Auburn Men, Florida Women Capture SEC Crowns

The Auburn men’s swimming and diving team won its 13th-consecutive SEC Championship Saturday to the tune of 880-626 over second-place Florida, tying the Gators for the most consecutive conference titles.  The Tigers were led by Championship top-scorer Matt Targett, who claimed three individual titles, three new NCAA top-times and swam the anchor on the new US Open record setting 400 FR team.

The Auburn women lost to Florida 744-730.5, the third-closest SEC Championship in history. The women took a late lead over rival Florida but lost it with just one event to go.  Junior Ava Ohlgren repeated as SEC Champion in the 200 and 400 individual medleys and picked up two NCAA “A” cuts in the process.

Day four started for the Tigers with the 1,650 free.  Dove placed seventh, hitting a new top-time of 15:05.10.  The Cary, N.C., native was followed in 10th by sophomore Robert Looney, touching in at 15:23.42. The Tigers last victory came in 1999 as Kevin Clements swam a 15:18.55.

The Auburn men had entered Saturday with a sturdy 182.5 point lead over second-place Florida and aimed to add some extra padding.

Junior Pascal Wollach looked for a sweep of the backstroke events but fell short, placing third in the men’s 200.  The Calgary, Alberta, native did, however, pick up an NCAA “A” cut for his time of 1:41.24. Sophomore Kohlton Norys (1:41.24) and freshman Max Murphy (1:43.10) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Norys started prelims by winning the men’s 200 back prelims, touching in at 1:41.84.

The Auburn men’s sprinters looked to continue their dominance Saturday night in the 100 free finals – and they did.  The Tigers went 1,2,3. Auburn Olympian Matt Targett set a new SEC record and NCAA top-time, touching in at 41.55 to take first, his third 2009 SEC individual title. South African Gideon Louw placed second in 41.97 followed by senior Jakob Andkjaer in 42.36.

The 100 free is an event dominated by Auburn in recent years after winning the last six titles and 10 of the last 13.

Following his record-setting performance in prelims, senior Logan Madson placed third in the 200 fly, touching in at 1:42.15.  Junior Tyler McGill (1:44.34) placed seventh.

Madson set the SEC 200 fly record in prelims but lost it to Georgia’s Mark Dylla’s 1:41.61 in the finals.  The Tigers have won 10 200 fly titles with the last coming from Jeremy Knowles in 2004.

Dan Mazzaferro repeated as SEC Platform Champion, scoring an SEC record 487.90 through six dives.  Kelly Marx posted a 423.85 to place second. The pair also finished 1,2 in Thursdays 3-meter competition.

Sophomore Adam Klein hit an “A” cut in the men’s 200 breast, placing second with a 1:53.84.  Junior Michael Silva (1:58.65) and freshman Genaro Prono (1:59.13) placed ninth and 10th, respectively. Klein gave the Tigers’ their first “A” cut in the event.

The Tigers have won the 200 breast nine times but not since Dave Denniston accomplished a three-peat from 1999-2001.

The Tigers finished their championship route posting a new US Open record in the 400 FR.  The team of Andkjaer, Louw, Norys and Targett sets a new US Open, NCAA, SEC record of 2:46.03. The Tiger women went into finals trailing the first-place Gators by eight after cutting a 57 point Thursday deficit.  Georgia was only 27.5 points back of the Tigers.

The Auburn women advanced 12 to finals in Day 4 prelims, including seven in A final events. First-place Florida sent eight to A finals with three in consolation.  Third-place Georgia, 27.5 points behind Auburn, had five in consolation and nine in the A finals.

Starting in the 1,650 free, the Auburn women gained a crucial five points on both Florida and Georgia.  Junior Maggie Bird finished third with a 16:03.00 followed by senior Chelsea Haser (16:12.65) in fifth and sophomore Micah Martindale (16:24.32) in tenth.

Florida responded by going 1,2,3 in the women’s 200 back.   Sophomore Erica Meissner swam a 1:54.08 to place fifth.  Senior Julianne McLane (1:54.92) finished sixth and senior Emile Ewing (1:55.57) finished in eighth.

The Auburn women placed second and third in the 100 free to take a narrow half-point lead.  Freshman Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace placed second with a 48.04 followed by sophomore Cailtin Geary in second with a 49.09.  Junior Melissa Marik (48.89) placed 8th.

Auburn has only three championships in the 100 free with the last coming from Eileen Coparropa in 2004.

Auburn maintained its newfound lead over the Gators while only advancing two swimmers to the consolation finals for the 200 breast. Sophomore Melanie Roberts won the B final for the Tigers, timing in at 2:12.16, a new top-time.  Sophomore Josefin Wede (2:15.71) placed fourth.  Although the Tigers did not have a competitor in the finals, Auburn gained three points on the Gators. However, a 2-3 finish from the Bulldogs brought Georgia back to within 12.5 of the Tigers.

Florida’s strength in numbers gave Auburn troubles down the stretch as Ava Ohlgren was the lone Tiger in the women's 200 fly finals, hitting an “A” cut time of 1:54.94.  Florida’s Jemma Lowe set a new SEC record for the win while fellow Gators came in fourth and sixth.  Auburn dropped from first to third and 22 points out of the lead with only the 400 FR to go.

The Auburn women's 400 FR team closed the day setting a new SEC record, with a 3:12.00. As a whole, the Auburn men’s and women’s trams hit 28 new NCAA automatic qualifying times, 12 SEC records and two US Open records.

Lady Gators Earn 17th SEC Swimming & Diving Title; Florida Men Earn Second Place for the Eighth-Consecutive Year
In a four-day 2009 SEC Championship meet that came down to the very last relay, the No. 5 University of Florida women won their 17th SEC crown, the first since 2002, after edging out second-place finisher Auburn and the third-place Georgia (725). The win for the Gators was the third-closest competition in SEC history, Florida with 744 points, Auburn with 730.5. On the men’s side, the No. 8 Gators claimed second-place (626) at the 2009 league meet for the eighth-consecutive year to the men’s team from Auburn (880.5). Tennessee finished third for the men (584).

Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year for setting a new NCAA, SEC, UF and pool record that rallied the charge for the Gators on the final night of the league championships. Spofforth became just the second swimmer to ever break the 1:50 mark as she defended her 200-yard back title and swam the fastest time in the NCAA. Spofforth captured her second individual title and SEC record of the meet, her fourth overall in 2009 as a member of two SEC champion relays.

Spofforth shared the women’s highpoint with Auburn’s Ava Ohlgren. The two each contributed 57 points to their team’s total points.

"I am so proud of both our men and women's teams. They really brought it tonight,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “Yesterday we were in a little bit of a hole and had some trouble racing, but our divers really kept us in the meet. Both the men and women gave it everything they had tonight. Gemma was just outstanding and had some great swims. The men's and women's backstroke championships to kick off tonight were a big key to our success. We're extremely excited and we're going to take a couple of days to enjoy this, but then it's back to business. We're not done yet. We have some other team goals that we'd like to achieve this year."

On top of 10 SEC Championships, six for the women and four for the men, the Gators set one NCAA record, 16 UF records, nine James E. Martin Aquatics Center pool records, five SEC records and captured 22 NCAAautomatic qualifying marks during their 2009 SEC Championship meet.

To make Spofforth’s victory even sweeter, the Gators went 1-2-3 in the back with freshman Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.) capturing second and junior Stephanie Proud (Durham, England) taking the third-place spot.

Senior Rex Tullius (Port Orange, Fla.) and Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) went one-two in the 200-yard back as Tullius captured his first SEC championship ever. In last year’s championship meet, Pinzon took the title. Tullius swam the fastest time in the NCAA this year, the fourth-fastest 200-yard backstroke all-time. Pinzon was the second-place high point finisher on the men’s side for the Gators after racking up 50 points for Florida.

Jemma Lowe (Hartlespool, United Kingdom) won her second SEC crown of the 2009 meet in the 200-yard butterfly after capturing the 100-yard fly Friday. Lowe set a new SEC and UF record with her 1:52.53 finish, the fastest time this year.

Both junior Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.) and Shaune Fraser (George Town, Cayman Islands) captured Florida records on the final night of SEC competition, Burckle finishing third in the 200-yard breast (1:54.42), while Fraser took second, an improvement from his 2008 third-place finish, in the 200-yard fly (1:41.88).

Senior Laurabeth Guenthner (Wellington, Fla.) rallied for the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season in the 1650-yard free, clocking a 15:56.44, second-place finish, which set a new career-best time in the event. Gator freshman Melani Costa Schmid (Palma de Mallona Spain) swam to a 16:24.12, marking the first time this season she’s swum the mark, while junior Kristen Beales (Arlington, Va.) turned in a 16:36.83 to place 13th.

Ryan Crete (Sarasota, Fla.) rallied for Florida’s highest finish in the mile on the men’s side. Crete shattered a career-best by nearly seven seconds with his 14:53.63 swim, and fell just shy of the NCAA automatic qualifying mark (14:51.15) with his third-place, NCAA provisional swim. Sophomores Joey Pedraza (Ft. Lauderdale,Fla.) (15:00.33) and Logan Storie (Corvallis, Ore.) (15:05.19) and senior Scott Thompson (Birmingham, Mich) (15:24.64) placed fifth, eighth and 13th, respectively. Senior Cody Kauffman (Harrisburg, Pa.) (15:12.73), Storie and Pedraza all secured NCAA B standards, with Pedraza and Storie achieving career-bests and Kauffman earning a season-best time as an exhibition swimmer in the event.

Florida 2009 SEC Championship Notes
•       The Lady Gators won their 17th all-time SEC crown, the first since 2002
•       On the men’s side, Florida finished second for the eighth-consecutive year to SEC Champion Auburn
•       Gemma Spofforth was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Year, her first annual accolade. Gemma also tied for the high-point winner with Auburn’s Ava Ohlgren. The duo each contributed 57 points toward their team’s total
•       Junior Omar Pinzon tied for second in the men’s high point, scoring 50 points for the Gators
•       Ally’s 400 IM title was the fifth individual SEC title of his career and was his second 400 IM title after capturing the crown in 2007 (2009: 200 IM & 400 IM, 2008: 200 IM, 2007: 400 IM & 200 breast)
•       Ally’s 200 IM title on day two was his second-consecutive 200 IM title
•       Florida men have captured the SEC title in the 200-yard IM the past five-consecutive years
•       Senior Rex Tullius won the first SEC title of his career by taking the 200-yard backstroke in pool-record fashion
•       Gemma Spofforth won her second-consecutive consecutive 100-yard back SEC title, her third career SEC title after winning the 100 & 200-yard back events in 2008 at both the SEC and NCAA championships
•       Spofforth set the SEC record in the 100-yard back in prelims (50.53) and then re-set her own record on the first leg of Florida’s 400-yard medley relay with a time of 50.46. The two swims were the second and third-fastest swims all-time in the event
•       Spofforth returned on day four of the 2009 SEC meet and swam an NCAA, UF, SEC and pool record time in the 200-yard back, 1:48.34, her second individual SEC title and record of the 2009 meet
•       Spofforth’s 200-yard back title was her second-consecutive and brought her all-time individual SEC Championship count to four (2009: 100 & 200 back, 2008: 100 & 200 back), seven overall as a member of the winning 200-yard medley & 200-yard free relays in 2009 and the champion 200-yard medley relay in 2008
•       Shaune Fraser won his third-consecutive 200-yard freestyle title, his fifth career-title (2009: 200 free, 2008: 200 free, 2007: 200 free, 200 fly, 800 FR)
•       Florida won 10 SEC titles in the 2009 championship meet and set 22 NCAA automatic qualifying marks
•       Jemma Lowe won the first two SEC titles of her career in the 100-yard butterfly in UF record time (51.62) and the 200-yard butterfly in SEC record time (1:52.53)
•       The Gators set one NCAA record, (W200 back), 16 UF records (W200 MR, M200 FR, Women’s 3M diving, W50 free, W200IM, W200 FR, W100 fly, M100 breast, W100 back, W400 IM, W400 MR, W200 back, M200 breast, M200 fly, W200 fly, W400 FR), nine James E. Martin Aquatics Center pool records (W200 MR, M200 IM, W200 FR, M100 back, W100 back, M400 IM, M200 free, W200 back, M200 back) and five SEC records (W200 MR, W200 FR, W100 back, W200 back, W200 fly) at the 2009 SEC Championship meet
•       The Florida women captured an SEC Championship title for the 29th-consecutive year
•       The Lady Gators won the 200-yard free relay for the first time since 1994 when the UF women swam to a 1:31.04
•       Bradley Ally’s two SEC Championships (200 & 400IM), Shaune Fraser’s 200-yard free title and Rex Tullius’ 200 back crown gave the Florida men 55 individual SEC titles all-time

VOLS GRAB THIRD AT SEC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The final day of the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships turned into a race for second place between Eastern Division rivals Tennessee and Florida. As a fierce three-way battle for the women’s championship raged, Auburn ran away with men’s title as the competition drew to a close, leaving Florida in second and the Vols in third.
 
Things started well for the Vols as sophomore Geoff Sanders shattered the school-record in the 1650 freestyle. The Raleigh, N.C.-native placed third (14.59.50) with a career-best performance and became the first Vol to swim the mile freestyle in less than 15 minutes.  Previously set by Lars Jorgensen in 1992, the record (15:04.58) was tied as the second-oldest in UT history. After starting slow, sophomore Carl Jones came back to finish fifth (15.14.90).
 
Next, Florida’s Rexford Tullius set a new American-record winning (1:39.88) the 200 backstroke. Fellow Gator Omar Pinzon finished second (1:40.15). Senior All-America Nolan Morrell placed sixth (1:43.66). Morrell’s preliminary time (1:42.05) was his career best and the second fastest all-time at Tennessee. Sophomore Michael Christy finished 14th (1:45.82) and freshman Ricky Henehan rounded out the consolation final in 16th (1:46.73). Henehan had his career-best performance during the preliminary rounds with a 1:46.21 mark. Freshman Anders Storvik placed 18th in the preliminary round (1:47.23), just missing the final heats.
 
In the 100 freestyle, Auburn’s Matt Target won as his Tigers swept the top three spots. Tennessee’s senior co-captains Jonas Persson and Barry Murphy finished fifth (42.60) and sixth (43.00) respectively. Murphy’s time was his career best performance and places him third all-time in UT history. Sophomore Michael DeRocco placed fourth (43.94) in the consolation heat. All-America senior Jimmy Dabney came in 18th (44.39) with his season-best performance. Senior Scott Wherry placed 41st (44.52).
 
Four Vols made the final heats of the 200 breaststroke. Senior Stephen Fortney qualified for the consolation finals while sophomores Mattias Kahlin and Brad Craig and freshman Jake Epperson all made it into the championship heat. Georgia’s Neil Versfeld set a new NCAA record (1:52.07) with Auburn’s Adam Klein in second (1:53.84) and defending champ Clark Burckle of Florida in third (1:54.42). Kahlin led the Vols finishing fourth (1:57.51) and close behind was Craig in fifth (1:58.56). Kahlin’s performance moves him to fifth all-time in the Big Orange record books. In his first championship appearance, Epperson finished seventh (1:59.46). Epperson’s preliminary time (1:59.36) was his career-best and places him ninth all-time in Vol history. After posting his career-best time (2:00.61) in the preliminaries, Fortney improved in the consolation finals placing fourth (2:00.29). Fortney now ranks 13th all-time in UT history in the event.
 
Greg Houchin was the lone Vol to compete in the 200 butterfly. The senior placed 25th (1:51.64) and did not qualify for the final heats.
 
Juniors Michael Muscari and Michael Wright both had their career-best performances in the preliminary rounds of the platform diving competition. In the finals, they continued the trend both finishing with a career best performance. Muscari placed fifth (333.60) and Wright finished sixth (327.05). Muscari now ranks eighth all-time in UT history and Wright moves to ninth. Freshmen Ryan Helms and Brent Sterling finished 14th and 15th respectively. Neither made the championship round of the platform.
 
The final event of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships was the 400 freestyle relay. Representing Tennessee were Murphy, Persson, DeRocco and Morrell. The team beat a school record finishing second (2:50.34) to Auburn (2:46.03).
 
As the championships ended, the Vols take third place back to Knoxville with some great experience that will prove vital at the NCAA Championships. This is Tennessee’s ninth third-place finish at the SEC championships, which gives the Vols 31 all-time top three championships. Only Florida has more top three finishes with 58. Auburn is third with 26.
 
Georgia will host a Last Chance NCAA Qualifying Meet Feb. 28- March 1, and Tennessee will host the Zone B Diving Championships March 13-15. The NCAA Championships are March 26-28 at Texas A&M University.

Lady Vol Swimming & Diving Team Finishes Fourth At SEC Championships
Led by final day fourth-place finishes from junior Michele King, sophomore Aleksa Akerfelds and the 400 free relay team, the Tennessee women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the 2009 Southeastern Conference Swimming & Diving Championships with a fourth-place team finish at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center.
 
Florida won the meet with 744 points, while Auburn (730.5) edged Georgia (725). Tennessee scored 394.5 points, distancing itself from fifth-place Arkansas (299).
 
“We had some phenomenal races at this meet,” Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich said. “Jenny (Connolly’s) 100 back on Friday night was phenomenal, and it’s great to have two conference champions. We set some records along the way, too. I felt our whole team wasn’t in sync, but we’ll learn from that. In order to be competing for the top spot in this conference we need to have the whole team competing at a high level every day.”
 
King swam a career-best 48.24 to place fourth in the 100 free, while seniors Brittany Nauta (49.45) and Katie Gehring (50.16) finished 13th and 16th, respectively. King and Nauta’s prelim and finals times were both NCAA ‘B’ cuts, while Gehring, competing in first-ever SEC final, snagged a ‘B’ cut with her prelim time of 49.61.
 
Georgia sophomore Morgan Scroggy used a strong final 25 yards to win the 100 free in 47.88.
 
Akerfelds placed fourth in the 1650 free in 16:03.34. Her performance is the second-fastest in Lady Vol history and the seventh-fastest in the country this year. Last season at the SEC Championships, Akerfelds placed second, setting the UT record, in 16:00.11.
 
“Aleksa’s mile performance was the most courageous race of the meet,” Kredich said. “She hasn’t been able to do much the past three weeks (due to injury), but she had an impressive race. She had the fastest last 200 of anybody in the race, and just a great finish.”
 
Georgia freshman Wendy Trott won the 1650 free in 15:51.41 – the top time in the country this season.
 
The 400 medley relay team of Connolly, King, Nauta and Gehring capped the meet with a fourth-place finish in an NCAA ‘B’ time of 3:16.09, the second-fastest performance in Lady Vol history.
 
Auburn won the 400 free relay in an SEC record time of 3:12.00.
 
Connolly set her second Lady Vol record of the meet by finishing runner-up (10th overall) in the consolation final of the 200 back in 1:54.41. Connolly’s performance bettered the old mark of 1:55.53 set by Jacque Fessel at the 2004 SEC Championships, and is also an NCAA ‘B’ cut.
 
Sophomores Tricia Weaner (1:57.22) and Morgan Farrell (1:59.51) finished 13th and 15th, respectively in the 200 back finals. In the prelims, both hit season-best times as Weaner qualified to finals with a time of 1:55.94 and Farrell finishing in 1:57.70.
 
Florida’s Gemma Spofforth won the 200 back in an American record time of 1:48.34. 
 
Sophomore Martina Moravcikova (2:12.74) and junior Alex Barsanti (2:13.31) finished 5-6 in the 100 breast final, while freshman Samara Gelb (2:15.01) and senior Sarah McCall (2:16.08) placed 11th and 13th, respectively.

“This was our best night of racing,” Kredich said. “We were really aggressive in every race. Tonight was a great way to wrap up the meet. Next week hopefully we can improve some of our ‘B’ cuts and relays.”
 
The Lady Vols will host a last chance meet at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center Saturday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1.
 
The NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in College Station, Texas, are from March 13-15.
 
Overall at the 2009 SEC Championships, the Lady Vols had seven NCAA ‘A’ cut performances, 28 ‘B’ cut times and 35 season-bests.
 
King and Saffer each captured SEC individual championships. King tied for the 50y free title in 21.90 on Thursday evening, while Saffer captured the 100y breast crown in 59.84 on Friday. Her prelim time of 59.79 set an SEC Championship record.
 
Connolly was part of four school records. Individually, the West Lafayette, Ind., native set new marks in the 100y back (51.34) and the 200y back (1:54.41). She joined King, Weaner and Saffer on the record-setting 200y medley relay (1:38.04). Senior Carly Mathes joined Connolly, King and Saffer on the 400y medley relay that set the new UT mark of 3:34.90. Akerfelds also tied her own 500y free record (4:42.91). Connolly’s time in the 100y back is the third-fastest in NCAA history.
 
Additionally, Connolly (100y back), King (50y free) and Saffer (100y breast) all automatically qualified for the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in their signature events.

LSU Men Take Fifth, Women Eight At SEC Championships
LSU sophomore Hannes Heyl won the consolation final of the men's 100-yard freestyle, and senior Vanessa Duenas broke a 19-year-old program record in the women's 200-yard butterfly Saturday to close out the 2009 SEC Championships at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatics Center.

In the preliminary round of the 100 free, Heyl became the first LSU swimmer to reach the wall in under 44 seconds since 1991with his time of 43.57, which is second all-time in program history and less than fourth tenths of a second away from current head coach Adam Schmitt's school record of 43.22.

Then, after posting just the fourth-fastest split at the half-way mark in the finals, the German turned it up a notch in the remaining 50 yards and snuck his hand in at the wall to beat South Carolina's Kyle Cormier and take the consolation title at 43.62.
  
Duenas etched her name in the school record books with her prelim time of 1:58.15 in the 200 fly, surpassing former five-time All-American Samantha Purvis. She returned in the consolation final and notched 12th with a time of 1:59.56.

Moreover, the women's 400 freestyle relay squad of Jane Trepp, Katie Gilmore, Monica McJunkin and Katherine Noland shattered the school mark with a time of 3:17.17. The men's relay of Heyl, Christoph Lubenau, James Meyers and Julius Gloeckner also earned fifth with a time of 2:55.37.

Overall, the 18th-ranked men's team totaled 303 points to secure sixth-place in the team standings. The Lady Tigers placed eighth.

In addition to Duenas and Heyl and the relays, both teams had several athletes place in the top-16 and score for their respective teams. Gloeckner, a product of Freiburg, Germany, swam one of his best 200-fly races in nearly two seasons, recording a time of 1:46.29 to place 13th. Fellow German Lubenau finished 15th in the 100 free with a time of 44.26.

In diving, senior Niko Dalman and freshman Matt Vieke each placed in the top-16 for the third consecutive competition. Dalman tallied 291.05 points on six dives in the platform to take 10th overall, while Vieke delivered a 16th-place finish with a season-high score of 258.25.

Three men's breaststrokers emerged from the preliminary field of the 200 breast to place in the top-16. Sophomore Ben Decker claimed 11th-place (1:59.64) with sophomore Clint Hallum taking 13th (2:01.35) and senior Nate Telep earning 15th (2:01.65).

Sophomore Luis Gonzalez chipped in with three points for the men's team after finishing the mile race in 15:24.94 to take 14th.

Furthermore, freshman Morgan McGee advanced to the consolation final of the 200 back where she finished 16th with a time of 1:59.58, and sophomore Kannon Betzen also took 16th in her respective race, recording a time of 2:17.97 in the 200-breast final after swimming a career best of 2:16.39 in the prelims.

In the morning session, Gilmore and McJunkin moved up the Lady Tigers' top-five list in the 100 free with prelim times of 49.74 and 49.78, respectively, while fellow senior Connor Farber swam under the 45-second mark in his 100-free prelim with a personal best of 44.84.

Seniors Roy Chambers and Chris White each placed in the top-20 of the 200 breast as Chambers notched a career-best time of 2:02.07 to finish just outside of the points competition with a 17th-place finish, and White wrapped up 20th in the same event with a time of 2:03.50.

Junior Sean LeNeave nearly qualified for a consolation final as well, swimming a school top-10 mark of 1:48.83 in the 200 fly to place 17th. Moreover, exhibition swimmer Simon Diefenthal continued to enjoy a solid conference meet in his first appearance at SEC's with a personal best of 1:46.84 in the 200 back, which is fifth-best in program annals.

Alabama Swimming and Diving Enjoys Strong Final Day at SEC Championships
Mark Randall turned in Alabama’s top finish on the final day of the Southeastern Conference Championship held in the James E. Martin Aquatic Center this week, taking second place in the mile.
 
The junior took the runner-up spot with a season-best time of 14:49.37 while sophomore Catalin Cosma finished sixth after touching the wall at 15:04.88. Junior Drew Finelli also scored for the Tide in the mile, placing 11th after posting a time of 15:24.32.
 
“We had a great meet up and down the line,” Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. “We moved up in the standings as a team and competed really well in the toughest conference in the nation. “
 
Alabama capped an outstanding weekend of diving with a pair of top-8 finishes in the men’s platform event. Junior Aaron Fleshner finished third with 376.40 points while sophomore Adam Booher scored 323.80 points to take seventh place. Fleshner won the one-meter board on the first day of the championships and took third off the three-meter during day two.
 
Alabama’s women were just as strong on the boards, with freshman Carrie Dragland winning the SEC three-meter title and junior Elizabeth Hughes taking first and Dragland second off the platform yesterday.
 
The Tide divers were rewarded for their performances with conference honors. Dragland was named both SEC Diver of the Year and SEC Freshman Diver of the Year. Pat Greenwell was named the SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the second time in the past five years. On the men’s side, Fleshner was named SEC Diver of the Year.
 
“Our divers were tremendous this week and they are very deserving of those honors,” McIlquham said. “Pat has done a great job and we look forward to continuing this season, getting as many people as we can to the NCAA Championships and to see what we can do there.”
 
Alabama’s men finished fifth overall with 314 points. Auburn won the men’s title with 880.5 points, followed by Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. LSU followed Alabama in sixth place with Kentucky taking seventh and South Carolina eighth.
 
In the women’s meet the Tide took sixth place, its best finish since 2005, with 244 points. Florida won the women’s title with 744 points followed by Auburn in second and Georgia in third. Tennessee took fourth, followed by Arkansas. South Carolina was seventh, followed by LSU, Kentucky and Vanderbilt.
 
Junior Riley Boulden took eighth place in the championship final of the 200 breaststroke, posting a 2:00.83. Boulden posted a career-best time in prelims, going 1:59.57.
 
Just a matter of hours after he smashed the school 200 backstroke record during preliminaries, freshman Joe Ziegler lowered his own mark by more than half a seconds during finals, taking 11th place with a time of 1:44.69. He broke the previous mark, set by Franck Southon in 2005, with a 1:45.96.
 
Junior Agustina de Giovanni finished fourth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:12.34, just off her career-best time of 2:12.28 from the prelims.
 
Freshman Suzanne Schwee took eighth place in the finals of the 200 butterfly with a 1:58.10 after posting a career-best and new Alabama school record time of 1:57.63 in prelims. Elle St. Charles also scored in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall at 2:01.17 in the finals, good for 14th place. She touched with a career-best 1:58.47 in the prelims.
 
Sophomore Ida Persson, who set the school 100 freestyle record during the preliminaries with a time of 49.26, finished 12th in tonight’s finals, touching with a 49.37.
 
Gamecocks Rewrite Record Books at 2009 SEC Championships
South Carolina broke a total of 13 school records, turned in 24 swims below their respective NCAA provisional qualifying mark, and took home one SEC diving championship in what can only be termed a successful week at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at Auburn University. The Gamecock women took home a seventh-place finish in the team standings - their best showing since 2006 - and the men finished eighth in the strongest conference in the nation.

"The times we put up this week…it made a big move for our program," head coach McGee Moody said. "Our team and our program took a huge step forward this week. We showed that we can compete for championships, and I think a performance like we had this week will help our recruiting efforts and help us to continue to get better as a program."

The final night was highlighted by Nicholas Walkotten breaking his second school record of the week, lowering his own mark in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:43.55 to earn a sixth-place finish in the championship final. Walkotten's previous best time of 1:43.83 was good enough for second a year ago in the event, but Georgia's Mark Dylla broke the SEC record at 1:41.61, falling just short of the NCAA record of 1:41.33. In addition, Shaune Fraser of Florida and Logan Madson of Auburn went below the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 1:42.95 to notch three of the fastest times in the country this year.

Senior Kyle Cormier wrapped up his final SEC Championship in spectacular fashion, breaking Zsolt Gaspar's school record in the 100-yard freestyle on the leadoff leg of the 400 freestyle relay. His split time of 43.21 helped the Gamecock team of Cormier, David Livsey, Todd Weyandt and Walkotten grab a seventh-place finish with a school-record time of 2:55.67, also garnering an NCAA provisional cut in the process. Earlier in the night, Cormier finished 10th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.69. Cormier finished the week with three individual school records and a share of four relay records.

"Kyle's leadoff leg was amazing," Moody said. "I was pumped about that. He's showing our young athletes what our team can do if they will trust in the program. The way he performed this week, he's showing that we can be successful at South Carolina, and that transfers to our team mentality."

Also for the Carolina men, freshman Armin Hornikel made the most of his first SEC Championship appearance with a 14th-place finish in the 200 breaststroke. His finals time of 2:01.42 was slightly behind his prelims time of 2:00.92, which was the fourth-fastest time in school history.

On the women's side, Amanda Dunnigan made her final individual swim at an SEC Championship in the 200 breaststroke, turning in a 10th-place time of 2:13.37. She fell just short of earning her third individual school record of the week as she swam the second-fastest time in school history, just behind Tricia Rye's 2001 time of 2:13.19. Dunnigan earned at least a share of five school records during the week, including three as part of relay squads.

Freshman Lindsey Olson turned in only the second sub-2:00 time in school history in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall in 1:59.74 to grab a 10th-place finish for South Carolina. Also for the Gamecock women, Megan Sparks touched 14th in the 200 backstroke finals with a time of 1:57.86, just a hair slower than her preliminary time.

The final event of the night saw the relay team of Sharntelle McLean, Kassy Kugler, Megan Sparks and Claire Thompson turn in a sixth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay, earning an NCAA 'B' cut time of 3:20.41 but falling just short of the school record. Kugler, likely swimming for the final time as a collegian, turned in one of the fastest splits of her career with a 50.07 second leg.

Auburn ran away with the men's team title, winning the Southeastern Conference championship for the 13th consecutive year and the 15th time in the last 16 years. The Tigers finished with 880.5 points, earning the third-largest margin of victory in SEC history over runner-up Florida (626). Tennessee was third with 584 points.

In the women's competition, the third-closest championship in league history came down to the final two races. Florida's three finalists in the 200 butterfly and a strong 400 FR propelled the Lady Gators to their first SEC title since 2002, edging Auburn 744-730.5. Georgia, a consensus No. 1 in the polls for most of the season, finished a close third with 725. Tennessee was fourth with 394.5, and Arkansas made its best showing since joining the league with a fifth-place finish.

Several Gamecock swimmers could compete in various "last chance" meets next weekend with the aim to lower their qualifying times in hopes of earning a trip to the NCAA Championship. For the Gamecock divers, their next competition will be March 12-14 in Knoxvile, Tenn., at the NCAA Zone B Diving event. The NCAA Women's Championship runs March 19-21, and the NCAA Men's Championship is March 26-28. Both events will be held in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M University.

'Dores finishes 10th at SEC Championships
Teams always want to be peaking and competing at their highest level at the end of the season and the Vanderbilt swimming and diving team did just that. The Commodores closed out the 2009 regular season by setting three school records at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center Saturday in the final day of the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.

Vanderbilt posted school records in the 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Sophomore Jennifer Molchan got the Commodores rolling Saturday, swimming a career-high and school-record 52.21 in the 100-yard freestyle, breaking Leslie Holt's 19-year-old school record of 52.38. Molchan's time was good enough for 47th place in the stacked 100 free field.

The sophomore tandem of Anna Fargo and Christina Chao posted personal best times in the 100-free as did freshmen Zoe Cooper-Surma and Mary Wetz. Suzanne Wetz, the older of the two Wetz's sisters, shaved nearly four seconds off her previous 100-free season-high, finishing with a 1:00.28.

VU's top backstroker, Alexandra Jennings, led the way once again with a 2:12.69 to finish in 30th place in the 200-yard backstroke. Senior Rebecca Rogers trimmed almost a full second off her 200-backstroke previous high, finishing one-spot back of Jennings with a 2:15.20. Similar to Rogers, junior Austin Langley cut an impressive four-seconds off her previous 200-backstroke season high, swimming a 2:21.21.

Freshman breaststroker Laura Dillon closed out the 2009 regular season in dramatic fashion Saturday, swimming to a new school record 2:19.56 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Dillon's time shatters her own previous school record of 2:22.00 in which she set last November at the Hilltopper Invitational. The former high school All-American closes out her first year as already one of the best breaststrokers to wear the black and gold.

Allie Voss, Elizabeth Brunk and Jess Cohen joined Dillon in the 200-yard breaststroke and in similar fashion, they all set personal records in the event. Voss's 2:22.67 Saturday was over three-and-a-half seconds faster than her previous season best (2:26.39) while Brunk and Cohen swam nearly eight seconds faster than its previous season high.

In the 42nd and final event of the weekend the Commodores posted its fifth school record of the weekend by swimming a 3:30.66 in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The record setting relay team consisted of Molchan, Obranowicz, Fargo and Voss). The 3:30.66 time tops the previous record relay time of 3:31.55 which was set in 1990 by Leslie Holt, Amy Batchelder, Wrenn Terrill and Julie Caldwell.

Despite finishing in tenth place in the team standings the `Dores return to Nashville with by far its best performance of the 2008-09 campaign and have five new school records to show for it.

TEAM STANDINGS - MEN
1. Auburn - 588.5
2. Florida - 405
3. Tennessee - 397.5
4. Georgia - 287.5
5. LSU - 237
6. Alabama - 195
7. Kentucky - 191.5
8. South Carolina - 126

TEAM STANDINGS - WOMEN
1. Florida - 534
2. Auburn - 526
3. Georgia - 498.5
4. Tennessee - 279.5
5. Alabama - 210
6. Arkansas - 191
7. South Carolina - 175
8. Kentucky - 155
9. LSU - 152
10. Vanderbilt – 56