ATHENS, Ga. – A group of Auburn current and former swimmers opened day one of the USA Swimming Sectionals in Athens, Ga., Thursday, at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia. Former Tiger Cesar Cielo and rising senior Robert Looney each earned individual wins at the long course meet.

Cielo took first in the 50 free in a time of 21.73, beating out teammate Fred Bousquet in second (22.01). Tyler McGill, who recently concluded his senior season at Auburn, took third in the event in 22.78.

Former Tiger Bryan Lundquist finished sixth in 23.35, while rising senior Kohlton Norys took ninth (23.36) and incoming freshman TJ Leon took 13th (23.78).

Looney, a Shreveport, La., product, closed out Thursday night’s events with a win in the 200 fly, finishing in a time of 2:01.68.

Sophomore Stuart Ferguson clocked a time of 2:06.78 to take sixth in the event.

Sophomore Kyle Owens knocked off almost six seconds from his preliminary time in the 200 IM to take third in the event in 2:03.58.

Junior Micah Lawrence finished ninth in the same event on the women’s side, touching in at 2:19.70.

Other top finishers were Micah Martindale, Jennifer VonJouanne and Melissa Marik. Martindale opened the meet with a 12th-place finish in the 800 free (9:03.31), while VonJouanne took 13th (27.06) and Marik was 14th (27.14) in the 50 free.