The swim and dive team experienced victory and defeat against the Texas Longhorns Wednesday and Thursday at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.
The No. 7 Auburn women's team dominated with a 167-133 win against the No. 4 women's Longhorns. The Tigers won 11 of the 16 events.
Wednesday's meet marked the final home meet for Auburn seniors.
"I know (our seniors) were a little emotional before the meet, but they got themselves back together and had a strong meet," said associate head coach Frank Bradley. "They've been training really well. We're happy with where they are, and we're going to keep pushing the rest of the season."
Among the winners, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won four events, including two relays. She finished with times of 22.41 in the 50-yard free and a 48.44 in the 100-yard free. Vennie Dantin, a senior from Conroe, Texas, won two events.
Lauren Norberg, a junior from Ithaca, N.Y., came first in the 100-yard breast with a time of 1:01.78, a full second ahead of the second-place Longhorn.
The No. 7 Auburn men's team did not fare as well against the No. 2 Longhorn men.
Auburn lost with a final score of 161-131, which marked the fifth win for Texas against the Tigers.
The Tigers are now 3-1 for the season, making this the first loss of the dual-meet season.
"We lost some close races today, which hurts," said coach Brett Hawke. "For the most part, I think the guys raced pretty tough. I think there were some good swims in there today."
In a standout performance, junior Kyle Owens participated in three of the four wins Auburn acquired at the meet.
"Before my first swim, the 50 back in the relay, I was just kind of nervous," said Owens.
To shake the nerves, Owens talked with Hawke and found the team rallying behind him just before he hit the water.
His win marked the first for the Tigers Thursday, clocking in with a time of 47.97 and 1:46.33 for the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, respectively. His third win was in the 200-yard IM.
Zane Grothe improved his personal best by almost nine seconds with 9:01.75 for the 1000-yard freestyle. He also scored the fastest dual-meet time of his Auburn career.
"That was a really strong swim," Hawke said. "We just want him to be able to compete in that top (1650) final at NCAAs."
Among the divers, sophomore John Santeiu scored first-place with a 356.10 total on the 3-meter board.
This meet also marked the last time diver Adam Godzinski, a senior from Fontenay-aux-Roses, France, will be at home. He scored 320.55 on the 1-meter board, coming in third place.
A non-scored exhibition meet rounded out the week today at 1 p.m., with Owens and Stuart Ferguson leading the group. The teams did not use traditional distances for the exhibition meet.
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