PALO ALTO, Calif. - The No. 1 Auburn women's swimming team leads the fourth-ranked Stanford Cardinal, 96-69, after the first of a two-day double-dual meet for the Tigers at Stanford University's Avery Aquatic Center. AU also holds a lead over Pacific, 140-25. For their afternoon work, Auburn collected an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA's as well as 11 provisional times.
"After our late night of travel, I was very pleased with our overall output today," AU Coach David Marsh said. "However, by no means is this meet put away. We need to come back tomorrow and work hard and finish off the competition."
The meet started off with a NCAA provisional time for the Tigers as the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Kirsty Coventry, Cassidy Maxwell, Heather Kemp and Maggie Bowen won the event in a time of 1:33.71. AU's Laura Swander, Jenni Anderson, Erin Volcan and Erin Gayle were not far behind, finishing third with a time of 1:35.50.
"I was really pleased with the way we started today," AU Co-Head Women's Coach Kim Brackin said. "We started with a lot of momentum, which is something we talked about this morning before the meet - getting out ahead right away."
Bowen's afternoon continued with another win, this one an individual, as she registered an automatic time for the NCAA Championships in the 400 IM (4:09.90). Lauren Duerk collected a provisional time of her own in the same event, placing third with a personal best time of 4:17.68. Sally Brown (4:26.22) and Magda Dyszkiewicz (4:26.43) had the fourth and fifth fastest times for the event.
"I think individually Lauren (Duerk) was one of the top performers for us this afternoon," Marsh said. "She set a personal best in the 400 IM by over five seconds which was great. I was very pleased with her overall effort."
The 50 freestyle saw the Tigers finish 2-3-4 as Kemp (23.69), Maxwell (24.14) and Anderson (24.31) finished within just over a half-second apart. Swander, who was exhibitioned in the event, touched the wall in a time of 24.24, which was the fourth-best time of the event.
"Heather Kemp performed very well for us today," Marsh said. "From the 50 free all the way up to the 500, she did a great job for us."
The Tigers kept on rolling through the 100 backstroke as Jeri Moss (56.71), Volcan (56.72) and Coventry (56.73) finished the race within .02 seconds of each other, all collecting NCAA provisional times.
Swander brought home another provisional time for the Tigers in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall second with a time of 1:03.56. Bowen placed third (1:04.16) while Kelly Jones (1:05.15) rounded out the scoring for AU in the event.
In the 100 butterfly, Margaret Hoelzer collected second-place points for the Tigers, clocking a 55.28 for an NCAA provisional time. Alessandra Lawless was not far behind with a time of 56.00.
Auburn's dominance continued to shine through in the 500 freestyle as Kemp (4:49.34), Dyszkiewicz (4:49.60) and Duerk (4:53.58) swept the top three slots in the event. All three times are NCAA provisional times.
In the 400 medley relay, the Tiger squad of Moss, Swander, Hoelzer and Bowen placed second in a time of 3:48.76.
The Friday session closed out with the 800 free relay in which Kemp, Hoelzer, Coventry and Bowen clocked a 7:20.68, setting a pool record, to win ahead of teammates Volcan, Dyszkiewicz, Duerk and Brown, who finished second with a time of 7:26.79. The first-place time is an NCAA provisional time.
"Erin Volcan got better as the meet went on," Brackin said. "Her second 100 in the back was great and then her really leg was really good. The future is very bright for her."
The competition continues on Saturday, Nov. 23, as Auburn closes out the dual meets with the Cardinal and Tigers. The session is set to get underway at 10 a.m. PT.
