The defending NCAA champion Auburn University men's and women's swimming and diving teams swept a double-dual meet over Virginia and the Penn State Nittany Lions Friday and Saturday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.
The Tiger men defeated Virginia, 214-137, and Penn State, 270-81, while the Cavaliers notched a 243-110 victory over the Nittany Lions. On the women's side, Auburn beat Virginia, 218-127, and Penn State, 214-131. The Nittany Lions defeated the Cavalier women, 191-162.
In spite of the defeat, both the Cavalier men and women received winning performances from several swimmers.
Virginia tallied its first victories Friday in the 500-yard freestyle event. Sophomore standout Fran Crippen won the event for the men while senior teammate Ian Prichard finished third. Crippen and Prichard followed up their performances Saturday with first and third place finishes in the 1000-yard freestyle. Crippen also finished third in the 400-yard IM.
For the women, freshman Kimi Kelly had am impressive outing in the distance freestyle events. She earned the top spot in both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle in her college debut. Her time of 4:44.92 in the 500 was only 1.5 seconds off of the Virginia pool record and was good enough to automatically qualify her for the NCAA meet. Sophomore Rachael Burke finished second in both events. Kelly also finished third in the 200-yard butterfly.
"Our women defeated two of America's greatest distance freestylers out there today," coach Mark Bernardino said. "Those are girls that actually defeated [Burke] and [Kelly] during the course of the summer, so to bounce back and see them beat athletes that are so highly ranked on the world level is thrilling."
Junior Michael Raab was also a double winner for Virginia. He delivered a strong performance in the 200-yard butterfly Friday, defeating his closest competitor by nearly three seconds.
On Saturday, Raab raced even with Auburn senior Jeremy Knowles before pulling away in the final 25 yards to win the 100-yard butterfly.
"The times we were posting up here we usually don't get to until much later in the season," Raab said. "I think that going against the national champions right off the bat helped people work a little harder in the beginning."
Freshman Vanja Rogulj also turned in a notable performance for the Cavaliers in his first collegiate meet, adding to the success of the Virginia freshmen. Rogulj was the victor in both the 100-w and 200-yard breaststroke events.
Kelly and Rogulj "were both highly acclaimed recruits," Bernardino said. "We were fortunate to land athletes with their talent and their abilities, and they certainly stepped up."
Junior Bo Greenwood and senior Luke Wagner also had good outings for the Cavalier men. Greenwood finished second in both the 200- and 400-IM, while Wagner took third in the 100-yard back and second in the 200 back.
Also with strong performances for the Cavalier women were sophomore Brielle White and senior Cynthia Roller. White was second in the 100-yard back, and Roller third in the 100 fly.
The Cavaliers look to use the weekend's meet against elite competition as a teaching tool for the remainder of the season.
Going up against Auburn at the beginning of the season "is a definite advantage," Bernardino said. "I don't think we'll see a finer team all year long than we saw today, and I hope that in receiving a lesson like we received this weekend that we'll mature faster."
Virginia next returns to action this weekend with Friday and Saturday meets at South Carolina and Clemson.
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