Louisville Splits with Auburn

Saturday, October 7

LOUISVILLE, KY

10 a.m.

University of Louisville

Auburn University

October 07, 2023 | Swimming & Diving

By: Nancy Worley

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The University of Louisville women's swimming and diving team beat Auburn 183-170 after two days of racing at the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The Auburn men prevailed 202-151.

Both teams were missing key point scorers as eight men and eight women from each team were competing at the SMU Classic in Dallas.

The Cardinals were buoyed by multiple event winners Julia Dennis (200 Medley Relay, 100 Free), Fernanda Celidonio (200 Medley Relay and 200 IM) and diver Samm Helmboldt swept both boards. The men got a boost with wins from Vlad Dubinin (100 free) and Aidan Kreiley (200 breast).

In the women's 200 Medley Relay, Louisville was into the wall first with a time of 1:39.39 put up by Fernanda Celidonio (26.13), Cecilia Viberg (28.11), Karoline Barrett (23.45) and Julia Dennis (21.70). The Louisville men's 200 Medley B-Relay team was second when the foursome of Drew Collins (23.15) Aidan Kreiley (24.77), Owen Taylor (21.57) and Vlad Dubinin (19.86) put up a 1:29.35.

In the 500 freestyle, freshman Summer Cardwell won the event with a 4:49.33, Paige Kuwata was right behind her for second with a 4:52.08. Maddie Luther boarded a 4:56.97. The men's race was won by Auburn's Michael Bonson (4:19.82). Louisville's Ilia Sibirtsev was second, boarding a 4:22.44 followed by Tyler Watson's 4:24.77 to give the Cards two in the top three spots. Kayden Lancaster was fifth with a time of 4:26.58.

Louisville's Aidan Kreiley won the 200 breast in a wild finish beating AU's Liam Heary by .02, putting up the winning time of 2:00.53. Auburn's Brynn Curtis won the women's 200 breaststroke, stopping the clock at 2:12.09. For Louisville, Fernanda Celidonio was second, posting a time of 2:13.99. Adry Kasemets was sixth with a time of 2:21.34.

In the 200 backstroke, Auburn took the top two spots and Louisville's Jordan Durocher was third with a time of 1:57.82. Cardinal Ally Boynton was fifth with a time of 2:01.54. In the men's 200 backstroke, Auburn swept the top three spots, Drew Collins was the top Cardinal with a fourth place finish and a time of 1:50.16. Charlie Crush scored with a 1:51.54.

In the diving events, Lindsay Gizzi posted the winning score of 284.48 on the 1M springboard. Samm Helmboldt was third (279.45) and Grace Leonard was fourth (262.50). For the men's 1M, Che Stephens put up the wining mark of 344.03 with Cardinal teammate Adam Sneden was second in 314.55. In 3M diving, Samm Helmboldt won the women's event with a 289.65 and Adam Sneden was the top performer with a score of 337.88. Che Stephens was third with a mark of 324.00.

Julia Dennis touched first for Louisville in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.09. Freshman Lucy Mehraban was third in 49.55 and Karoline Barrett was sixth in 50.28. In the men's 100 freestyle, Cardinal Vlad Dubinin was into the wall first with a time of 44.42. Caleb Duncan was fifth for UofL with a time of 44.94 just out-touching teammate Owen Taylor (45.42).

In the 200 fly, Auburn took the top three spots and Louisville's Jordan Durocher was the top Card with a fourth place finish time of 2:01.21. Paige Kuwata was sixth, going 2:04.82. In the men's 200 fly, Louisville's Tyler Watson touched second with a time of 1:47.73 and teammate Aidan Paro was third in 1:48.18.

UofL's Fernanda Celidonio ran away with the 200 IM with a time of 1:58.69. Summer Cardwell was third with a 2:02.02 and Zoe Vogelmann was fifth with a time of 2:03.80. Louisville's Charlie Crush touched second with a time of 1:49.86 just behind Auburn's Harrison Ranier, who went 1:48.50 for the win. Luke Shourds was fourth for the Cards with a 1:50.49.

In the women's 200 free relay, Louisville's B relay was second, posting a 1:35.12 put up by Ally Boynton (24.04), Summer Cardwell (23.00), Krista Wheeler (24.55) and Abby Karl (23.42). The Louisville men's 200 Free B-Relay team touched second with a time of 1:20.50 posted by Caleb Duncan (20.24), Vlad Dubinin (19.71), Owen Taylor (20.38) and Kayden Lancaster (20.17).