AUBURN VS. FGCU
- Results
- Saturday, October 20th
- Hosted by Auburn
- 25 Yard Course
- Dual Meet Format
FINAL TEAM SCORES:
- Auburn- 167
- FGCU- 73
Saturday marked new head coach Gary Taylor’s first meet coaching the Auburn Tigers. He started things off with a women’s team win over Florida Gulf Coast University. The Tigers were dominant, posting a final score of 167 to 73.
Aly Tetzloff, one of Auburn’s top returning talents, picked up a pair of wins in the 200 free and 100 fly. She was over a second ahead of the field in the 200 free as she touched in 1:47.55. The only other swimmer to break 1:50 in the event was teammate Jessica Merritt (1:48.94). Tetzloff returned to top teammate Jewels Harris, 53.65 to 54.32, in the 100 fly.
Auburn’s Erin Falconer also scored a winning double, starting with her 9:55.70 in the 1000 free. That put her almost a minute ahead of anyone else in the field. She came up with her 2nd win in the 100 back. posting a 54.53 over Harris (56.07).
Petra Halmai prevented the Tigers from sweeping the events as she picked up a win in the 100 breast for the Eagles. Auburn’s Mcauley Parker had an early lead, 30.98 to 31.08, but Halmai kicked it in on the back half to win in 1:05.59. Parker was narrowly behind in 1:05.78.
PRESS RELEASE – AUBURN:
The Gary Taylor era of Auburn swimming and diving started off with an impressive showing, cruising past Florida Gulf Coast, 163-73, in a women’s-only meet at the Martin Aquatics Center Saturday morning. Auburn was first to the wall in 10 of 11 swimming event and swept the springboard diving events.
“There were really, really good performances by the women today across the board,” Taylor said. “I loved the energy, the enthusiasm and the excitement. They raced with a lot of passion and effort. I thought from the very first 200 medley relay all the way through the 400 free relay they fought hard and performed well throughout the meet.”
Auburn went 1-2 in both relays, with Abi Wilder, Val Tazari, Jewels Harris and Julie Meynen winning the 200 medley relay in 1:41.54 to open the meet and Jessica Merritt, Erin Falconer, Emily Hetzer and Shannon McKernan winning the 400 free relay in 3:24.09 to close the meet.
“It was a total team effort today but we got some great leadership from our seniors,” Taylor said. “Erin Falconer got wins today in the 1000 free and 100 back with some strong performances. Aly Tetzloff had a really strong 200 freestyle and 100 fly with some of her best in-season performances. Bailey Nero helped us out in the 400 IM with a win there as well.”
Falconer went 9:55.70 to win the 1000 free and 54.53 to take first in the 100 back.
Tetzloff won the 200 free in 1:47.55 and the 100 fly in 53.65.
Nero claimed the 400 IM race in 4:16.81.
“It’s been a hard couple of months but the ladies have trained really well and you saw a lot of that come to fruition this weekend,” Taylor said.
The remaining event wins went to Claire Fisch in the 50 free (22.94), Robyn Clevenger in the 100 free (50.56) and Sonnele Oeztuerk in the 500 free (4:53.34).
In diving, Allison Maillard earned the 12th and 13th dual meet wins on the springboard of her career, scoring a 304.28 on the 1-meter and a 325.35 on the 3-meter. Senior newcomer Wendy Espina-Esquival also scored a zone diving championship qualifying score with a 295.95 on the 3-meter and placed second to Maillard on the 1-meter with a 246.30.
“I was really pleased opening the season with a double win for Allison,” diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “She seems to be picking up where she left off last year with over 300 points on both lists. “Wendy, in her first meet for Auburn, and Alison both picking up zone qualifying scores in their first meet is a good start.”
The Auburn men will join the women for the next dual meet as the two teams head to Charlottesville, Va., to take on Virginia in a two-day dual meet, Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27.
PRESS RELEASE – FGCU:
AUBURN, AL – The FGCU swimming and diving team (2-5) fell to #16 Auburn (1-0), 163-73, Saturday afternoon at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.
“Very proud of how we performed today,” said head coach Dave Rollins. “The team was challenged on how they would respond to adversity and they responded well. We had numerous season-best times and dives. Both relays were season bests (regardless of the 400 DQ) and to be able to keep improving as the training has been more challenging is fantastic. Also, for Petra to get a win in the 100 breast was great. Anytime we can get a legitimate win against a challenging opponent, we will celebrate it.”
The 200 medley relay team of Doris Eichhorn (Berlin, Germany/HTW Berlin), Emily Glinecke (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove High School/ASU), Madison Jean (Parrish, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS) and Rebecca Moynihan (Palmerston North, New Zealand/Waiopehu College) produced a season-best time of 1:44.94 to start of the morning as Antonia Baerens (Ottobrunn, Germany/Max-Josef-Stift Gymnasium/Nevada) placed third in the second event, the 1000 free.
In the 50, a pair of Eagles finished right behind each other as Moynihan (23.52) and Gracie Redding (Orlando, Fla./The First Academy/FSU) (23.68) scored for FGCU. On the boards, Megan Wakefield (Guelph, Ontario, Canada/Centennial CVI) produced a season-best score of 270 on the 3-meter spring which placed her second.
“Megan was huge for us today,” stated Rollins. “Qualifying for Zones as she just missed her school record.”
Natalie Keffer (San Gabriel, Calif./Gabrielino HS) also registered a top-3 finish on the 1-meter with a score 216.53 for third overall. Highlights on the day for FGCU also include Eichhorn touching the pads in 57.25 seconds in the 100 back for second place as Kellie Fischer (Edmond, Okla./Edmond Memorial High School) (59.70) and Lindsay Manganiello (Miami, Fla./Coral Reef Senior HS) (1:02.96) finished third and fourth, respectively to snag the remaining points.
Meanwhile, in the 500 free, Linda Shaw (Leeds, United Kingdom/Roundhay HS)finished second (5:13:79) as Elizabeth Zeiger (Cumberland, R.I./Homeschool) (5:17.63) rounded out the top-3.
Petra Halmai (Dombovar, Hungary/Lanczos Kornel Secondari Grammar School)snagged FGCU’s lone first-place win competing in the 100 breast. The sophomore produced a swim of 1:05.59 to score the Eagles nine points. Newcomer Glinecke placed third with a mark of 1:06.65
“We have completed our most challenging phase of the season,” added Rollins. “Now it’s time to get back to work and sharpen our skills. There are a lot of great performances yet to come and we will be a much stronger team having challenged ourselves this first part of the year.”
UP NEXT
FGCU returns to action once again on the road when the Eagles travel to Boca Raton, Fla., to face FAU and Princeton on Friday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date coverage of FGCU women’s swimming and diving, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_WSWIM and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available.
HEAD COACH DAVE ROLLINS
Entering into his third season, head coach, Dave Rollins is only the second head coach in program history, taking over on Sept. 1, 2016. In his second season, Rollins guided FGCU to back-to-back CCSA titles, as well as the program’s fourth-straight and ninth championship in 10 years. In addition, he has been awarded CCSA Coach of the Year in each of his two seasons at the helm. Previously, Rollins was the associate head men’s swimming coach at The Ohio State University. Rollins brings over a decade of coaching experience to The Nest, which includes Olympians, NCAA Champions and All-Americans along with multiple conference champions. A standout collegiate athlete in his own right, Rollins was inducted into the University of Arizona’s Hall of Fame in 2017 as a nine-time NCAA All-American, national champion, school record holder and team captain.
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.
