AU ROUNDUP: Women’s golf heads to NCAAs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The No. 11 Auburn women’s golf team will compete for its first-ever NCAA Championship this week at the par 71, 7,248-yard University of New Mexico Championship Course. 

The Tigers qualified for their fourth straight national championship with a fourth place finish at the NCAA East Regional two weeks ago.

“We are a young team and have taken some hits this year,” head coach Kim Evans said. “We have grown up along the way. The team is ready to play, and they are very excited right now. I think they all feel — and I feel — that all five of them haven’t played as a team yet, throwing in the same scores on the same day together. Their goal this week is to really see what they can do and pull each other through and get four good scores each day.”

Auburn played the same course in the fall and finished tied for sixth in the 18-team field at the NCAA Fall Preview. The Tigers join 17 other Top-25 teams in the field at the championship this week. The other six teams that make up the 24-team field are all ranked in the top 50. 

The Tigers hold a 50-40-2 advantage over the NCAA Championship field and have competed against 23 of the 24 teams already this season. UC Davis is the only team Auburn has not faced this season.

Auburn will play the same lineup it played at the East Regional. Freshman Cydney Clanton retains her No. 1 spot, followed by sophomore Candace Schepperle. Senior Margaret Shirley will play at No. 3, while junior Mariana Macias will play at No. 4 and freshman Sarah Thead rounds out the lineup in the No. 5 spot.

Auburn tees off on hole No. 10 today at 2:20 p.m. with TCU and Arizona.

Auburn will play its second round Wednesday morning at 9:50 a.m. at No. 1. Tee times and playing partners for Thursday and Friday will be determined based on position after Wednesday.

Ohlgren earns second gold medal in Santa Clara
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Ava Ohlgren earned her second Auburn record in a week on Sunday at the Santa Clara International Invitational, wrapping up the four-day event with a third-place finish in the 200m butterfly.

The Santa Clara International Invitational is part of the USA Swimming Toyota Grand Prix Series. The four-day meet took place at the George Haines International Swim Center. In all, 13 current, future and former Auburn swimmers competed in the event.

The rising junior started off the final session by taking third in the 200m butterfly with an Auburn-record time of 2:09.00 — breaking the old record held by Kristen Hastrup by nearly three seconds.

Former Tiger and Olympian Margaret Hoelzer followed in eighth place with a time of 2:12.09 while Emily Kukors won the B Final to finish 10th with a time of 2:10.19. Julianne McLane also competed in the 200m fly, finishing 33rd with a 2:17.97.

McLane picked up a top-finish of her own in the 200m backstroke, clocking a 2:15.02 to finish fourth in the event.

After setting the record, Ohlgren returned to the pool later in the night to finish second in the 200m Individual Medley with a personal-best time of 2:14.29, a mark that ranks fourth all-time at Auburn. Kukors also made the A Final, coming in ninth with a time of 2:18.16.

Alexei Puninski posted the top finish among the Auburn men, taking fourth in the 100m freestyle with a 49.82. Gideon Louw, who will join the Auburn swimming team in the fall, followed in ninth with a time of 50.23.

Former Tiger Bryan Lundquist won the C Final, placing 19th overall with a time of 50.64. Also competing in the event were Kohlton Norys (41st, 52.05), Tyler McGill (43rd, 52.13), Will Dove (54th, 52.50), James Wike (73rd, 53.06) and Robert Looney (101st, 54.70).

Looney returned to the pool in the final individual event of the meet, placing seventh in the 1500, freestyle with a time of 15:55.50. Will Dove followed in 12th, touching in at 16:00.64.

Also posting a seventh-place finish was James Wike in the 100m backstroke, clocking a 55.98. Norys followed by winning the C Final, placing 19th overall with a 56.63. Andrew Mitchell also swam in the 100m back, placing 42nd with a 1:00.32.

Adam Klein also earned a win during the session as he took the top spot in the 200m breaststroke C Final, finishing 19th overall, with a time of 2:21.07. Marshel Renz trailed with a time of 2:36.55, placing 42nd.

In the men’s 200m IM, rising-sophomore Mitchell was the only Tiger to make the finals, placing 22nd with a time of 2:08.23 Also swimming in the event were McGill (31st, 2:10.52), Renz (37th, 2:11.21) and Looney (42nd, 2:12.16).