The second day of the USA Swimming 2010 ConocoPhillips National Championships saw four current and former Auburn swimmers compete in the evening session at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, Calif., on Wednesday.

Former Tiger Margaret Hoelzer swam in two events on the evening with her first coming in the 100 back. She finished 11th in the event with a time of 1:02.00.
Hoelzer concluded the night swimming anchor for the 400 free relay squad from FAST Swim Club that finished fourth in 3:48.62.

A trio of current Auburn student-athletes competed during the championship session. Rising sophomore Kyle Owens took 12th in the 100 back (55.36), while senior Kohlton Norys finished 17th (55.91).

Senior Robert Looney swam in the “C” final of the 200 fly and took 17th with a time of 2:01.41.

Track team welcomes new assistant
Diego Flaquer has been named an assistant coach for the Auburn track and field program, head coach Ralph Spry
announced.

Flaquer was an assistant coach at Samford during the 2009-10 school year after previously serving as a graduate assistant coach at Auburn in 2008-09.

Flaquer will work with Auburn’s horizontal jumpers and multi-event athletes for both the men’s and women’s teams. He will also assist with recruiting and be responsible for administrative duties including travel coordination, ordering and distributing equipment and coordinating summer track and field camps.

“Diego is going to add a lot to our program,” said Spry. “We were fortunate to have him as a graduate assistant previously, and that experience is going to be an advantage for both him and us. He is familiar with our staff and how we operate, and familiar with the university. He will bring a lot of energy to an already talented staff, and gives us another solid coach to help us remain competitive at the national level. I’m excited to have him on board.”

In his first stint at Auburn, Flaquer assisted in the development of Michael DeHaven into an Indoor All-American in the 200 meters, as well as the 4x100-meter relay team that finished seventh with All-American honors in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

“I’m thrilled to be back as part of the Auburn family,” said Flaquer. “I’m glad to become part of a tremendous staff and look forward to helping contribute to the on-going success of the program.
Having been here previously, I understand coach Spry’s vision for the Auburn program and look forward to helping him achieve it.”

During his one season at Samford, Flaquer coached the sprinters and hurdlers and assisted with the multi-event athletes. He coached Morgan Tyler to the SoCon indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles and helped the Bulldog men finish third at both the indoor and outdoor conference
championships.

Flaquer coached at Troy University in 2008, where he helped his team finish third at the Sunbelt Conference Championships. He coached Desmond Brown, who broke a 20-year-old school record in the 400-meter hurdles and qualified for the Mideast Regional Championships.

Prior to his stint at Troy, Flaquer served as the head sprints and jump coach at Virginia Intermont College for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. In 2006 he was selected as the NAIA National Assistant Coach of the Year for the sprints area in the indoor season after helping the Cobras to a runner-up finish at the 2006 NAIA Championships.

In 2007 he served as the interim head coach and helped several athletes to All-American honors. He also assisted in three consecutive NAIA Cross Country National titles, and served as the interim head coach at the 2007 NAIA Outdoor Championships where the team finished sixth. Flaquer, who is USATF Level I Coaching Certified, is the son of Pedro Grajales, a two-time Olympian in the 400 meters and a previous coach for the Colombian national team. The national stadium in his hometown of Cali is named in his honor.

Flaquer graduated from Virginia Intermont in 2007 with a degree in health and physical education.