The final regular season meet for the Auburn Tigers swimming and diving team was a record-breaking victory over the Emory Eagles Saturday. The final score of the men's meet was 174 100, and the women's team finished with a score of 172 102.
"It feels amazing to finish our regular season on such a great note," said Kelly Marx, a senior diver. "It is exactly the way I wanted to finish my last dual meet."
The meet had a special focus on the 13 graduating seniors, who were honored before the start of the competition.
The graduating seniors are Jordan Anderson (Rhodes Scholar), Will Dove, Kelly Marx, Pascal Wollach, Michael Silva, Kyle Maese, Tyler McGill, Gideon Louw, Melissa Marik, Alana Dillette, Maggie Bird, Abby MacGregor and Ava Ohlgren.
"I will be sad to be leaving the team because they have been such a large part of my life, and I have met some of my best friends on the team," Ohlgren said.
Marx closed out his last regular season meet with a new Auburn University school record for the 1-meter dive, with a score of 359.47, and he scored a season best on the 3 meter dive with a score of 444.07.
"My mind was set on hitting one dive at a time," Marx said. "This mentality is what allowed me to break the record."
The meet was marked by several record-breaking scores on both the men's and women's teams, including three personal bests, by women divers Anna Aguero, Mary Catherine Cochran and Vennie Dantin.
Aguero scored a career best 293.02 to finish first on the 1-meter, followed by Cochran in second, scoring 284.47.
Dantin set the best score of her collegiate career on the 3-meter springboard, 351.91.
Ohlgren finished her last regular season meet with wins in the 200 meter breast stroke and the 100 meter fly. "It was great to close out my senior season with such a good performance," Ohlgren said. "It's always a confidence booster coming out on top."
Freshman diver Thad Ellis, also set personal records with a 375.52 on the 3-meter dive and a 363.29 on the 1-meter.
In the women's 500 and 1,000 meter freestyle, freshman swimmer Sterling Wine achieved her first collegiate wins, finishing first in both.
Logan Stallings, freshman in biology, swam with Jennifer VonJouanne, a swimmer for the Tigers, on a club team in Madison, Ala., and was at the event to show his support.
"I'm here for her," Stallings said.
Seniors Anderson and Maese, along with sophomore Christopher Fox, won the 200 meter freestyle relay with a time of 1:21.23 to end the meet.
The end of the regular season means the beginning of the championship season, and next on the agenda is the Missouri Grand Prix, at the University of Missouri from Feb. 12-15, and the SEC Championships, which are scheduled for Feb. 17-20 at the University of Georgia.
"Everyone looks very confident going into SEC's and I can't wait to help lead the team to a victory," Marx said.
The Auburn Tigers men's team has won the past 13 SEC Championships, and look to win their 14th next week in Athens.
The men's team finished the regular season with an overall record of 5-2, while the women's team finished 4-4.
The meet was marked with Auburn winning event after event, and James Gillespie, grad student in pathobiology, was there to show his support for the Tigers.
"I've enjoyed it; it's been good to watch." Gillespie said.
The Emory Eagles are a Division III power, with eight top-three National finishes, including second place in 2004 and 2005, and have nine University Athletic Association Conference titles since 1999.
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