Auburn
The Auburn men claimed its record 14th-consecutive Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving title Saturday at the Gabrielsen Natatorium hosted by the University of Georgia. The 14 straight league titles broke the previous record of 13 in a row, held by Florida from 1956-68.
“Wow, this one was a tough one,” head coach Brett Hawke said. “Florida has a great team and we had to fight hard right to the end. We knew that our strengths would end up carrying us through. Winning four of the five relays this week is a huge highlight.”
Auburn won with 784 points, while Florida finished second with 765 points. It marked the ninth consecutive year that the Tigers and Gators have finished 1-2 in the SEC meet.
“Florida is very well coached and every year is going to be a battle,” Hawke said. “But, our team knows all about Rowdy Gaines and the dynasty that David Marsh built. They know the great history Auburn has. We don’t chase the number of championships, just focus on winning each year like the teams before us have done.”
The league crown was also Auburn 16th overall league title, all coming over the last 17 years.
The Auburn women finished third with 568 points, the 14th year in a row that the Tigers have finished third or better at the conference championships. Georgia claimed the women’s team title.
Leading Florida by 13 points entering the final event of the meet, the foursome of Adam Brown, Christopher Fox, Kohlton Norys and Gideon Louw, led from start to finish in the 400 free relay, securing the team title for the Tigers. The group won in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:49.63, to hold off the Gators who finished second in 2:49.95.
“We knew we just had to finish, but we wanted to come out on top,” Louw said of the race. “Winning this for the team means everything and we’re so proud to extend the Auburn legacy.”
Auburn led Florida entering the evening session, however, Florida overtook the lead after the 1,650 freestyle and 200 backstroke, holding a slim four point advantage.
The Tigers regained the team lead for good in the next event, the 100 freestyle, behind Louw’s first place finish, coupled with third and sixth-place finishes by Brown (42.92) and Fox (43.69). Louw touched the wall in 42.36.
“Auburn prides itself on being the best sprinters in the country,” Louw said. “I’m honored to follow in the shoes of greats like Coach Hawke, Fred Bousquet, Cesar Cielo and Matt Targett. It was a great swim and I’m so proud of how this team has fought.”
Auburn swept the men’s and women’s 100 freestyle as Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won in 47.93. It was the seventh consecutive title for the men in 100 free at SEC’s and first for the women since 2004. Vanderpool-Wallace’s win was her second SEC individual title of the meet, adding to her 100 butterfly title Friday. Hannah Riordan claimed seventh in 49.53.
“It is an awesome feeling,” Vanderpool-Wallace said after the win. “Last year, I came in second in the event, so finally winning the title is a great way to end my individual races at the meet.”
Auburn extended its lead in the men’s standings to 39 points after the 200 breaststroke thanks to junior Adam Klein’s second place finish and freshman Stuart Ferguson, who claimed seventh. Klein touched in 1:55.68, while Ferguson recorded a 1:58.95. Michael Silva added to the Tigers’ scoring, winning the consolation finals in 1:58.12.
Tyler McGill was sixth in the 200 fly in 1:44.04. Florida, however, closed the gap in the team competition to 13 points thanks to three top-five finishers in the 300 fly, which was the second to last event of the meet.
Junior Vennie Dantin finished second on the women’s platform with a score of 311.15. Overall, the Auburn divers collected three conference titles and all four qualified for each event final.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this diving team’s efforts throughout the entire meet,” head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “We won three SEC titles, set a new SEC record and it’s very rewarding to know that their hard work has paid off.“
The foursome of Hannah Riordan, Ava Ohlgren, Melissa Marik and Vanderpool-Wallace took third in the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:15.26.
Auburn had three of the top seven finishers in the men’s 200 backstroke and was led by senior Pascal Wollach’s third place finish in 1:41.74. Kohlton Norys (1:42.91) was fifth, while Andrew Mitchell (1:44.13) took seventh.
In the 1,650 freestyle, freshman Katie Gardocki finished seventh in 16:17.20. On the men’s side, senior William Dove and freshman Chris Krammer finished 10th and 11th, respectively in times of 15:31.53 and 15:32.35.
Marik was the Tigers’ top finisher in the women’s 200 back, touching in seventh place with a time of 1:58.56. Ohlgren was Auburn’s top finisher in the 200 butterfly, as the senior was sixth in 1:57.32.
Diving coach Jeff Schaffer was named the SEC Male Diving Coach of the Year, senior Kelly Marx was named SEC Male Diver of the Year, and Thad Ellis was named SEC Male Freshman Diver of the Year. Marx also was one of three competitors to earn the SEC’s Commissioner’s trophy for high points scorer for the meet.
Complete SEC Championships results are available at
www.georgiadogs.com.
Auburnwill next compete at the NCAA Championships in March. The
women’s will compete March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind., while the
men’s championships will be held in Columbus, Ohio, March 25-27.
Auburn Swimming and Diving
2010 SEC Championships Day Four Finals
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Gabrielsen Natatorium; Athens, Ga.
Team Scores:
Women: 1. Georgia - 824.5; 2. Florida - 698; 3. Auburn - 568; 4.
Tennessee - 497; 5. Alabama - 272; 6. Arkansas - 262.5; 7. LSU - 262; 8.
Kentucky - 204; 9. South Carolina - 158; 10. Vanderbilt - 59
Men: 1. Auburn - 784; 2. Florida - 765; 3. Georgia - 587; 4.
Tennessee - 417.5; 5. Alabama - 340; 6. Kentucky - 320; 7. LSU - 263.5;
8. South Carolina - 183.
Auburn Top Finishers - Women: 1650 Free -7. Katie Gardocki (16:17.20);
200 Back - 8. Melissa Marik (1:58.56); 100 Free - 1. Arianna
Vanderpool-Wallace (47.93); 200 Breast - 8. Abbey Macgregor (2:15.58);
200 Fly - 6. Ava Ohlgren (1:57.32); Platform - 2. Vennie Dantin
(311.15); 400 Free Relay - 3. Hannah Riordan, Ava Ohlgre, Melissa Marik,
Adrianna Vanderpool-Wallace (3:15.26).
Men: 1650 Free - 10. William Dove (15:31.53); 200 Back - 3. Pascal
Wollach (1:41.74); 100 Free - 1. Gideon Louw (42.36); 200 Breast - 2.
George Klein (1:55.68); 200 Fly - 6. Tyler McGill (1:44.04); 400 Free
Relay - 1. Adam Brown, Christopher Fox, Kohlton Norys, Gideon Louw
(2:49.63).
Alabama
For the Alabama Swimming and Diving team, success on the last day of the Southeastern Conference Championships came on the tall dives and the long swims.
Senior Mark Randall earned a bronze medal in the 1650 freestyle to pace the men, touching the wall at 14:55.81. It marked his second top-3 finish of the week after taking second in the 500 freestyle on Thursday. Junior Catalin Cosma was ninth in the 1650 with a time of 15:22.21.
Off the platform, sophomore diver Carrie Dragland took third place while senior Elizabeth Hughes was fifth. Dragland scored 306.35 points while Hughes, the 2009 SEC platform champion, tallied 288.40 points. Junior Lauren Dunn also scored off the platform, taking 13th place with 207.00 points.
On the women’s side of the meet Alabama finished fifth with 272 points, one place better than a year ago. It was the Crimson Tide’s best finish since taking fourth in 2003. Georgia won the women’s championship with 824.5 points.
“Our girls did a great job of overcoming some adversity and doing what they had to do,” Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. “It was nip and tuck all the way as to where we were going to finish. It could have been anywhere from fifth to seventh and we made some moves tonight, picked up some points and grabbed fifth.”
Alabama’s men duplicated its fifth place finish from a year ago, scoring 340 points. Auburn won the men’s title with 784 points, just beating out Florida which tallied 765 points.
“We had some great swims, some great dives to put ourselves in fifth again this year,” McIlquham said of his men’s team. “Aaron Fleshner and Adam Booher really did a nice job on the diving end of things, giving us a great one-two punch all the way down the line. Mark (Randall) continues to swim very, very well for us and Riley Boulden has been having a great season as well. But really, in the end, it was just a great team effort.”
Boulden, a senior, took fourth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of personal-best 1:56.78. The Indianapolis, Ind. native shaved nearly two seconds off his previous best time and jumped from seventh all-time for the Tide to third.
Junior Dan Armstrong and senior Luke Boutwell also scored in the 200 breaststroke. Armstrong took 11th with a 1:59.03 while Boutwell touched at 2:00.68 to take 13th. Armstrong’s time, career-best, puts him ninth all-time for the Tide while Boutwell’s 2:00.12 in prelims, also a career-best, puts him 10th all-time for the Tide.
Junior Denes Zubcsek was seventh in the 200 butterfly, touching at 1:44.46. Freshman Anestis Arampatzis was 13th in the 200 fly with a 1:46.67. His time from prelims, a 1:46.51, puts the rookie fifth all-time for the Tide. Sophomore Joe Ziegler was 11th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:46.74.
Sophomore Suzanne Schwee had to battle her way into the championship final of the 200 butterfly, tying with Georgia’s Laura Cartwright for the last spot after the preliminaries. The Ashburn, Va. native blazed to a new school record in the swim-off with Cartwright, breaking her own mark with a 1:57.55. Schwee finished eighth in the championship final with a 2:01.00. Senior Kacey Weddle also scored in the 200 butterfly, going 2:00.44, good for 14th place. Her time, a career-best, puts her fifth all-time for the Tide.
Junior Paige Troyan was 11th and senior Maggie Zblewski was 13th in the finals of the 200 breaststroke. Troyan touched at 2:16.70 while Zblewski tuned in a 2:17.35. Senior Julie Richards scored in the 200 backstroke, taking 16th place with a time of 1:59.59.
Arkansas
Arkansas senior Yi-Ting Siow became the first Razorback swimmer to win back-to-back Southeastern Conference titles Saturday evening at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships inside the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The 20th-ranked Razorbacks finished in sixth place with 262.5 points, after scoring 113 points in their most productive day Saturday. Arkansas finished just behind Alabama in fifth with 272 points and just head of LSU who finished with 262 points. Georgia won their seventh SEC Championships with a point total of 824.5 followed by Florida in second with 698.
“All I can say is wow,” Arkansas coach Jeff Poppell said. “We made one heck of a run from where we were after the first day of the meet. We came up nine-and-a-half points shy of getting fifth and we couldn’t have done anymore than we did. I am so proud of this group of girls. They have done a phenomenal job all year but especially at this meet. This is by far the best SEC meet we have had in the four years I have been here, even though we dropped a spot from where we were a year ago, we far out performed what we did a year ago.”
Siow won her second SEC championship, and second medal of this year’s event, touching in at 2 minutes, 9.23 seconds. The Malaysian native becomes the fourth SEC swimmer to win back-to-back titles in the 200y breaststroke since 1981.
“Yi-Ting has been phenomenal all weekend long and winning consecutive SEC championships, I think just solidifies her place in the history of Arkansas swimming and diving,” Poppell said. “She is easily the most decorated athlete we have had in our program and what she has done is going to be hard to top in the years to come.”
Arkansas junior Jamie Marks set a school record in the 1,650 freestyle on her way to a fourth-place finish. Marks’ time of 16:08.40 broke the previous school record of 16:08.42 she set at last year’s NCAA championships. Freshman Chelsea Franklin finished eight with a career-best time of 16:22.95. Other top-16 performances included Alison Templin (16:34.96) in 13th and Ashley Largo (16:38.77) in 16th. All four times represent NCAA provisional qualifying times.
Sophomore Liana Bugslag scored a 234.50 to place eighth in the championship finals of the women’s platform diving event. In the afternoon’s preliminaries, Bugslag posted a 254.65, breaking the previous school of 251.95 she set at a dual meet against Drury in 2009. Alex Roman scored a 202.35 to earn a 15th-place finish in the preliminaries of the women’s platform diving event.
In the final event of the night, the Arkansas 400y freestyle relay team of Sigrun Sverrisdottir, Siow, Whitbeck and Haskins posted a seventh-place finish with a time of 3:22.15, tying the school record set in 2003.
Razorback senior Leah Pierce stopped the clock at 2:13.03 to finish fourth in the 200y breaststroke. Arkansas junior Erin Neumann finished 15th in the consolation final with a time of 2:19.08.
In the consolation final of the 100y freestyle, junior Megan Haskins placed 16th with a time of 50.84. She posted a career-best 50.36 in the morning’s preliminaries.
Sophomores Lisa Lunkenheimer and Katie Whitbeck finished 11th and 16th, respectively, in the 200y butterfly consolation final. Lunkenheimer touched in with a career-best 2:00.03, while Whitbeck posted a 2:02.83.
In addition to the regular schedule of events, Razorback freshman Haley Smith and Dannica Brennan participated in time trials on Saturday. Brennan clocked in with a time of 1:58.71, breaking the previous school record 1:59.43 set by Babsi Auer in 2003. The mark also represented an NCAA “B” cut time. Smith posted a career-best 1:59.58.
Other career bests on the day included Katie Davis (2:02.03) and Haley Smith (2:00.03) in the 200y backstroke prelims along with Sverrisdottir (51.31) and Courtney Hubbard (52.21) in the 100y freestyle. Sarah Howard set a personal best in the 1,650y freestyle (16:44.95) and the 200y breaststroke (2:19.41).
Sophomore Jillienne Schilling touched in at 2:01.59 in her qualifying heat of the 200y backstroke. Junior Erica Totten posted a time of 2:01.52 in the third 200y butterfly preliminary heat.
In the four-day event, the Razorbacks broke nine school records, tied one and posted several career best times.
Arkansas will return to Athens to compete in the NCAA Last Chance Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.
Florida
Led by the 2010 SEC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year and the 2010 SEC Women' Diving Coach of the Year in coaches Gregg Troy and Donnie Craine, the No. 6 Gator men' and women' swimming and diving teams both placed second at the 2010 SEC Championship Meet in Athens Saturday. With just 13 points separating the UF and Auburn men heading into the final relay of the evening, the Tigers took first by .32 seconds to win the team title by 19 points (784) over the second place Gators (765). Georgia rounded out the third-place men' team (587). UF?s women maintained a solid second-place standing Saturday (698) behind the home team, Georgia (824.5), while Auburn took third in the women' race (568).
"I am really, really proud of the way both of our teams came out and raced tough this whole week," Troy said. "We had a couple opportunities that we didn't take advantage of, but we qualified most of the people we needed for NCAAs and had some outstanding swims. On our women's side tonight, we had some great races by Gemma Spofforth, Jemma Lowe and Teresa Crippen, who came second in two finals. Shara Stafford also had a great night for us. On the men's side, we had an outstanding run and raced extremely fast and hard the past four days. We have to tip our hats off to Auburn because we couldn't make up enough ground on the last relay it was pretty much dead even all the way through. Overall, our entire coaching staff is very proud of our team and their effort this week."
Under the watch of the two Coaches of the Year, Florida's student-athletes racked up numerous accolades, including the SEC Men's and Women's Swimmers of the Year in senior Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England) and junior Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.), as well as the SEC Women's Diver of the Year, senior Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.). The honor for Spofforth was her second consecutive after also winning SEC Women's Swimmer of the Year in 2009. Spofforth was additionally awarded the Commissioner's Trophy for the high point award on the women's side, while Dwyer and senior Shaune Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman) shared the Commissioner's Trophy and men?s high point award with Auburn diver Kelly Marx.
"Coming into this week, I felt like we could do really good on the diving boards and win some events," Craine said, "but last week, we didn't necessarily look like we could win. This has been an outstanding week, not only for Kara, but for all of our divers. Now we hope to carry this momentum to NCAA Zone Diving."
Throughout Florida's 2010 SEC Championship campaign, the men's and women's squad collaborated to add 14 conference titles, six for the men and eight earned by the women, two SEC records and six Florida records to the history books, while the Gators posted NCAA automatic marks in 18 races to close out the four-day conference meet at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the University of Georgia campus.
For the 30th consecutive year, the UF women brought home at least one league title, while the men's program reached 60 all-time individual titles. Salamone became the first ever Gator to win the platform event, while Spofforth became the first and only swimmer in SEC history to win three straight 100 and 200-yard backstroke titles.
Fraser, Dwyer, Spofforth and Salamone all won multiple individual events at the 2010 SEC meet for the Orange and Blue, Fraser claiming the 200 IM and 100 fly and Dwyer taking home the 200 and 500 free races. Spofforth led the way for the Gators with three individual titles in the 200 IM, 100 and 200 back races, while Salamone claimed the one-meter and platform events for UF. Spofforth, Fraser and Dwyer additionally represented UF with SEC titles in the women's 200-yard free relay and men?s 800-yard free relay, respectively.
On the final night of racing, the Gators turned in three sets of one-two finishes in both the men's and women's 200-yard backstroke races, with Spofforth and Marco Loughran (London England) leading the way, and in the 200-yard fly race under two-time SEC 200 fly Champion, sophomore Jemma Lowe's (Hartlepool, England) watch. In the women's 200 back race, sophomore Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), the 400-yard IM Champion on Friday, touched in second to complete the one-two feat, while senior Omar Pinzon (Bogota, Colombia) rallied for second behind first-time SEC Champion Loughran in the men's event. The 200-yard back wasn't Crippen's only second-place finish, as she turned around in near back-to-back races to also place second behind Lowe in the 200-yard fly.
Following UF's 200-yard back performance on the men's side, the Gators jumped ahead of Auburn, 625-621, but with an AU first-place finish in the men's 100-yard free and several key 200-yard breast performances for the Tigers, Auburn took the lead, 717-678.
Junior Conor Dwyer (Winnetka, Ill.) did his best to keep the race close by turning in a clutch second-place 100-yard free performance (42.59), while junior Brett Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman) took fourth 43.11 and senior Roberto Gomez (Weston, Fla.) won the consolation final in 43.62.
The Florida men held on through the men?s 200-yard fly, tallying three championship heat swimmers with Fraser's second-place finish (1:42.27), freshman Sebastien Rousseau's (Cape Town, South Africa) fourth-place finish (1:43.41) and junior Balazs Gercsak's (Budapest, Hungary) fifth-place time (1:43.72). Following the men's 200-yard fly, the Gators narrowed the Tigers' margin to 744-731 heading into the final relay.
A close and exciting relay closed out the men's competition, as Auburn edged out UF's quartet of Brett Fraser (George Town, Grand Cayman), Roberto Gomez (Weston, Fla.), Dwyer and Shaune Fraser by .32 seconds, 2:49.63 to 2:49.95. Despite the second-place finish, the Gators shattered a school record in the event and chalked up Florida?s 13 NCAA automatic mark on the men's side.
In the women's 100-yard freestyle, sophomore Shara Stafford (Topeka, Kan.) swam an outstanding race with a school-record, second-place finish (47.99) in the event to shatter an 18-year-old record (48.23), set by Nicole Haislett in 1992.
Earlier in the evening finals session, freshman Corinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.) and junior Joey Pedraza (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) turned in Florida's highest finishes in the mile, Showalter taking fifth with a career best 16:13.81 and Pedraza also placing fifth in the men's race in 15:01.80, just a second off his career-best mark.
The women's 400-yard freestyle relay, composed of senior Liz Kemp (Potomac, Md.), Stafford, Spofforth and sophomore Sarah Bateman (Orlando, Fla.) put in a stellar last effort to close out the 2010 meet with a second-place finish (3:15.00) to winner, Georgia (3:14.09).
LSU
The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams each closed out the 2010 SEC Championships with seventh-place finishes Saturday in Athens, Ga.
The women’s team tallied 262.5 points, while the Tigers accumulated 263.5 points.
Men’s freshman Craig Hamilton led the Tigers on Day 4 with an outstanding performance in his signature event, the 1650-yard freestyle. The Edinburgh, Scotland, native made a strong case for an invitation to the NCAA Championships with his sixth-place finish and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 15 minutes, 8.28 seconds, which crushed the school record by more than 13 seconds.
Sophomore Mary Beck swam to her second championship final in as many days in the 200 backstroke and improved her school-record mark with a time of 1:56.89 to capture seventh.
The Lady Tigers closed out the meet with a fifth-place finish in the 400 free relay as the foursome of Jane Trepp, Amanda Kendall, Samantha Goates and Morgan McGee registered a provisional mark of 3:19.09. The Tigers placed sixth in the men’s relay with the group of Sean LeNeave, Hannes Heyl, James Meyers and Andrei Tuomola also notching a ‘B’ cut of 2:55.80.
“Overall, I’m very proud of our group for coming out and competing hard throughout the competition,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “Craig had a great swim today in the mile race and will definitely be in the running for a bid to NCAA’s, and Mary improved her school record in the 200 back.
“The standings didn’t necessarily work out for us in the end, but we did have some great times and diving performances over the past four days, and I’m pretty sure we qualified some of our men’s and women’s swimmers to NCAA’s. Ultimately, our goal is to do well there, and I think it will come together when we get there.”
Tuomola, Heyl, Simon Diefenthal, Clint Hallum, Sean Roddy and Martin Jungfleisch each reached the consolation final in their respective events for the men’s team, while Kendall, Goates and Kannon Betzen also earned second swims for the Lady Tigers.
Tuomola delivered a 10th-place finish in the 100 free, touching the wall in a ‘B’ cut mark of 43.65, fourth in program history. Heyl finished 16th in that race (44.06).
Diefenthal enjoyed his best swim of the season in the 200-back preliminaries with a personal best and provisional cut of 1:46.26, which moved him into fourth all-time at LSU. He registered 13th in the finals (1:46.81).
Hallum and Roddy spearheaded the Tigers’ efforts in the 200 breaststroke as Hallum swam to a personal best of 2:00.85 to place 15th, while Roddy took 16th in 2:02.09. Jungfleisch was the men’s top finisher in the 200 butterfly, reaching the wall in 1:48.42 to record 16th after posting the third-fastest mark in school history in the prelims, 1:47.46.
Kendall and Goates each qualified in the women’s 100 free. Kendall emerged in 10th with a personal best and ‘B’ cut of 49.51, second in program annals. Goates also swam to a ‘B’ cut and lifetime best to place 13th. Her mark of 50.07 is seventh in school history.
Betzen was 16th in the 200 breast after qualifying with a season best of 2:18.30.
In women’s platform diving, freshman Rebecca St. Germain scored 222.25 points in her first career appearance in the event to come in 12th. That mark is fourth in program annals. Fellow freshman Elle Schmidt finished 17th with a career-high score of 197.40.
Men’s backstrokers Nick Kunkel and Lee Duggins each earned program top-10 times in the 200 back with marks of 1:48.79 and 1:49.00, respectively. The duo finished back-to-back in 19th and 20th.
Senior Lauren Grandy improved her top time in the 100 free, racing to a 50.69 clocking and a 21st-place finish.
Freshman Sara Haley led the Lady Tigers in the 200 fly, placing 18th (2:01.25). Senior Andrew Reynolds was 19th in the men’s 200 fly with his season best of 1:49.96.
South Carolina
South Carolina had six athletes score on the final night of the 2010 SEC Championships to wrap up their week at the event, which was highlighted by six appearances in championship finals and 11 swims that met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.
South Carolina finished eighth in the men's competition with 183 points, while the Gamecock women took a ninth-place finish, scoring 158.
Freshman Bobby Cave led the way on the final night with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:58.56, just a tick slower than his preliminary time of 1:58.44 but still an NCAA 'B' cut time. He was also sixth in the preliminaries
earlier today.
Also scoring big points for the Gamecocks was junior diver Allison Barr. She finished seventh in platform diving after qualifying for the second straight year, scoring 247.65 in the final. She made finals in two of her three events, placing eighth in the 1-meter final.
Three Gamecock swimmers scored in their respective consolation finals. Michael Flach had his second scoring event of the meet as he posted a 15th-place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:47.17. In the 200 backstroke, Chris Kelly took a 15th-place finish with a time of 1:47.68, and James Crawford finished 16th in 1:48.49. An additional point came courtesy of freshman Matt Columbus, who finished 16th in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 15:40.48, which ranks as the eighth-fastest time in school history.
The event wrapped up with the 400 freestyle relay. South Carolina's men - Michael Flach, Alex Fitton, Andrew Seiler and David Livsey - posted an NCAA 'B' cut time of 3:00.44 to finish seventh, and the Gamecock women took ninth place as Sharntelle McLean, Kristina Delp, Megan Sparks and Bridget Halligan touched in 3:24.86.
In all, South Carolina swimmers posted 10 individual NCAA provisional qualifying times, and two men's relay squads earned 'B' cuts of their own. Michael Flach had three NCAA cuts in the 500 free, 200 fly and 200 free (leadoff leg of 800 free relay), while Bobby Cave earned cuts in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Others included Andrew Atzhorn (200 IM), Megan Sparks (200 back), Claire Thompson (200 free) and Bridget Halligan (50 free).
Twelve different individuals scored points for the Gamecocks, led by junior Taryn Zack with 30 points on the strength of two fourth-place finishes in 1- and 3-meter diving. The high men's scorer was freshman Bobby Cave, who earned 20 points with a 6th-place finish in the 200 breast and a 10th-place showing in the 100 breast. Other scorers included Allison Barr (23 points), Michael Flach (17 points), Rylan Ridenour (15 points), Ryan Kuser (10 points), Claire Thompson (3 points), Helen Alvey (2 points), Chris Kelly (2 points), James Crawford (1 point) and Matt Columbus (1 point).
Auburn's men won their 14th consecutive SEC Championship, outdueling Florida for the title; 784-765 was the final margin in favor of the Tigers. On the women's side, homestanding Georgia ran away with the championship, scoring 824.5 points to outpace runner-up Florida with 698.
Several Gamecock swimmers will return here to the Gabrielsen Natatorium next Saturday for the Bulldog Last Chance Meet, attempting to improve their times in an effort to qualify for the NCAA Championships. South Carolina's divers will next be in action at the NCAA Zone B Regionals, which run March 12-14 in Atlanta.
Tennessee Women
A pair of third-place finishes from sophomore Samara Gelb and junior Aleksa Akerfelds on Saturday night helped pace the 13th-ranked Tennessee women’s swimming and diving team to its highest point output in over a decade, and its third straight fourth-place finish at the 2010 SEC Championships.
Gelb broke the UT record with her bronze medal performance in the 200y breast (2:10.34), while Akerfelds nabbed third in the 1650y free (16:02.78), as the Lady Vols tallied 497 points – their most since scoring 501.5 in 1997 – at the Gabrielsen Natatorium.
The meet kicked off with Tennessee capturing the 200y medley relay conference title on Wednesday and was highlighted by senior Michele King’s repeat victory in the 50y free the next day.
Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich’s three straight fourth-place finishes is a feat that has only happened twice before in Tennessee history: 1988-92 and 1995-97.
The Big Orange will now turn its attention to the NCAA Championships from March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind. Kredich expects at least 10 Lady Vols to qualify for the national meet based off their SEC performances and hopes more can earn invites at next weekend’s Last Chance Meet in Knoxville, Tenn.
“I love how aggressive we raced this whole weekend,” Kredich said. “It was just a really solid effort tonight, all the way through the weekend. This is one of the best meets we’ve ever put together. I’m proud of the team. We’ve got a lot to build off of for NCAAs. Our plan is to get faster. In three-and-half weeks, we have a great chance of swimming a lot faster.
“Tonight was another really good night for us. We had some brilliant racing, in particular Sam Gelb’s 200 breaststroke. I’m also really proud of Aleksa’s swim in the mile. She was out of the water for five months rehabilitating after shoulder surgery. And the way she’s come back this season has been incredible – especially tonight.”
No. 1 Georgia won its seventh SEC Championship, scoring 824.5 points at its home site. No. 6 Florida was second (698), while Auburn was third (568). Alabama placed fifth (272) and No. 19 Arkansas was sixth (262.5).
Akerfelds kicked off the final session of the 2010 SEC Championships in style, snagging the second bronze medal in the 1650y free of her career. Her time is a season-best and a B-cut. It’s the second fastest mile performance ever by a Lady Vol, just off Akerfeld’s own UT record (16:00.11) set while earning her first bronze in the event at the 2008 conference meet.
Gelb stole the show for Tennessee on Saturday night with podium finish and a school record in the 200y breast.
“I definitely didn’t expect it at all,” Gelb said. “I couldn’t have done it without the whole team cheering me on throughout the whole race. My plan was to stay relaxed and swim my own race. I couldn’t really tell where I was, but I could hear my team cheering and that really pushed me at the end of the race.”
Gelb’s finals performance broke senior Alex Barsanti’s year-old UT mark of 2:11.14. It also led another stellar breaststroke performance from the Orange and White. A day after placing two on the podium – and four in the top-six – in the 100y breast, Tennessee placed four in the top-nine of the 200y breast. Junior Martina Moravcikova (2:13.08) and Barsanti (2:13.60) finished 5-6 for the second straight year, while senior Jamie Saffer won the consolation final with a season-best readout of 2:13.50. All four times were B-cuts.
Freshman Kelsey Floyd and junior Tricia Weaner competed in two races each on the final night of competition.
Floyd (1:55.92) and Weaner (1:56.05) finished 5-6 in the 200y back. Later in the evening, Floyd came back to take seventh in the 200y fly (1:58.78), while Weaner returned to take 13th in the event in a season-best 2:00.16. All of the duo’s performances were B-cuts.
Sophomore Jenny Connolly, two-time SEC runner-up in the 100y back, captured the 200y back consolation final in a season-best B-cut mark of 1:55.84 to place ninth.
Connolly teamed with Floyd, senior Michele King and sophomore Caitlin Perks in the last event of the meet, the 400y free relay. The quartet took fourth in a season-best B-cut clocking of 3:17.83.
King also wrapped up her final conference meet with her second consecutive fourth-place finish in the 100y free, touching in 48.81, a season-best and a B-cut.
The York, Pa., native was part of the 40th and 41st SEC event championships in UT history. Joined by Floyd, Connolly and Barsanti, she anchored the victorious 200y MR and won the 50y free.
Three Lady Vol divers wrapped up the conference meet by scoring in the platform event during the morning session, as well.
Sophomore Gabbi Trudeau, an All-American on the tower in 2009, struggled on her first dive and wound up 10th with a score of 231.55, just missing the eight-person final. Junior Jill Pierce finished 14th (206.35), while freshman Skye Sanders was 16th (198.70). Both scores were season-bests.
“I’m really proud of Jill and Skye for getting points on the platform today,” UT diving coach Dave Parrington. “There was a quality field today and they got their jobs done. Gabbi came out a little too excited and was playing catch-up the rest of the way. I’m disappointed for here, but she battled hard.”
