Auburn Fall Invite Day 1 Finals: Kieran Smith’s 1:41.72 Paces Florida Sweep

AUBURN FALL INVITATIONAL

• November 18 – 20, 2020
• Auburn, AL
• Results on Meet Mobile: ‘2020 Auburn Fall Invitational’

200 FREE RELAY

WOMEN

1. Florida ‘A’ – 1:29.56
2. Auburn ‘A’ – 1:30.60
3. Florida ‘B’ – 1:31.44

No eye-popping splits here; Florida took it by over a full second, staying at 22.6’s or below the whole way through. Sophomore Talia Bates, in her first meet of the season, was 22.32 leading off for Florida, while sophomore NC State transfer Katie Mack and senior Gabrielle Hillis both split 22.3’s. Auburn was 22-mids on the first two legs, including AJ Kutsch‘s 22.44 lead-off, then slid up to 22.8’s on the back two legs.

MEN

1. Florida ‘A’ – 1:17.01
2. Auburn ‘A’ – 1:19.71
3. Florida ‘B’ – 1:21.15

Florida dominated this race, posting a 1:17.01 (though the Georgia men were almost seven-tenths quicker over at the UGA invite). Sophomore Eric Friese was 19.37 leading off, followed by freshman Adam Chaney (19.19), junior Kieran Smith (19.22) and junior Will Davis (19.23).

Auburn was 1:19.71 for second place, their best split a 19.82 from anchor Matthew Yish.

500 FREE

WOMEN

1. Leah Braswell (Florida) – 4:38.69
2. Emily Hetzer (Auburn) – 4:42.93
3. Tylor Mathieu (Florida) – 4:43.93

Florida junior Leah Braswell ran away with the women’s 500 free, going under 4:40 to win it at 4:38.69, about two seconds off of her best.

MEN

1. Trey Freeman (Florida) – 4:15.04
2. Bobby Finke (Florida) – 4:15.06
3. Alfonso Mestre (Florida) – 4:18.14

Trey Freeman continues to build back up to his top speed after redshirting the 2019-20 season post-knee surgery. It’s only his second yards meet since fall 2019, and coming just off of LCM swims at the U.S. Open, he posts a 4:15.04 to out-duel teammate Bobby Finke (4:15.06).

Freeman was just over two seconds off of his best, and Florida sophomore Alfonso Mestre broke 4:20 for the first time (4:18.31). Auburn freshman Mikkel Gadgaard, a Danish national, was 4:18.31 for fourth place.

After an impressive 4:11.08 in prelims, top seed Kieran Smith is focusing on the 200 IM tonight.

200 IM

WOMEN

1. Vanessa Pearl (Florida) – 1:55.61
2. Kathleen Golding (Florida) – 1:57.93
3. Hannah Ownbey (Auburn) – 1:58.60

Florida’s Vanessa Pearl blasted to the win here, going 1:55.61 to take the event easily. Second went to UF sophomore Kathleen Golding in 1:57.93, which just edges out her old best of 1:58.18 from the 2020 SEC Championships.

Auburn freshman Hannah Ownbey shaved nearly a full second off of her old best for third (1:58.60).

MEN

1. Kieran Smith (Florida) – 1:41.72
2. Miguel Cancel (Florida) – 1:46.23
3. Reid Mikuta (Auburn) – 1:46.71

This race was all Kieran Smith, who posted a 1:41.72 to win by over four full seconds. That’s a best time for the junior, getting under the 1:42.26 he went at the 2019 NCAA Championships as a freshman. From the initial results, it looked like Smith went turbo on the backstroke leg, splitting it 22.9/24.2/30.0/24.4, effectively out-splitting his own free leg.

But, as pointed out in the comments, and confirmed by race video, there seems to have been some sort of timing error, with the back and breast split closer to 21.4/25.4

Miguel Cancel was second for Florida at 1:46.23, just ahead of Auburn freshman Reid Mikuta (1:46.71), who broke 1:47 for the first time.

50 FREE

WOMEN

1. Talia Bates (Florida) – 22.30
2. Katie Mack (Florida) – 22.41
3. AJ Kutsch (Auburn) – 22.43

This was a tight finish, but Florida sophomores Talia Bates (22.30) and Katie Mack (22.41) prevailed. Bates slices .04 off of her old best, while it’s a bigger step forward for Mack; after going 22.62 this morning, missing her best of 22.60, she takes almost two full tenths off of a PR that had stood since 2017.

Auburn sophomore AJ Kutsch hit a 22.43 to secure third place.

MEN

1. Eric Friese (Florida) – 19.46
2. Adam Chaney (Florida) – 19.51
3. Will Davis (Florida) – 19.90

The race came down to the touch here again, with Florida owning the podium. Sophomore Eric Friese was 19.46, just edging out freshman Adam Chaney (19.51). For Chaney, this was a lifetime best by .11.

400 MEDLEY RELAY

WOMEN

1. Florida ‘A’ – 3:34.24
2. Auburn ‘A’ – 3:36.39
3. Florida ‘B’ – 3:38.62

Freshmen led this relay off for Florida, with Lain Shahboz at 53.90 followed by a big 58.59 from Cecelia Porter. Shahboz broke 54 for the first time in her life, while Porter was a full two seconds ahead of her flat start 100 breast PR of 1:00.59.

Sophomore Talia Bates was 52.78 on the fly leg and Katie Mack anchored in 48.97.

On Auburn’s ‘A’ relay, AJ Kutsch‘s 48.88 anchor was the standout split.

MEN

1. Florida ‘A’ – 3:09.24
2. Florida ‘B’ – 3:12.29
3. Auburn ‘A’ – 3:12.70

Kieran Smith led off the ‘A’ Florida medley in 46.73 and Eric Friese had a standout 45.80 fly leg as Florida easily won this relay.

Florida’s ‘B’ got to the wall ahead of Auburn’s ‘A’, 3:12.29 to 3:12.70.