University of Tennessee Athletics
Six Lady Vol Swimmers Advance to NCAA Championships
March 05, 1999 | Women's Swimming & Diving
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Six University of Tennessee Lady Vol swimmers have earned bids to the 1999 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships to be held March 18-20 in the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Making the trip for Tennessee will be freshmen Monica Shannahan (San Diego, Calif.), Kari Peterson (Chattanooga) and Elizabeth Philp (Adelaide, Australia), sophomore Pam Hanson (LaCrosse, Wisc.), junior Teresa Moodie (Harare, Zimbabwe) and senior Sarah Nichols (Camarillo, Calif.).
Shannahan and Peterson were the only two automatic qualifiers and will make their first trip to the national meet. The pair sprinted to first and second place finishes, respectively, in the 200-yardy butterfly at the Southeastern Conference Championships to post "A" standard times. In addition to the 200y fly, where she holds the 10th best time heading into the meet and is undefeated this season, Shannahan has also qualified to compete in the 100y and 200y breaststroke. Peterson will also join the competition in the 100y fly.
Nichols will be making her fourth appearance at NCAAs. The six-time All-American has qualified with provisional times to compete in the 500y and 1650y freestyle events. She has participated in both events in each of her previous trips to nationals, placing 10th (1996), 5th (1997) and 8th (1998) in the mile and advancing to the finals twice in the 500.
Moodie is a veteran of national championships, having advanced to the NJCAA meet while at Vincennes University the previous two years. A seven-time NJCAA All-American, Moodie made the list for this year's NCAAs with her provisional times in the 50y, 100y and 200y free.
Two more Lady Vols will also be making their first appearances at the national championships. Hanson recorded new personal bests and provisional times in both the 100y fly and 200y backstroke to advance to NCAAs. She heads into the back with the 11th best time in the country. Philp will wrap up an impressive first season by competing in the 200y, 500y and 1650y freestyle events. She recorded the top time on the team in the 200y this season and moved to 10th on the list of all-time Lady Vol performances.
The Tennessee divers will return to the water first, competing at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships held in Baton Rouge, La., at the Louisiana State University Natatorium March 12-13. All five Lady Vol divers have qualified for the regional meet, including SEC platform champion Kathy Pesek, Lizzy Flynt, Alicia Ball, Jane Woodard and Bethany Minser. A total of nine divers from the Zone B meet will advance to the NCAA Championships the following week at Georgia.
The 1999 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships highlight show will be broadcast on Sunday, March 7, at 1 p.m. ET on Fox Sports South.
TENNESSEE LADY VOL NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
500y freestyle (March 18): Sarah Nichols 4:49.43 (27th seed) Elizabeth Philp 4:49.54 (29th seed) 50y freestyle (March 18): Teresa Moodie 23.19 (32nd seed) 100y butterfly (March 19): Pam Hanson 55.25 (26th seed) Kari Peterson 55.81 (38th seed) 200y freestyle (March 19): Elizabeth Philp 1:48.66 (25th seed) Teresa Moodie 1:49.63 (45th seed) 100y breaststroke (March 19): Monica Shannahan 1:02.87 (24th seed) 1650y freestyle (March 20): Sarah Nichols 16:31.43 (12th seed) Elizabeth Philp 16:42.62 (26th seed) 200y backstroke (March 20): Pam Hanson 1:58.68 (11th seed) 100y freestyle (March 20): Teresa Moodie 50.01(20th seed) 200y breaststroke (March 20): Monica Shannahan 2:14.96 (14th seed) 200y butterfly (March 20): Monica Shannahan 1:59.29 (10th seed) Kari Peterson 1:59.63 (15th seed)
