Auburn wrapped up the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday, March 26th. The Tigers finished with three top-8 finishes and ranked 10th overall as a team.
Freshman diver Scott Lazeroff finished third on the platform and scored a personal best 436.75 in the finals after qualifying with a score of 399.25 during prelims.
”Platform is my favorite event, and I didn't do so well on 1- and 3-meter," Lazeroff said. "I wanted to show everyone that I'm here and ready for the next three years. I just had fun and it paid off.”
The freshman didn’t go unnoticed, as his coaches praised him and recognized how important those points were to the team as a whole. Head diving coach Jeff Shaffer hopes to see a lot more from Lazeroff over the next three seasons.
”Just a great performance by Scott today," Shaffer said. "We started his platform collegiate career here (at Georgia Tech) in November and he scored a 410. We knew what he was capable of. He rebounded from some average performances on springboard, and tower is his love and that's what he's best at. Most importantly he gave us valuable points to move up in the team standings."
Hugo Morris continued his impressive season, earning All-American honors by finishing eighth in the 200 fly, an incredible leap from last year, when Morris finished 35th in the same event. With his performance today, Morris, became the first Auburn swimmer to reach the finals in an event since 2009.
"It's always the expectation of the program and coaching staff to have the highest of standards," Hawke said. "There were some swims out there that we're super proud of, some school records, some personal bests. At the end of the day we always want more. I'm proud that we fought back to get into the top 10. There are 20 great programs in the NCAA and any one of them can beat you on any given day. I'm proud of the top 10 and we'll just keep fighting.”
Texas won its second consecutive national championship, which now puts it in a tie for first place with Michigan for most swimming and diving titles of all time.
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