Twelve Auburn seniors competed in their last home meet at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center Saturday, Jan. 26, when the Florida Gators left their swamp to continue one of the longest rivalries in collegiate swimming and diving.
The Auburn University women's swimming and diving team continued its undefeated season Saturday with its win over SEC rival Florida. The men's team, however, fell short to the Gators during this dual meet in its pursuit of a similarly victorious season.
This was the 33rd meeting between the two men's teams and the 31st meeting between the women's teams. Florida led the all-time men's series 17-15, but Auburn won 11 of the past 13 meetings. Florida women's team led the series 17-13. The Gators entered Saturday's meet 5-0 in dual meet competition and 3-0 against SEC opponents on the men's side. On the women's side, the Gators were 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the SEC.
Auburn finished with a 161-138 win in the women's meet whereas the men lost 167-133 to the Gators.
Auburn head coach Brett Hawke said he had mixed feelings about Saturday's meet.
"It was great for the women to go through undefeated, and it's great the way they fought as a team. They had some really good swims out there, and I'm just proud of them to come out victorious," Hawke said. "On the men's side, we knew this was going to be a tough battle. We've lost this dual meet before, and it's one of those situations where the men are obviously very tired. We're losing some close races, which were disappointing, but overall I was happy with most of the swims. There are a few areas where we need to go back and figure it out."
Despite Hawke's feelings about the outcome of the meet against Florida, he said there isn't anything he would have done differently to prepare.
"I thought they did a great week of training. I'm really happy with their attitude and their effort in the lead up to this meet," Hawke said. "Obviously there's just a few guys that are very tired, but we'll start focusing on the SEC championship now."
Although his team lost, junior Marcello Chierighini remains positive about the outcome of the meet.
"It's never good to lose a meet, especially against Florida, but we had some really good performance," Chierighini said. "I swam really good. These were the best times in the season for me."
Chierighini tied for first place with Florida's Bradley DeBorde in the 50 meter free, both finishing in 19.84 seconds. He then led a 1-2 Auburn finish in the 100 meter free with a 43.36 as sophomore Alex Hancock finished second in 44.35.
Five men and seven women competed for the last time in their home pool. The women's seniors are Katie Gordocki, Laura Johnson, Micha Lawrence, Becca Jones, Lauren Norberg, Lindsey Norberg and Hannah Riordan. Auburn's men's seniors are Stuart Ferguson, Chris Kramer, Brandon Siemasko, Chandler Gerlach and Kyle Owens. Ferguson, Jones and Lawrence were named team captains prior to this season.
Senior Lauren Norberg posted a 1-2 finish in the 100 breast, clocking in at 1:00:75 and her twin sister posting a career-best at 1:00:89.
"It's really sad (this being my last home meet) because I've been here the last four years, and this is kind of my life, but today was really good for me," Norberg said. "Personal bests in both events; so, no complaints. They're a really good group of kids, and I'm really glad I got to finish like this."
Saturday's Senior Day meet meant a lot to Hawke as well.
"This is the group I came in with as head coach," Hawke said. "So, I'm very close to this group. I'm proud of the way a lot of them fought today."
The Auburn divers played a huge role in Saturday's meet on both sides. Sophomore CinziaCalabretta earned a sweep of the women's 1-and-3-meter events, finishing up with a win in the 1-meter event with a score of 285.68 and winning the 3-meter with a final score of 315.30. In men's diving, sophomore Frasier McKean swept both boards as well, scoring 348.68 in his 1-meter and 392.70 in his 3-meter. Junior John Santeiu placed second in both events.
"My favorite dive today was probably my reverse on 3-meter and also at 1-meter," Calabretta said. "I'm definitely pleased with how everyone did today. All of our girls went personal best, so I think it was a really good day."
The Tiger women claimed 10 of the 16 events, while Auburn and Florida's men each claimed eight events.
The Tigers will now begin training for the 2013 SEC Championships, which will be at the Texas A&M Student Recreation Center in College Station, Texas on Feb. 19-23.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
