Freshman Julie Meynen picked up four victories in her first home meet, and seniors Joe Patching and Michael Duderstadt earned three wins each to lead the Auburn swimming & diving team to a sweep of Kentucky Wednesday afternoon.
The Auburn men won 10 events to down the Wildcats 171-129, while the Tiger women claimed wins in 11 races to earn a 178.5-121.5 victory. Both Auburn teams improved to 2-0 for the dual meet season.
“There was definitely some good stuff out there,” Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said. “It was a midweek meet, so we didn’t know what to expect. We haven’t really adjusted the training for this meet, so everyone swam pretty tired. I was happy with the team spirit and the way they stuck together throughout the meet.”
Meynen made the most of her home debut, leading Auburn sweeps in the 50 freestyle (23.00) and 100 freestyle (49.52). She was also part of two winning relays, swimming the anchor leg on the 400 medley relay (3:40.95) that included Aly Tetzloff, Natasha Lloyd and Bailey Nero. Meynen took the second leg on the 200 freestyle relay that won in 1:32.84, swimming alongside Ashton Ellzey, Tetzloff and Robyn Clevenger.
“Julie Meynen had an exceptional meet,” Hawke said. “It was nice to see the freshmen race. One of the most important things for us is to see how the freshmen respond under training conditions, then performing under race conditions.”
Tetzloff picked up three wins, getting two as part of the relays and another in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.54. She was also Auburn’s top finisher in the 100 back with a 54.96. Senior Natasha Lloyd took the top spot in both breaststroke events with a 1:02.21 in the 100 and a 2:15.23 in the 200, and she got a third win in the medley relay.
Senior Ashley Neidigh earned two individual victories, clocking a 1:49.52 to lead an Auburn 1-2-3 finish in the 200 free and following that up with a 4:49.48 in the 500 free. And junior Zoe Thatcher posted a 9:58.74 to win the 1000 freestyle by 14 seconds.
Sophomore Bailey Nero earned a win in the 200 fly with a time of 2:00.72 and was the top Tiger finisher in the 200 IM with a 2:03.29.
On the men’s side, Patching won all three of his individual events, claiming victories in the 200 free (1:37.65), 200 back (1:44.69) and 200 IM (1:49.03). Duderstadt also picked up three wins, taking first in the 100 breast (55.49) and contributing to victories in the 400 medley relay (3:16.50) and 200 freestyle relay (1:15.25).
“I thought it was a pretty good meet for us,” Auburn associate head coach Sergio Lopez said. “I don’t really know our team 100 percent yet, so I didn’t know what to expect. I really like the way we’re racing, but we still have a lot of work to do on details. I like the way the team embraces one another. Things will get tougher as the season goes on, but I’m excited about what this team can do.”
Sophomore Tommy Brewer got a win in the 200 breast with a 2:03.34, edging out Duderstadt at the wall, and the Tigers swept the sprint events with Peter Holoda winning the 50 free (20.08) and Zach Apple taking first in the 100 free (44.95).
Auburn’s other victory came in the diving well with Scott Lazeroff claiming victory in the 3-meter event with a score of 375.68; Pete Turnham picked up second-place points for Auburn with a 351.53. Lazeroff also took second place in the 1-meter event with a 316.50. In women’s diving, freshman Alison Maillard was the runner-up on both boards, scoring 279.00 on the 3-meter and 269.03 on the 1-meter.
The Tigers return to action Friday, Oct. 28, with another SEC meet at LSU. Auburn’s next home meet is Friday, Nov. 4, as the Tigers host Alabama at 1 p.m.
