Meghan Lee, Averee Preble Lead Auburn Rout of Arkansas
Meghan Lee and Averee Preble won two individual events apiece as Auburn swept the swimming events in a 208-89 win over Arkansas Tuesday in SEC action.
The No. 14 Tigers didn’t drop a swimming race at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.
Preble started the parade by capturing the 1,000 freestyle in 10:03.50. The grad student returned to win the 500 free in 4:57.18.
Lee split 25.10 off the front of the Tigers’ winning 200 medley relay, teaming with Stasya Makarova, Abigail Gibbons and Lexie Mulvihill. Lee won the 200 butterfly in 1:57.53 and capped the meet off with her time of 2:01.51 in the 200 individual medley.
The Tigers signaled their intent early with a sweep of the top four spots in the 100 backstroke. Ellie Waldrep came out on top in 54.68, followed closely by Kensley Merritt (54.95) and Kyla Maloney (55.06). Merritt won the 200 back in 2:00.35 with Maloney third again.
Makarova kept the momentum by winning a close race in the 100 breaststroke, her 1:02.39 rallying to nip Arkansas’ Alessia Ferraguti by .02 seconds. The Razorbacks wouldn’t get that close to a win again.
Wyllo Hanson (1:49.03) and Polina Nevmovenko went 1-2 in the 200 free. Hanson was second in the 100 free with Nevmovenko third, behind Lawson Ficken’s time of 50.39. (All three were under 50.86.) Ficken also won the 100 fly in 53.98.
Ficken, Nevmovenko, Hanson and Emma Steckiel combined to win the 400 free relay. Steckiel had been second in the 50 free, her time trailing only Mulvihill’s 22.95. Brynn Curtis won the 200 breast in 2:16.71, just ahead of Hannah Ownbey, who was third in the 100 breast and second in the 200 IM.
Arkansas’s only consolation came in diving, where Anna Arnautova won both events. She blew out the field on 1-meter with a score of 323.25 points that was more than 50 clear of the field. The margin was narrower on 3-meter, but she prevailed with 298.80 points.
Sydney Craft finished second in the 500 and 1,000 free for the Razorbacks.
