishing with a time of 54.59 to earn the junior’s first NCAA ‘B’ cut of the year. Freshman Zoe Thatcher claimed her first individual win of her young Auburn career, clocking a 1:50.01 in the 200 free.
Megan Fonteno (100 fly), Annie Lazor (200 breast), Kristen Murslack (200 fly) and Sarah Reynolds (200 back) also recorded individual wins for the Tigers in Saturday’s meet as Auburn earned eight 1-2 finishes against Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.
“We tried to mix some things up today and give some girls different looks, but they just went out there and raced,” Hawke said. “It’s good to get a tri-meet under our belt for our women’s team as we head to Alabama in a few weeks. I definitely think we improved from last week and it’s good to get two more wins for our team.”
In diving, Cinzia Calabretta posted a score of 324.23 to win on the 3-meter and earn her first individual victory of the year. Shanna Schuelein also placed third for the Tigers on the 3-meter with a 295.35. Both scores by Calabretta and Schuelein were good enough for NCAA zone qualification, respectively.
Auburn’s men’s divers also competed against the Irish in Saturday’s competition as Fraser McKean swept both the 1- and 3-meter springboards. The senior posted season-best scores of 372.70 on the 1-meter and 378.98 on the 3-meter to earn a pair of wins.
Auburn’s full team returns to action on November 1 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the Tigers take on Alabama and LSU.
Less than 20 hours after finishing up competition against Georgia Tech and South Carolina Friday night in Atlanta, the University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team went toe-to-toe with perennial power Auburn and Vanderbilt at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center Saturday afternoon. Seniors Allison Casareto (1-meter dive) and Emma Reaney (200 IM) claimed victories for the Irish, as Notre Dame bested the Commodores, 152-142, but lost to the Tigers, 192-102.
Reaney, who won three individual events Friday night, earned runner-up finishes in the 100 breast (1:02.39) and 500 free (4:59.25) in addition to her 200 IM victory. Her time in the 100 breast was an NCAA “B” cut.
On the boards, junior Emma Gaboury placed second in the 3-meter dive (319.95) and fellow junior Lindsey Streepey earned a runner-up finish on the 1-meter discipline (301.20).
In addition to two victories and four runner-up ribbons, other highlights on the day included a gaggle of third-place finishes.
The 200 medley relay (1:43.61) team of Courtney Whyte, Emma Reaney, Catherine Galletti and Catherine Mulquin opened the day in third place and were joined in the bronze position by Mulquin in the 100 back (55.95) and 50 free (23.71), freshman Sherri McIntee in the 200 breast (2:18.86) and Gaboury on the 1-meter (292.35).
Casareto, Streepey and Gaboury have all locked up spots at March’s NCAA Zone C diving meet.
Claiming fourth place were Bridget Casey in the 200 fly (2:03.36), Galletti in the 50 free (24.34), Courtney Whyte in the 100 fly (56.93), Katie Miller in the 200 back (2:04.55) and Mulquin in the 100 free (51.69).
The Irish return home in two weeks for a single team dual meet against perennial rival Purdue. Action will get underway at 1 p.m. Saturday, November 1 at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
