AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 17-ranked Wisconsin men's and women's swimming and diving teams were back in action Friday afternoon for a tri-meet against Auburn and Florida State in Auburn, Alabama. The UW women swept both the No. 9 Tigers, 158-141, and the Seminoles, 214-85, to improve to 4-2 on the season, while the men's team (3-3) rolled past Florida State, 172-124, but fell to No. 7 Auburn in a final score of 187-113.

"I was really proud of our women today. From top to bottom, they were really great," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "The men were really good today, too. The Auburn men are a very, very good team and I was really happy with the way our men competed against them. We swam fast times today and that's encouraging."

Danielle Valley led the way for the UW women, as the junior claimed three individual event titles at the tri-dual. Valley won the 500-yard freestyle in 4 minutes, 47.39 seconds, then swam to a near season-best time of 9:45.44 in the 1000-yard freestyle to claim her second title of the day. She also won the the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:17.09.

"Danielle Valley is as tough of a swimmer as I've ever coached and that's saying a lot because I've been doing this a long time and I've seen national champions," Hite said. "She is very, very tough.

"It wasn't just our top people, though. We had people step up all over the place. Jenny Holtzen had a great meet. Madeline Hazle had a great meet. It was really fun to see. It was a great win for us. The times were fast. We challenged them coming there on senior day for them. I was very proud of them today. One of the best wins we've had."

Distance events were a point of strength for the men as well, as Matt Hutchins won both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle races. Hutchins won the 500 free in a time of 4:24.93 and clocked in at 9:09.33 to win the 1000 free.

"I thought Matt Hutchins was outstanding today again," Hite said. "Cannon Clifton, Brett Pinfold, Austin Byrd, and Josh Anderson all swam great today. It used to be only one or two guys, but now it's five or six guys. We're getting that depth and it's coming from all different directions. They competed very well and I'm very proud of them."

Chase Kinney continued her dominance in sprint freestyle events, as the junior won the 50-yard freestyle (22.39) and the 100-yard freestyle (49.10).

"Chase Kinney had an outstanding meet," Hite said. "She was really good. Jess Unicomb had an outstanding meet. Dana Grindall had an outstanding meet. I believe we won 11 out of the 14 swimming events. That's pretty good against a team that, in the last 20 years, the men's and women's teams at Auburn have won 13 national championships. They're really good."

Dana Grindall joined Valley with two titles of her own and a second-place finish, as the junior won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.86 and the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.92. Grindall also finished runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle with a career-best time of 1:49.46.

Reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, Jess Unicomb, validated her accolades by claiming titles in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events. Unicomb clocked in at 54.29 in the 100, then just narrowly missed her best time by a tenth of a second in the 200 at 1:57.11.

The pair of Cannon Clifton and Austin Byrd each claimed a title and a runner-up finish. Clifton won the 50-yard freestyle (20.14) and finished second in the 100-yard freestyle (44.03). Byrd claimed a title in the 100-yard backstroke at 48.53 seconds and finished second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:45.00.

Brett Pinfold claimed the title in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:36.39, then came back to the pool deck and recorded a season-best time of 44.16 in the 100-yard freestyle, which was good for third place.

In the men's 400-yard individual medley, Josh Anderson touched the wall first with a time of 3:55.11 to win the event. Anderson was also third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:03.32.

Wisconsin swam well across the board, as Madeline Hazle joined Valley in the 400-yard individual medley with a second-place finish and a time of 4:19.65. Hazle was also second in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.24.

Ariana Saghafi recorded a season-best time of 55.44 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, which was good for third place. Grace Wold was fourth in 55.53 seconds. Wold also finished third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.49.

On the men's side, Todd McCarthy finished runner-up in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 3:56.14, while he also finished third in the 200-yard backstroke, coming in at 1:46.37.

The UW women won both relays at Friday's tri-meet, as Unicomb, Anna Meinholz, Grindall, and Kinney combined to win the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:39.51. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Unicomb, Kinney, Annie Tamblyn, and Marissa Berg teamed up and recorded a winning time of 3:20.27.

UW's 400-yard freestyle relay team helped the Badger men to a strong meet finish, as Clifton, Pinfold, Ryan Barsanti, and Hutchins claimed a runner-up finish in 2:57.41.

Wisconsin faces a quick turnaround and heads to Athens, Georgia to face up against the No. 1 Georgia women's team and No. 4 Georgia men's team Saturday morning at 9 a.m. (CT).