AU ROUNDUP: Women in 7th after Day 1 at NCAA Championships

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Auburn women’s swimming and diving team concluded the first day of the 2010 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday, finishing the night in seventh place with 67 points.

The three-day meet is being held at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center on the campus of Purdue University.

Stanford sits in first with 142.5 points and is followed closely by Georgia with 134 points. Rounding out the top five are California (122), Florida (107) and Texas A&M (106).

“I thought we fought strong tonight,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “The team really rallied and had some great swims. We’re trying to build some momentum and carry that. The team has to come back and fight again tomorrow.”

Auburn, for the 10th-straight year, competed in the championship final of the 200 free relay to open up the final session of Day 1. The team of Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Hannah Riordan, Caitlin Geary and Melissa Marik finished sixth in a time of 1:29.40.

Swimming in her fourth-consecutive 200 IM championship final was senior Ava Ohlgren. After finishing eighth in the preliminaries, the Northville, Mich., product bounced back to finish fourth overall in a season-best time of 1:55.72.

“Coming into tonight’s event, I didn’t worry about the race because I knew I didn’t have anywhere to go but up,” Ohlgren said. “I didn’t let all the things that usually bother me get to me and just swam my race.”

Representing Auburn in the 50 free was sophomore Vanderpool-Wallace, who swam a season-best time of 22.32 in the prelims to qualify for the consolation final. The Nassau, Bahamas, native bested her 13th-place finish from the 2009 championships and finished 11th overall in a time of 22.38.

Sophomore diver Anna Aguero earned her first-ever All-America honor after finishing 15th on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 283.75 points. The honor was also Auburn’s first diving All-America award since the 2007 season.

“Anna (Aguero) was very consistent and put herself in a position to dive in either final event,” head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said.

“For her to come to her first NCAA Championships and score in the first event is very good.”

Capping off the night was the 400 medley relay squad of Marik, Micah Lawrence, Ohlgren and Vanderpool-Wallace. The team finished ninth in a time of 3:34.08.

Day 2 starts today with preliminaries set for 11 a.m. with the 200 medley relay. The 400 IM follows with the 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 800 free relay and 3-meter diving.

Softball gets past FSU
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Auburn’s Caitlin Stangl scored the game’s only run in the top of the ninth on an error as the Tiger softball team defeated No. 19 Florida State, 1-0, on Thursday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field.

The Tigers improved to 16-9 overall, while FSU fell to 24-5.

Auburn now travels to Baton Rouge, La., to take on LSU in a weekend series beginning Saturday at 1 p.m.

Angel Bunner earned the win in relief to improve to 6-4. Bunner went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out two.

Auburn starter Anna Thompson went 3 1/3 innings in her shortest outing of the year. Thompson did not allow a run and gave up six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

FSU starter Sarah Hamilton went the distance in the loss. She (12-3) allowed one run, unearned, on four hits with a career-high 20 strikeouts.

Both pitchers dominated early, with Hamilton working on a perfect game through the first four innings. Hamilton fanned eight straight during one stretch.

For the Tigers, despite surrendering four hits through three innings Thompson had kept the Seminoles off the scoreboard. Thompson fanned seven through three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth.

With one out, Thompson gave up consecutive singles to put runners at first and second and was lifted for Bunner. After getting a flyout, the Tigers appeared to be out of the inning until Lauren Guzman booted a ground ball at short, allowing the Seminoles to load the bases.

Guzman atoned for the error with a putout at second on a fielder’s choice that ended the inning without a run scoring.

Hamilton maintained her perfect game through six innings, striking out 14 hitters, but Caitlin Stangl ruined the bid with a clean single into left field to lead off the seventh inning. The Tigers, however, were unable to take advantage and push across a run.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ashley Stager singled to center and, when centerfielder Lindsey Harrelson mishandled the ball, advanced to second with one out. Bunner then threw wild on ball four, walking Carly Wynn and allowing Stager to move to third. Catcher Elizabeth Eisterhold’s throw back to Bunner rolled under her glove, allowing Wynn to move to second on the play.

Bunner then got Tiffani Brown on a swinging third strike for the second out of the inning. Bunner worked out of the jam when she forced a pop up to second off the bat of Shayla Jackson for the third out and send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the ninth, Stangl singled with two outs. Kelley Smiley then hit a roller to second, but beat the throw. Stangl attempted to get to third on the play and when the throw from second skipped past third, Stangl scored the game’s first run giving Auburn a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Seminoles threatened with two outs with runners at second and third on a pair of singles and one Auburn error, but a line out to Kelsey Cartwright off Jackson’s bat ended the game.

Men’s golf heads to E-Z-Go Invitational
STATESBORO, Ga. — The Auburn men’s golf team resumes spring play Friday at the 2010 Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational held at the par-72, 6,962-yard Forest Heights Country Club.

Auburn will look to continue its solid form since returning from the winter break. The Tigers have recorded three straight top-five team finishes and tallied 12 top-10 individual finishes in that time.

“This is a great event that everyone always looks forward to playing,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. “As always, the field is a quality one. Our guys have played some great golf over the last three events and we will look to continue that form this weekend.“

Sophomore Will McCurdy will lead the Tigers in the No. 1 position for the first time this season after strong showings for the Tigers this spring. The Fort Payne native recently shot even-par to claim the first medalist honors of his collegiate career at the 2010 Tiger Shootout.

McCurdy also placed third at the Border Olympics, carding an even-par 216 to help lead a four-man Auburn squad to a fifth-place finish and tied for third at the Rice Intercollegiate.

Senior Cole Moreland will play in the No. 2 spot for the Tigers after also recording three straight top-10 finishes. The Austin, Texas, native continues his untarnished run of rounds counted, providing a perfect 15-of-15 through seven events.

Rounding out the squad are sophomores John Stembridge, David Zickler and team scoring average leader Kyle Kopsick.

Competing at the E-Z-Go Invitational will be Auburn, No. 8 Florida, No. 13 South Carolina, No. 23 North Florida, No. 24 Alabama, No. 26 Virginia, No. 27 LSU, No. 28 Tennessee, host Georgia Southern, Kentucky, Louisville, Ole Miss, North Caolina, N.C. State and Vanderbilt.

Tee times are set for 8 a.m. today through Sunday.

Men’s tennis hits road for weekend
The nationally-ranked Auburn men’s tennis team heads to the road for the second weekend in a row, traveling to No. 23 North Carolina today and No. 9 Kentucky on Sunday.

The No. 56 Tigers face the Tar Heels at 2 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C., and the Wildcats at 1 p.m. in Lexington, Ky.

“It’s another tough weekend for us, playing two top 25 teams,” head coach Eric Shore said. “It is the halfway mark of our very difficult schedule. If we keep battling and learning from each match, things will continue to look good for us. We have a tough assignment this weekend, but it will be a really solid experience.”

The Tigers (4-6, 1-3 SEC) hold a slim 6-5 series advantage over the Tar Heels despite dropping last year’s match, 4-3, in Auburn. The Wildcats are ahead in the series, sitting at 25-22 overall against Auburn.

Davis to participate in National A2 Program
Auburn volleyball junior Alyssa Davis made a big step in her career, earning a chance to participate in the 2010 U.S. Women’s National A2 Program.

“I’m very excited to be a part of the national program,” Davis said. “I’m very happy for this opportunity. This will give me experience at a very high level and more to bring back to my team next year.”

The 24-member National A2 program is set to train in Tempe, Ariz., May 24-28, and then will split into two 12-member rosters to compete in the Open Division of the 2010 USA Open National Championships in Phoenix.

The Open Division is set to start May 29 and runs through June 1.

The group was selected from a group of athletes that participated in the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryouts held Feb. 19-21 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. A total of 175 athletes were in attendance.

“This is very exciting for Auburn volleyball,” head volleyball coach Wade Benson said. “Alyssa has really improved her skills and her dedication is beginning to show in a big way.

Davis, a middle blocker from Oakland Park, Fla., led the 2009 Tiger volleyball team and was ninth in the Southeastern Conference with a .315 hitting percentage. She finished with a career-best 161 kills on 368 attempts with just 45 errors. The 6-foot, 5-inch Davis was second on the team in total blocks, tallying 72 on the season.

Davis will return for her senior year in 2010 as the squad looks to improve on its 16-15 overall 2009 mark. The Tigers enjoyed its best season in 10 years as the team finished second in the SEC West.