SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Auburn senior Reuben McCoy drastically improved his chances of qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a second-place performance at the Alex Wilson Invitaitonal hosted by Notre Dame on Saturday.

McCoy and sophomore Eric Werskey were the only two members of the Auburn squad competing this weekend at the last chance qualifier, trying to improve their standing on the NCAA descending order lists.

McCoy entered the weekend ranked tied for 21st nationally in the 400m with a season-best time of 46.95, but he raced to a time of 46.61 seconds while finishing second, which would move him all the way up to seventh in the country. His time ranks him eighth in school history.

Meanwhile, Werskey won the shot put with a mark of 18.26m (59-11), but did not improve on his season-best throw of 18.52m (60-9.25). Werskey could still make the NCAA field, as he entered the weekend ranked 12th nationally.

The field for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be determined Monday. Those athletes making the field will compete at the NCAA meet March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Men’s tennis takes first SEC loss of season
OXFORD, Miss. — The No. 23 Auburn men’s tennis team (6-4, 2-1 SEC) suffered its first Southeastern Conference loss of the season Saturday as the Tigers fell to fifth-ranked Ole Miss (9-3, 2-1 SEC), 4-1, at the Gillom Sports Center.

The match was originally scheduled for Friday afternoon but was postponed after a snow storm passing through Mississippi forced Ole Miss officials to cancel classes and all university events.

Auburn now travels to Starkville, Miss., for a 1 p.m., match today at No. 49 Mississippi State. The Bulldogs (4-5, 0-3 SEC) are coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 21 Alabama on Friday.

For the Tigers, Saturday’s match against No. 5 Ole Miss was their highest-ranked match of the season, topping the match earlier this season against No. 8 North Carolina. Even with the 4-1 loss, head coach Eric Shore said he was not disappointed in the team’s performance and was actually encouraged by improvements made since playing the Tar Heels on Feb. 26.

“Overall, I thought we competed well today against a top-five team,” said Shore. “We played better today than we did against North Carolina, another top 10 team, and I saw some positive things out of the guys. I think we are getting closer to where we need to be.”

For only the second time this season Auburn failed to win the doubles point, taking the Rebels down to the wire in the final set.

The No. 5-ranked team of Erling Tveit and Jonas Berg downed Auburn’s Tim Puetz and Lukas Marsoun, 8-3, in No. 2 doubles to take the early advantage. The Tigers evened it out in No. 3 doubles as the team of Alex Petropoulos and Milan Krnjetin defeated Tucker Vorster and Jakob Klaeson, 8-3.

With one doubles match remaining for the point, it was 10th-ranked Bram ten Berge and Matthias Wellermann sneaking out with the 8-6 win over Auburn’s Alexey Tsyrenov and Terence Nugent to give Ole Miss the 1-0 lead.

Tsyrenov, ranked 89th in the nation in singles, bounced right back and evened the score as he defeated eighth-ranked Wellermann, 6-4, 6-4, in No. 1
singles.

Ole Miss reclaimed the lead in No. 2 singles as No. 18 Tveit defeated No. 114 Puetz, 6-3, 7-6 (4). The Rebels then took a 3-1 lead as No. 46 Robbye Poole went three sets with Marsoun in No. 3 singles, pulling out the 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.

“Alexey continues to play well for us this season and has lost only one match all spring, said Shore. “He continues to play better tennis and improve. Tim lost his first match of the spring today, but he was right there in the end and that is very encouraging.

“The top of the singles lineup continues to play well for us and keep us in matches. I’m not disappointed at all, we need to get better to beat a team like that and I feel like we are getting closer.”

One point away from the victory, it was Ole Miss’ Norberg sealing the victory as he defeated Petropoulos, 6-3, 6-2 in No. 5 singles.

With the victory clinched for the Rebels, two matches were left unfinished. At the completion of play, Berg was leading Auburn’s Terence Nugent, 6-4, 2-2 in No. 4 singles and Krnjetin was leading No. 113 ten Berge, 4-3, in No. 6 singles.

Equestrian cruises to win over Stephen F. Austin
The Auburn equestrian team (11-3) won its final home meet of the season Saturday, defeating Stephen F. Austin (5-9), 15-5. The Tigers defeated the Ladyjacks, 9-1, in Hunt Seat and, 6-4, in Western.

“After yesterday’s loss, we needed to improve in every area,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “We did that today. It was a good win to finish the regular season. I’m extremely happy for the seniors, and what they have meant to this program. Coach Helfer and Coach Neubarth have done a great job this season. I’m very proud of the direction this team is going and look forward to getting back to work.”

Auburn won all four events and earned MVP honors in all of them.

Auburn swept Stephen F. Austin in Hunt Seat Equitation over Fences 5-0 behind MVP Jenny Reinhart, who defeated Randi Spencer 87-75. Other Tiger winners included Katie Breedlove over Alex Berry 80-56, Jennifer Jordan over Kristin Landes 61-54, Elise Fraza over Emily Frost 85-75, and Courtney Schafer over Andrea Routzon 79-67.

Auburn won Hunt Seat Equitation on the Flat 4-1 behind MVP Rebecca Rifkin, who defeated Liz Landes 98-86. Other Tiger winners included Dottie Grubb over Randi Spencer 83-0 (0 refers to a no score because of a penalty), Coburn Park over Shannon Zelikoff 92-80, and Anna Schierholz over Alex Fincher 81-0. Ladyjack winners included Andrea Routzon over Chelsea Anheuser 95-90.

Auburn won Western Horsemanship, 3-2, behind MVP Jessica Jones, who defeated Lydia Roof 70-68. Other Tiger winners included Avery Sams over Kyra Cruse 70-68.5 and Amy Bohan over Kayla Krambeck 68-67.5. Ladyjack winners included Jenny Martin over Kim Pope 68.5-65 and Felicia Shartle over Shannon Hinton 67-66.5.

Auburn won Western Reining 3-2 behind MVP Kim Tidwell, who defeated Felicia Shartle 75.5-68.5. Other Tiger winners included Lyndsey Jordan over Kayle Bernal 70.5-67 and Ashton Fairey over Kyra Cruse 71.5-65.5.

Auburn returns to action on March 28-29 for the SEC Championships in Blythewood, S.C.