June 8, 2007

AUBURN - Auburn swimmers picked up three wins Friday at the Charlotte UltraSwim as 23 current and former Tigers advanced to the finals in their respective events as the four-day meet wraps up its second day of competition.

Ava Ohlgren led the way among the Auburn swimmers in action, winning both the 200m free and 400m IM. Former Tiger Mark Gangloff took the top spot in the 100m breast.

The Charlotte UltraSwim is the fourth stop on the 2007 Toyota Grand Prix Series. The seven-event Toyota Grand Prix Series is intended to provide U.S. National Team members and other elite swimmers with the opportunity to compete at a high level as they prepare for the championship period of the season. The four-day meet, taking place at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center in Charlotte, N.C., continued Friday with the women's 800m freestyle and the men's 1500m freestyle.

Ohlgren picked up her first win of the day in the 200m Free, taking top honors in the 143-swimmer field with a time of 2:00.65. Finishing right behind her was teammate Emily Kukors in second with a time of 2:01.08.

Maggie Bird finished 11th overall, third in the B Final, with a time of 2:04.99 and was followed by Kara Denby in 12th with a time of 2:05.17. Emile Ewing won the C Final, finishing 17th overall with a time of 2:04.28.

Abby MacGregor was the lone Tiger in the 100m breast finals, finishing runner-up in 1:11.31.

Alana Dillette finished fourth in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:02.42 while Rachel Goh won the B Final, finishing ninth overall, with a time of 1:02.69.

In the final individual event of the day, two Auburn swimmers made the A Final with Ohlgren picking up her second win of the day, taking top honors in the 400m IM with a time of 4:44.82. Kukors finished sixth in the event, coming in at 4:52.84.

On the men's side, Gangloff led the way with a win in the 100m breast, finishing in 1:01.73. Not far behind him was James Wike, placing fifth with a time of 1:05.03. Tigers also dominated the B Final as David Maras finished second, 10th overall, with a time of 1:05.25. He was followed by Michael Silva in 11th with 1:06.60.

Auburn swimmers dominated in the 100m fly, sending eight swimmers to the finals. Alexei Puninski led the way with a runner-up finish, coming in at 54.22. Matt Targett finished just a tenth of a second behind him, at 54.31, to finish fourth. Also in the top eight were Jeremy Knowles (seventh, 55.44) and Cesar Cielo (eighth, 55.51).

Tyler McGill won the B Final, finishing ninth overall, in the 100m fly with a time of 55.57. Other Tigers making the finals were Logan Madson (12th, 55.99), Luke Weniger (18th, 56.31) and Bryan Lundquist (19th, 56.37).

Auburn was also represented in the other two events. In the 200m free, it was Doug Van Wie leading the way, finishing fifth in 1:51.87. George Bovell was not too far behind him, finishing 11th with a time of 1:54.01.

In the 400m IM, it was Andrew Callahan and Knowles finishing back-to-back in the top five. Callahan came in third with a 4:27.81 with Knowles right on his back, finishing fourth with a 4:30.37.

Action in the Charlotte UltraSwim is set to resume at 9 a.m., Saturday with prelims in the 200m fly, 50m free, 100m back, 200m breast and 400m free. Finals will take place at 6 p.m.

Full meet information for the Charlotte UltraSwim can be found at www.justswimmac.org. On the Web site, there is also a link for Meet Results.