May 16, 2008

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Sophomore Ava Ohlgren led a pack of 12 current and former Auburn swimmers Friday at the Santa Clara International Invitational as she set a new Auburn record in the 100m freestyle. Friday was the first full day of the meet which features some of the top swimmers from around the world.

The Santa Clara International Invitational is part of the USA Swimming Toyota Grand Prix Series. The four-day meet takes place at the George Haines International Swim Center in Santa Clara, Calif.

Ohlgren, a native of Northville, Mich., splashed her name on the Auburn record book twice on Friday. She started off the evening session by finishing 11th in the 100m freestyle with an Auburn-record time of 55.45.

Emily Kukors followed Ohlgren in the C Final, finishing 25th overall with a time of 56.94. Olympian Margaret Hoelzer also competed in the event, finishing in a tie for 46th with a time of 58.02.

Ohlgren then followed up her record-setting performance by finishing fourth in the 100m butterfly, touching in at 59.67. Her time is good enough for second all-time at Auburn.

Also in the A Final with Ohlgren was Hoelzer, who finished seventh with a time of 1:00.19. Rising senior Julianne McLane also competed in the 100m fly, finishing 63rd with a time of 1:03.82.

Two current Tigers pulled out wins in their finals heats. Rising sophomore Andrew Mitchell was first to notch a win as he won the C Final, finishing 19th overall, in the 400m IM. He clocked a time of 4:29.87 for the win. Also in the heat with Mitchell was Marshel Renz as he finished 24th overall with a time of 4:35.59.

Robert Looney also competed in the 400m IM, finishing 22nd in the preliminary with a time of 4:36.26, but opting out of the opportunity to swim in the finals. Adam Klein finished 42nd overall in the event, clocking a time of 4:50.47.

After turning down the finals appearance in the 400m IM, Looney came right back to win the B Final in the 200m butterfly, finishing 10th overall with a time of 2:00.34.

Tyler McGill was close behind Looney in 13th with a time of 2:01.03, followed by Will Dove in 16th with a 2:03.28. Rising sophomore Kohlton Norys also raced in the 200m fly, finishing 31st overall with a 2:06.92.

Also advancing to a B Final on Friday was former Tiger James Wike. He touched in at 1:05.12 in the 100m breast to finish 16th overall. Klein swam in the C Final, clocking a 1:13.26 to finish 21st overall. McGill also competed in the event, coming in 49th with a 1:13.26.

In the women's 400m freestyle, two Tigers made their way to the finals. Kukors came in with a time of 4:16.75 in her second C Final of the night to finish 21st. McLane was close behind in 23rd with a 4:19.15.

Four current Auburn swimmers competed in the men's 200m freestyle, though none were fast enough to earn a second swim. Dove led the pack in 29th with a 1:53.03, followed by Norys in 45th with a time of 1:54.83. McGill trailed in 50th with a 1:55.72 while Mitchell rounded out the quartet in 70th with a 1:57.88.

Action in the meet continues at 9 a.m. PT, Saturday with preliminaries in the women's 400m IM, men's 100m butterfly, women's 100m breaststroke, men's 400m freestyle, women's 200m freestyle, men's 200m backstroke, women's 100m backstroke and the men's 50m freestyle.

Fans can follow all the action with live timing at www.SantaClaraSwimClub.org.