University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Send Three Divers To One-Meter Finals
February 16, 2000 | Women's Swimming & Diving
AUBURN, Ala. - The University of Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team completed the first day of competition at the 2000 Southeastern Conference Championships in second place with 96 points on Wednesday in Auburn, Ala. Three Lady Vol divers advanced to the finals on the one-meter springboard.
"I was happy with our performance in the prelims and had our hopes up for a better finals finish from each of the Tennessee women," said diving coach Dave Parrington. "Certainly, getting all three in finals was a tough achievement in this conference, and Jaime Sanger came into her first SEC Championships and dove with aggression."
The evening finals opened with the women's one-meter springboard which boasted three Lady Vols among the top eight. Freshman Jaime Sanger led the way for the UT effort, finishing in fifth place with a score of 389.45 in her first trip to the conference championships. Lizzy Flynt was sixth at 387.15 and Jane Woodard finished in eighth place with a finals score of 375.80. Florida's Robyn Grimes won the event with a score of 428.30.
For the swimmers, the meet got underway with the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Tennessee unit of Laura Hancock, Bethany Hall, Sara Wingfield and Tanya Felton clocked a season-best time of 1:34.08 for fifth place. The event was won by Georgia, the defending SEC team champion, with a time of 1:30.43.
"We're really excited about the four that swam the freestyle relay - they exceeded our expectations. Bethany Hall was the real standout on that team," said head coach Dan Colella. "I think we're ahead of where we thought we would be, especially with the performance of the divers."
The meet closed with the 200y medley relay and the Lady Vols clocked a time of 1:43.60 for fourth place. Bianca Jones, Monica Shannahan, Pam Hanson and Teresa Moodie finished the UT effort on the first day.
Louisiana State leads the team competition, recording 100 points on day one after sending three divers to the one-meter finals. Tennessee is second followed by Florida in third with 84 points. The meet continues through Saturday at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center at Auburn University. Prelims begin at 10:30 a.m. with finals commencing at 6:30 p.m. Thursday's competition will feature the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, men's one-meter diving and the 400 medley relay.
