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Auburn's Men Win SEC Championships Making It Five In A Row

Feb 25, 2001

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Auburn senior men not only led their team to its fifth straight Southeastern Conference title here Saturday night, but they also claimed individual gold as Greg Busse, Dave Denniston and Jeff Somensatto captured SEC titles of their own Saturday night.

Winning the title seven out of the past eight years, the Auburn men captured their 2001 title by a score of 814, which was almost 200 points ahead of second place Tennessee (632.5). The Tiger women also had an impressive meet finishing second to defending SEC and national champion Georgia with a score of 668 to the Bulldog's 716.

Auburn's Maggie Bowen and Kevin Clements were each awarded with the SEC Commissioner's Trophy for achieving the highest individual point totals of the meet. Bowen was also awarded as the 2001 SEC Performer of the Meet and head coach David Marsh received the SEC Championships Men's Coach of the Meet.

For the men in the 1650-yard free, junior Kevin Clements broke his own school record with a time of 15:04.37 and took second place for the Tigers while James Galloway picked up third (15:10.00) and Jeremy Knowles finished sixth (15:24.21).

Freshman Andrew Sivulka had an impressive performance in the platform event with a seventh place finish and a score of 446.40 while freshman Caesar Garcia was close behind in eighth with a score of 437.90.

The Auburn men held a strong presence in the 200 back with four Tigers in the finals and one in the consolation finals. Freshman Bryce Hunt led the way with a second place finish (1:43.83) while Kirk Hampleman earned fourth (1:44.98), Scott Talbot-Cameron took sixth (1:45.49), Jon Karr finished seventh (1:47.99) and Brandon Roberts came in 14th (1:50.02).

Senior Greg Busse got Auburn in the winner's circle again Saturday night by claiming the 100 free event with an Alabama Aquatics Center pool record time of 43.24. He was followed in scoring by teammate Eric vanGoethem, who captured 16th with a time of 45.84.

Another senior, Dave Denniston, worked his way to the gold medal stand with a win in the 200 breast with a time of 1:55.52. Denniston earned the SEC record in the morning preliminary round with a time of 1:55.37. The Tigers also placed Justin Caron in second with a time of 1:56.66, Mark Gangloff in fourth (1:57.01) and Pat Calhoun in tenth with a time of 2:00.23.

Finally, senior Jeff Somensatto rounded out the senior class SEC titles with a first place finish in the 200 fly with a time of 1:42.80 which is not only a school record, but an SEC record as well. Somensatto claimed the title in the 200 fly in his freshman, sophomore and senior seasons at Auburn. Also placing in that event for the Tigers was Andy Haidinyak, who came in seventh with a time of 1:47.27.

In the 400 free relay, the Auburn men (Busse, Gangloff, Haidinyak, Somensatto) took a fifth place finish with a time of 2:57.64. "This was one of the best nights we have had at a conference meet," head coach David Marsh said. "Starting with our three seniors winning titles and setting two SEC records. The night was set up by the two, three, six finish in the mile and it just went on from there."

"We knew coming in this season that we were going to have to win this differently than we had before. We had to rely on the strength of our distance, breast and backstroke events. I think this will carry over well to the NCAAs. This is a great conference contest with No. 2 Tennessee and I am really proud of our guys."

In the 1650 free for the women, freshman Magda Dyszkiewicz took the top spot for Auburn in third with a school record time of 16:14.20, Heather Kemp finished ninth (16:42.93) and Megan Riddle was 12th (16:52.97).

For the women in the platform diving event, junior Halina Obremskey finished 12th with a score of 348.10 while freshman Ashley Rubenstein rounded out her 2001 SEC meet with a 15th place finish and a score of 315.30.

Freshman Taylor Spivey swam as Auburn's only 200 back competitor and earned a medal finishing third with a school-record time of 1:57.29. For the women in the 100 free, freshman Eileen Coparropa earned fourth place with a time of 49.27 while Cortnee Adams was fifth (49.62), Becky Short in seventh (50.01) and Cassidy Maxwell in a tie for 12th (50.89).

The women placed two in the 200 breast event with senior Brook Monroe taking the top spot for the Tigers with a fifth place finish (2:15.17) while freshman Laura Swander finished a close sixth (2:15.23).

On the women's side of the 200 fly, sophomore Maggie Bowen captured her third individual title of 2001 and her fifth of the week when she raced to a first place time of 1:58.60 while teammate Demerae Christianson finished third (2:00.71) and Suzy Flook placed eighth (2:03.89).

In the final event of the night, the women's 400 free relay team of Coparropa, Becky Short, Cortnee Adams and Cassidy Maxwell took the fourth Auburn relay title of the week with a first place time of 3:17.09.

"For the women, obviously our goal every year is to win the SEC title and finish top three at NCAAs," Marsh said. "You can't get much closer to that first goal than we did tonight. The Georgia depth really took over, but I think that things look really good for the team heading into NCAAs."

"This was a phenomenal meet for us," assistant head women's coach Kim Brackin said. "They have really set the standard. This last relay win was all about Auburn pride. To dominate the relays like we did all week is really a testament to the future of this program."

The Auburn women's team will be back in action March 15-17 as they travel to Long Island, N.Y. for the 2001 NCAA Championships while the men will travel to College Station, Texas March 22-24 for NCAAs. The Auburn men's team finished second last season at the NCAA meet while the women placed fifth overall.