Special to the News

03/06 at 12:52 AM

The No. 2 ranked Auburn equestrian team will face conference rival and No. 1 Georgia today at 10 a.m. at the Auburn Equestrian Center.

“Having the No. 1 and No. 2 teams play each other is really what sports are all about,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “We’ve got that happening on Saturday against Georgia. Our girls are certainly ready for it, and I’m sure Georgia’s the same.”

Auburn is 10-2 on the season while Georgia is 9-1. The Tigers have wins over No. 8 Texas Christian, Southern Methodist, Tennessee-Martin, No. 3 Texas A&M, Sacred Heart, Delaware State, No. 5 South Carolina, No. 9 New Mexico State, No. 4 Oklahoma State and No. 7 Baylor.

Riding for the Tigers in Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat are Chelsea Anheuser, Anna Becker, Katie Breedlove, Maggie McAlary and Lindsay Portela, with Ali Loprete on exhibition, Annie Loar and Liza Luker on demonstration, and Dottie Grubb as the alternate.

Riding in Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences are Grubb, Loprete, McAlary, Anna Schierholz and Grace Socha, with Elise Fraza on exhibition, Mallory Kolpin on demonstration and Portela as the alternate.

Riding for the Tigers in Western Horsemanship are Bailey Dymond, Kristin Hansen, Jessica Jones, Kylie Miller and Indy Roper, with Amy Bohan on exhibition, Mary Casey on demonstration and Paige Monfore as the alternate.

Riding in Western Reining are Jillian Fuller, Lyndsey Jordan, Monfore, Kim Pope and Roper, with Lydia Hinshaw on exhibition and Jones as the alternate.

Swimmers compete at Austin Grand Prix
AUSTIN, Texas — Members of the Auburn swimming team, both current and former, are competing at the USA Swimming Austin Grand Prix on the campus of the University of Texas. The three-day meet began Thursday and runs through today.

The format of the meet has the morning preliminary sessions swim the yards course, while the finals are swam in meters.

On Thursday, freshman Tony Cox recorded a career-best and NCAA “B” cut time in the 100 fly, finishing in 47.80 during the preliminary session and reaching the “A” Final. Classmate Sam Kiefer, an Opelika grad, also set a career mark, finishing eighth in 48.32. Former Tiger Jakob Andkjaer qualified for the “A” Final, recording a time of 48.12 in the prelims.

Andkjaer went on to finish fifth in the 100m fly in 55.39, while Kiefer took eighth (56.46).

Swimming in the men’s 50-meter free were a trio of former Tigers. Current world record-holder Cesar Cielo took first in 22.13, while George Bovell was fourth in 22.78 and Andkjaer finished sixth in 23.11.

Auburn senior Alana Dillette swam in a pair of events on Thursday, reaching the “B” final in the 100 fly and 50 free. The Nassau, Bahamas, product finished 12th in the 100m fly (54.60) and 13th in the 50m free (26.85).

In the men’s 200 IM, freshman Andrew Ruffing put together a career-best performance during the prelims with a time of 1:53.08.

A trio of Tigers in freshmen David Clark, Evan Rutherford and Cox picked up collegiate-best times in the 50 free prelims. Cox finished in 20.43, while Clark touched in 21.42 and Rutherford in 21.60.

Sophomore Genaro Prono swam a season-best and NCAA “B” cut time of 55.18 in the preliminary round of the 100y breaststroke to qualify for the “A” final. Also reaching the A final was former Tiger and current volunteer coach Mark Gangloff, who recorded the second-fastest morning time of 53.66.

Gangloff finished second in the 100m breast in 1:01.84, while Prono took eighth in 1:04.94.

Cox picked up his second “B” time of the meet, touching the wall in a career-best time of 47.21 in the 100y back. Cielo also swam in the prelims, finishing in 47.92.

Dillette participated in the 100 back, coming in 12th during the prelim session with a time of 55.29. Her 100m back time in the B final of 1:04.60 was good for 14th overall.

The Austin Grand Prix concludes today, starting with the 200 back.

Following that event will be the 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly. Prelims begin at 8:30 a.m. and finals start at 5:30 p.m.

Men’s golf in 8th after 1st day in Texas
LAREDO, Texas — The Auburn golf team (299-588) finished 36-holes at the Border Olympics in eighth place at the Laredo Country Club. 

Sophomores Kyle Kopsick (75-143) and Will McCurdy (71-143) ended the day tied for third following sophomore John Stembridge’s withdrawal from the event due to illness shortly before play began Friday.

Senior Cole Moreland (72-144) also finished in the top-10, currently tied for eighth.  Redshirt sophomore Cory Gilmer (81-158) is tied for 75th.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys for stepping up and playing how they did today,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard.  “Playing with just four guys is extremely difficult.  You can’t prepare for things like this. We came out and shot a fantastic round this morning.  The guys put the team on their back and showed a lot of maturity. They deserve all the credit in the world.”

The Tigers were in third place after the morning’s opening round of 289, trailing then-leader Arkansas by just two strokes.  Kopsick led the way with first-round 68 as both McCurdy and Moreland carded even-par.

“We played a lights out opening round,” said Clinard.  “Our guys played well until the last two or three holes in the second round, but dropped about six strokes coming down the stretch.  Regardless, I am proud of these guys and how they have reacted.  Hopefully they will gain extra confidence from the experience because they deserve it.”

Kopsick, McCurdy and Moreland will look to chase down individual leader Joakim Mikkelson (68-138) of Baylor and MJ Daffue (69-142) in today’s final round.

Lamar (282-573) holds the team lead, followed by Oklahoma (287-580), Texas State (289-581), Baylor (282-583), UT-Arlington (286-584), Arkansas (299-586), Washington State (283-587), Auburn, Notre Dame (297-597), Air Force (294-598), North Texas (311-601), Houston (299-603), Rice (316-604), New Mexico State (298-607), UTEP (307-614) and UTSA (306-617).

Men’s tennis blanked by Tennessee
The No. 56 Auburn men’s tennis team opened the Southeastern Conference regular season Friday afternoon at the City of Auburn/Auburn University Yarbrough Tennis Center, hosting No. 2 Tennessee and dropping the match by a score of 7-0.

“We opened the match well, playing better in doubles then we have in the last couple matches,” head coach Eric Shore said. “The team, however, lost their focus and energy in singles competition and didn’t show up tocompete. It’s not the way we wanted to open the SEC season so we’ll have to come out and be stronger on Sunday.”

Highlighting the day for the Tigers was the performance of junior Tim Puetz and sophomore Alex Stamchev in the No. 1 doubles position. The seventh-ranked pair topped the No 2 team in the country in Davey Sandgren and John-Patrick Smith by a score of 8-5 to finish first in doubles play.

“Tim and Alex continue to be very consistent in doubles play,” Shore said. “They are constantly improving their game and it is showing on the court.”

Tennessee’s Matteo Fago and Edward Jones followed with an 8-6 win over Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso at the No. 3 doubles spot. The visitors recorded the doubles point after Boris Conkic and Rhyne Williams, ranked No. 5 in the nation, came away with an 8-4 victory over Alexander Sajonz and Andreas Mies.

The Volunteers headed into singles competition with a 1-0 lead and picked up their second team point when No. 32 Conkic topped Hewitt in two sets (6-1, 6-2) at the No. 2 singles spot. Tennessee’s Tennys Sandgren tallied the team’s third point after he defeated Lopasso, 6-3, 6-2.

In the No. 3 singles position, No. 51 Williams recorded a two-set (6-4, 6-2) victory over Auburn’s No. 89 Stamchev to secure the win for the Volunteers. Fago followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Auburn freshman Oliver Strecker at the No. 6 spot.

The fourth-ranked player in Tennessee’s Smith and the No. 26 player Puetz battled in No. 1 singles, seeing Smith come away with a 6-3 win in the first set. The second set saw the pair fight for points and, with the score tied at four a piece, Smith pushed through to take 6-4 win.

Clashing at the No. 5 spot were Auburn’s Mies and Tennessee’s Matt Brewer. Brewer, the No. 88 player in the nation, recorded a 6-3 set one win, but Mies wasn’t going to give up easily. The Tiger freshman forced a set three tiebreaker after he put together a 6-4 second set win. The pair exchanged scores throughout the 10-point tiebreak. Tied at 8, Brewer rattled off the final 2 points to win the match.

Auburn returns to the Yarbrough Tennis Center as the Tigers host No. 11 Georgia on Sunday. The match is set to start at 1 p.m. and admission is free. Free hamburgers will be available for the first 200 fans prior to the match.