Alabama
Alabama senior Aaron Fleshner shattered his own school record on the way to winning the Southeastern Conference three-meter diving title on day one of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships being held in Athens, Ga. this week.
"That was a great win for Aaron and a great start for us," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "He really ripped that last dive to seal the win. It was a great effort. "
It is Fleshner's third SEC title in as many years. He won the three-meter as a sophomore in 2008 and the one-meter last year. The Spring, Texas native scored 449.15 points to beat second-place finisher Kelly Marx of Auburn by five points and to break the Crimson Tide record by nearly 20 points. Junior Adam Booher also competed in the championship finals of the three-meter, taking fourth place with 380.80 points.
Sophomore Carrie Dragland finished fourth off the one-meter board, the first event on the women's side of the meet, scoring 311.60 points. The Woodinville, Wash. native finished seventh on this event as a freshman on her way to being named SEC Diver and Freshman Diver of the Year. Junior Lauren Dunn, senior Elizabeth Hughes and junior Olivia Covey also scored off the one-meter board. Dunn earned 285.50 points to take 10th place, Hughes totaled 258.30 to take 13th and Covey tallied 248.30 to take 13th place.
"Carrie and Adam did a nice job as well, both scoring in the championship finals," McIlquham said. "Now we need to come back tomorrow, get everyone involved and go from there."
In the relays, the Alabama men finished seventh in the 200 medley relay and sixth in the 800 freestyle relay while the women took seventh in the 200 medley relay and eighth in the 800 freestyle relay.
The Alabama men finished day one of the championships in third place with 85 points while Auburn and Florida are tied for first with 100 points each. The Tide women are currently in fifth place, with Florida and Georgia tied for first with 95 points each.
Arkansas
The 20th-ranked Arkansas swimming and diving team broke a school record in the 200-yard medley relay and posted two NCAA provisional qualifying times Wednesday at the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships inside the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
After the first day of competition, the Razorbacks are sitting in ninth with 46 points. Florida and Georgia are for tied for first with 95 total points.
“We had a great first night with the two relays and the diving,” Arkansas coach Jeff Poppell said. “Setting a school record in the 200-yard medley relay was just a fantastic way to start the meet off. All four girls had fantastic splits, and we could not have asked for a better way to start it off. We were a little disappointed with the finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay being seeded fourth going into it.
“We are sitting in a very familiar place, as we have each of the last four years. We have a lot of work to do in the next three days to start moving up. It is possible, but we have to come in ready to go tomorrow morning and get girls some final swims.”
In the first race of the meet, the 200y medley relay team of Lynette Ng, Yi-Ting Siow, Lisa Lunkenheimer and Megan Haskins set a Razorback record of 1:40.66, finishing in eighth place. The time broke the previous mark of 1:41.57 set at last year’s SEC championships and represents an NCAA “B” cut time.
To close out action for the night, Siow joined Katie Whitbeck, Chelsea Franklin and Sigrun Sverristoddir to post a time of 7:17.09 in the 800y freestyle relay. The second-fastest time in school history and NCAA “B” cut time earned the quartet a seventh-place finish. Whitbeck’s time of 1:48.40 on her leadoff leg of the relay marked not only the second-best time in program history but also represented a new career-best time for the sophomore.
In the morning’s 1-meter diving preliminaries, sophomore Liana Bugslag finished 19th with a score of 237.70. Fellow sophomore Alex Roman earned a mark of 224.35 for a 21st-place finish.
“The 1-meter today is the weakest of the three diving events,” Poppell said. “Three-meter tomorrow should be a lot better for the team, and we are looking forward to getting some diving points to help us out.”
Thursday begins with preliminaries in the 500y freestyle at 10 a.m. EST, followed by the 200y individual medley and the 50y freestyle. The women’s 3-meter preliminaries are scheduled to being at 2:30 p.m. The evening session will feature finals in all three events, concluding with the 200y freestyle relay.
Auburn
The 2010 SEC Championships kicked off on Wednesday as the Auburn swimming and diving squad competed at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia. The men and Florida are tied for first with 100 points, while the women sit in third overall with 91 points.
“The team came in with a good and very positive attitude,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “There was great team chemistry and great support for both swimmers and divers. We had excellent team spirit and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the competition.”
The men set the tone from the start as the 200 medley relay squad came away with a first-place finish for the Tigers.
The team of Jared White, Michael Silva, Jordan Anderson and Gideon Louw put together the Auburn’s season-best swim in the event, posting a NCAA “A” qualifying time of 1:24.41 to top the time of 1:25.10 posted by second-place Florida.
“Our attitude going into the race was just to beat everybody in every aspect,” Anderson said. “We wanted to come out on all cylinders and really set the tone for the entire meet. It's one of our solid relays and we were really proud to come away with the win."
“We pride ourselves in putting fast and skilled swimmers up in our medley relays,” Hawke said. “To swim three seconds faster than we’ve done all year is a great accomplishment.”
On the 3-meter springboard, Kelly Marx led the Tigers as the senior recorded a season-best score of 444.15 to secure second place. His score was just five points shy of first-place finisher Aaron Fleshner of Alabama (449.15). Going into the final, Marx had the second-most points after the preliminary round of 408.25.
The silver medal is the second-consecutive runner-up finish for Marx in the event. The Overland Park, Kan., product was the 2008 SEC runner-up on the 3-meter.
“Coming into the final in second was where I wanted to be so that I could put pressure on Aaron,” Marx said. “I hit all my dives and did all I could so I can’t complain about anything because that is the way diving works. I’m very proud that I went out and did my best to help the team.”
“Kelly’s last dive forced Aaron to step up and hit one of the most difficult dives out there,” head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “Kelly made him earn it and I’m very proud of how competitive Kelly was today.
Competing in his first conference championships was freshman diver Thad Ellis. The Atlanta native advanced to the final after putting together a score of 355.60 in the preliminary round and came away with eighth in the finals with 345.10 points.
“This is a tough conference and to be in the finals as a freshman in his first event is very commendable accomplishment for Thad,” Shaffer said.
Finishing the meet was the team of Christopher Fox, Pascal Wollach, Will Dove and Tyler McGill. The quad took third in the 800 free relay with a NCAA “B” cut time of 6:25.67, setting the fastest time this season for the Tigers. In his 200 free leadoff split, Fox’s mark of 1:37.05 was a career-best and a NCAA “B” time.
A pair of women divers advanced to the 1-meter springboard finals for Auburn. Highlighting the event was the performance of sophomore Anna Aguero, who earned the silver medal with a career-best score of 320.30. Aguero’s mark also tied the Auburn school record in the event, a score set previously by Ashley Rubenstein on Feb. 20, 2003.
“I was so excited to have made the finals,” Aguero said. “I wanted to get the team started off on the right note and it really feels great to win the silver medal for the team.”
“Anna did a tremendous job out there,” Shaffer said. “I’m really proud of her and she dove beautifully.
Sophomore Vennie Dantin also competed in the diving final. After tallying a career-best score of 303.85 in the preliminary round, Dantin came away with a seventh-place finish score of 296.90.
“It was a great day for us to come in and go four-for-four and have everyone qualify for the finals,” Shaffer said. “It really helped lead the way for the team coming into tonight’s competition.“
The quartet of Melissa Marik, Micah Martindale, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and Hannah Riordan opened the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The squad finished in a NCAA “B” time of 1:38.32.
Auburn women closed competition with the 800 free relay and took third in the event. The team of Ava Ohlgren, Caitlin Geary, Becca Jones and Maggie Bird finished in a season-best and NCAA “B” cut time of 7:09.58.
Ohlgren’s leadoff 200 free split of 1:48.16 set a 2009-10 best and a “B” time for the senior captain.
Florida
The Gator swimming and diving teams opened the 2010 SEC Championship Meet with a bang Wednesday at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the UGA campus, bringing in two SEC titles, one SEC record, one Florida record and two NCAA automatic qualifying marks to put Florida tied for first place in both the men’s and women’s team competitions through day one. On the men’s side, the Gators share the first-place spot with the team from Auburn, with 100 points, while the women are tied for first with home team, Georgia (95 points).
“This is obviously going to be a very, very close conference meet. There are a bunch of great teams with a bunch of good swimmers swimming fast times,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “We are very pleased with the start to the meet for both our men and women. Our divers were all outstanding today. Our men’s 800 free relay is the fastest in the country right now and the women’s 200 medley relay is the third-fastest behind the two that took first and second tonight. We were about where we thought we’d be in the relays – we wish we could have been a little bit faster in the shorter relays, but overall we’re pleased. This is only day one of a four-day meet. We have three days left and we need to stay focused and race hard.”
On the first evening of finals competition, Gator senior Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.) opened up the UF action on the one-meter springboard with the first diving title for the University of Florida women since 2001, when Robyn Grimes won the three-meter title. Salamone’s one-meter championship, her first ever, was the first one-meter title since 2000 when Grimes claimed the one-meter springboard championship.
“It’s absolutely awesome to win this event,” Salamone said. “I’ve been diving five years and to go out on a high note is awesome. There’s been so much preparation and a lot of hard work – good times and bad times, even tears. To be the first Florida diving one-meter champion since 2000 is so cool. I really credit everything to coach Donnie (Craine). He’s made me into everything I am as a diver today and I couldn’t have done it without him.”
After qualifying for finals with the fourth-place spot (303.80) in afternoon prelims, Salamone returned for finals ready to compete, posting a 326.70 to top the field. The mark was just shy of her career-best school record, established in Athens at the Georgia Invitational earlier in the fall (328.30).
“It was an awesome way to start our night,” diving coach Donnie Craine said. “We had nearly a perfect day on the boards and I couldn’t be more proud of our group of divers.”
UF junior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) scored ninth-place consolation points for the women after finishing morning prelims with a score of 285.55.
Florida’s second title of the evening came in the last race by way of an SEC record swim by the Florida men’s 800-yard free relay, the fastest time in the country so far this season at 6:15.91. The quartet of Shaune Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman), Brett Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman), Sebastien Rousseau (Cape Town, South Africa) and Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) swam a NCAA automatic qualifying mark and shattered both the SEC (6:16.25) and Florida (6:16.25) records in the process. The previous UF and SEC 800 free relay records were by the 2005 Gator team of Lochte, Townsend, Hartley and Sioui. Florida claimed the 800 free relay title for the first time since 2005 when the aforementioned Gator squad won the event.
“That was an awesome swim and a great race field that we competed against,” Dwyer said. “We’re really happy with how we swam, but we also have to keep in mind that this is only day one. We need to be strong through the whole meet, but the relay was a great start.”
In the first men’s event on Wednesday, the Gators’ 200-yard medley relay swam a second-place 1:25.10 mark that ranks third in the UF record book. Senior Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia), Dwyer, Fraser and senior Roberto Gomez (Weston, Fla.) swam an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the event, sealing a trip to the 2010 NCAA Championship Meet, hosted by Ohio State at the end of March.
The Florida men carried over the success to the three-meter diving board, as both Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.) and Colin Bell (Coral Springs, Fla.) qualified for the finals event after placing seventh and eighth in prelims, respectively. The sophomore duo completed finals with even more fire, as Bell set a new career-best (379.45) on his way to a fifth-place finish. Lewark topped his morning prelims score, improving to 355.65, but maintained his seventh-place finish.
Feeding off of Salamone’s diving victory, the women’s team continued to roll on with a third-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Composed of senior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England), sophomore Lindsay Rogers (Fishers, Ind.), sophomore Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) and sophomore Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.), Florida recorded the fifth-fastest time in the history of the program with a season-best 1:37.90 to tally 32 points in the opening swimming event.
Florida’s 800-yard freestyle relay for the women closed out an impressive first day of competition as the women’s quartet of sophomores Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), Melani Costa-Schmid (Palma de Mallorca, Spain), Stafford and freshman Jamie Bohunicky (Gainesville, Fla.) swam a 7:03.05 second-place race, with a 1:45.29 leadoff leg by Stafford. The Gators’ time marked a season-best and third-fastest in UF history.
LSU
The Tigers’ 200-yard medley relay raced to a program record and third-place finish, and the Lady Tigers’ 800 freestyle relay delivered another school record to highlight the nationally-ranked LSU swimming and diving teams’ efforts Wednesday on Day 1 of the 2010 SEC Championships in Athens, Ga.
The men’s 200 medley foursome of James Meyers, Andrei Tuomola, Hannes Heyl and Sean LeNeave, which initially shattered the program mark in a time trial earlier in the day, captured bronze medals with a new school record and NCAA provisional time of 1 minute, 26.00 seconds. That time is just 34 one-hundredths of a second off the NCAA automatic qualifying mark and the third-fastest in the nation to this point.
The medal finish marked the second-straight season a men’s medley relay has earned a spot on the podium at the conference meet. The Tigers’ 400 medley squad at the 2009 SEC Championships also captured third overall.
The Lady Tigers’ 800 free group of Mary Beck, Amanda Kendall, Lauren Grandy and Kannon Betzen overtook one of the oldest LSU women’s records in the books with a ‘B’ cut time of 7:14.54 to take fourth. The new record bested the mark of 7:17.34 set by the 1997 team.
In addition, the women’s 200 medley relay squad of Morgan McGee, Betzen, Jane Trepp and Samantha Goates registered fifth with a ‘B’ cut mark of 1:39.38, while the Tigers’ 800 free group of Craig Hamilton, Andrew Reynolds, LeNeave and Clint Hallum notched eighth with a provisional qualifying time of 6:35.76.
“This was a great way to start the SEC Championships,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “I’m proud of the teams. NCAA cuts and school records are a good start, but we all know we have more work ahead of us.”
Men’s diver Brian Gemberling also enjoyed a fine start to spearhead the teams’ diving efforts. The sophomore posted a sixth-place finish in the three-meter competition with a score of 372.60 after qualifying for the final with a mark of 366.35. Fellow men’s diver Jesse Lyman finished 16th with a score of 263.70.
"Brian's performance today was huge," LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. "This is his first appearance at the SEC Championships, and to final in his first event is a tremendous accomplishment. It speaks volumes to not only how far he's come but also the future that lies ahead."
Lady Tiger divers Elle Schmidt and Rebecca St. Germain placed 17th and 18th, respectively, in the women’s one-meter.
South Carolina
Taryn Zack took a fourth-place finish in the women's 1-meter diving final to lead South Carolina on the opening night of the SEC Swimming & Diving Championships at the Gabrielsen Natatorium. The men's 800 freestyle relay squad also posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the evening's finale.
Following three scored events on each side, the Gamecock women sit seventh with 64 points while the Carolina men are tied for seventh with Kentucky at 58 points apiece.
Zack was unable to defend her 2009 SEC 1-meter title as she posted a score of 314.35, a nine-point improvement over her preliminary score. Florida's Kara Salamone took the title with a 326.70, while Auburn's Anna Aguero (320.30) and Georgia's Hannah Moore (315.70) took silver and bronze, respectively. Fellow junior Allison Barr posted a season-best score of 295.25 and finished in eighth
place, matching her showing in last year's championships.
In the evening's finale, the men's 800 freestyle relay squad of Michael Flach, Alex Fitton, James Crawford and Andrew Atzhorn posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 6:34.03 to finish in seventh place, knocking nearly nine seconds off their previous best this season. In addition, Flach's leadoff split of 1:36.62 set a personal record for the freshman, earning an NCAA 'B' cut in the
process.
The women's 800 freestyle relay finished ninth with a season-best time of 7:25.56; it was the ninth-fastest time in school history. The team of Kristina Delp, Meghan Brockington, Christine Thompson and Claire Thompson touched in 7:25.56, five seconds faster than their previous best this year.
The swimming portion of the meet got underway with the 200 medley relay. Both Gamecock squads posted season-best times but fell just short of their respective NCAA qualifying marks. The women's team of Megan Sparks, Bridget Halligan, Sharntelle McLean and Delp finished ninth with a time of 1:43.91, besting their previous mark by more than two seconds with the ninth-fastest time in school history. On the men's side, it was Dominique Lendjel, Bobby Cave, Isaac Badillo and David Livsey clocking in at 1:30.73, also their season-best by two seconds, to finish eighth with the Gamecocks' sixth-fastest time ever in the event.
Tennessee Women
Leading up to the first day of competition at the 2010 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, Tennessee's Michele King, Alex Barsanti, Jenny Connolly and Kelsey Floyd talked about taking home gold medals in the 200y medley relay.
On Wednesday night, the four Lady Vols backed up their talk by clocking the fastest 200y MR time in the country this year en route to capturing the conference title in the event at the Gabrielsen Natatorium.
“We’ve been talking about it since last night,” said Barsanti, a senior. “All day today we told each other we weren’t coming home without some hardware. We went in with a lot of confidence. We knew what we wanted to do, and we did it.”
Barsanti’s blistering second leg propelled 13th-ranked Tennessee to an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 1:37.32, and past meet-favorites Georgia (1:37.64) and Florida (1:37.90) in the first swimming event of the meet.
After Connolly, a sophomore, stayed close behind Florida’s Gemma Spofforth in the lead-off backstroke leg, Barsanti exploded from the blocks to give UT the lead with her breaststroke performance. Floyd, a four-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection, held off a strong push from Georgia in the butterfly, and King, a senior, brought the relay title home in the final freestyle push.
“We had four really solid legs,” Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich said. “Everybody did their part. Alex was the difference-maker. After Jenny kept us close, Alex’s start and pull-out launched us to the front. Kelsey hung in there and left it for Michele to finish. And there’s nobody I’d rather have than Michele at the end of a relay.”
The Lady Vols head into Thursday in fourth place with 77 points, but just 18 points behind co-leaders Georgia and Florida (95). Auburn sits third with 91 points, while Alabama is fifth with 72 points.
The win gives the Lady Vols’ 40 SEC event championships and six conference relay titles all-time. It’s also UT’s second 200 medley relay crown ever. Tennessee previously won the event in 1987.
King stood atop the podium for the third straight year, adding the 200y medley gold to her first-place hardware from the 50y free in 2009 and the 200y free relay in 2008. She still has plenty of chances to add to her awards total this week, too. She is scheduled to compete in an individual event and a relay every day for the rest of the meet.
For Barsanti, Connolly and Floyd, it’s their first SEC title each.
About an hour after Tennessee’s victory in the 200y MR, UT hopped back in the pool and finished fifth in the 800y free relay in a season-best time of 7:16.00.
Floyd led off the relay with a season-best 200y free split time of 1:47.29, making her the third-fastest Lady Vol ever in the event. Juniors Aleksa Akerfelds and Tricia Weaner and sophomore Caitlin Perks joined the freshman phenom in the event.
“Tonight gives us a lot to build off of, and a lot of confidence heading in to tomorrow,” Kredich said.
Earlier in the afternoon, Tennessee sophomore diver Gabrielle Trudeau nearly qualified for the finals in the 1-meter diving competition, finishing 11th in the prelims with a score of 284.10, only 2.5 points out of the qualifying for the finals.
“Gabbi put up a really good score and was just a few points away from moving on,” UT head diving coach Dave Parrington said. “She just came up a few points short in a really tough event. I had higher expectations for Jodie. She’ll have to bounce back tomorrow.
Joining Trudeau as a point-scorer on the first springboard event of the meet was classmate Jodie McGroarty. The Sheffield, England, native placed 14th with a score of 252.00. The top 16 placers scored in the event.
