University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols To Challenge for SEC Title
February 16, 2000 | Men's Swimming & Diving
2000 SEC Championships
Tennessee enters the 2000 SEC Meet eyeing top team and individual honors. The Vols lost only three scorers from last year's second-place team that scored 700 points. Returning to lead the attack are defending SEC champs Gabi Chereches, Zane DeWitz, and Michael Gilliam. Seniors Ross Powells, Allen Jones and Raphael Thuin will also look to make an impact in their final SEC meet.
Freestyle
Coach John Trembley has assembled a stable of sprinters that enables UT to contend in both the individual events as well as the relays. Gilliam,. Powells, Thuin, Chris Hussey, and Brent Owen will be the top contributors. In distance events, Brett Tannhauser returns to improve upon his freshman performance and will compete in the 200, 500, and 1650. Steve Cromer was a scorer last season for the Vols in the 500 and 1650. Freshman Greg Simpson is among the top 200 and 500 free swimmers on the squad.
Backstroke
Gilliam and Powells will both challenge for top honors in the 100 while Powells will also contend in the 200 event.
Butterfly
Joel Shapiro and DeWitz return as two of the top butterfliers in the conference as the Vols expect the pair to provide some scoring punch.
Breaststroke
Jones, Jeremy McDonnell and Chris Stewart each placed among the top eight in both the 100 and 200 event last season.
Individual Medley
DeWitz will defend his 200 title in this event while the top 400 I.M. swimmers are Steve Cromer and freshman Ben Brink
Diving
SEC Diver of the Year Chereches won both the three-meter and platform titles last season. He will be joined by 1999 SEC three-meter champion Shannon Roy, to form one of the top diving tandems in the conference.
Vols Ranked 12th Nationally
Tennessee moved to 12th in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll. The Vols had been ranked 13th prior to defeating 12th-ranked Florida on Feb. 5. Tennessee also defeated 11th-ranked Arizona State on Jan. 7. The Volunteer losses came at top-ranked Texas and at ninth-ranked Virginia.
SEC Academic Honor Roll
Continuing a tradition of academic excellence accompanying athletic excellence, Tennessee placed nine athletes on the 2000 SEC Academic Honor Roll. The squad recorded a 3.02 team grade-point average for the Fall semester and placed the most squad members on the list since 1996 when ten earned the honor. Since head coach John Trembley's arrival in 1989, the Vols have earned 84 SEC Honor Roll selections, the most of any SEC school in that period. The 2000 honorees were:
Powells Wins Athlete of Week
Gilliam Named Athlete of Week
1999 SEC Championships
Gabi Chereches lead the Vols by taking both the three-meter and platform titles and finishing second in the one-meter event on his way to SEC Diver of the Year honors. Chereches also shared the Commissioner's Trophy as he tied for the top scorer of the meet.
Michael Gilliam won the 100 backstroke title, joining his father, Steve (1969-1971), and brother, Craig (1996), as SEC 100 backstroke champions.
Zane DeWitz won the 200 individual medley in a dramatic come-from-behind fashion. He was the first Vol to win the 200 I.M. title since Lee Engstrand in 1976. DeWitz was the top Vol scorer among swimmers as he finished second in the 200 butterfly and eighth in the 100 butterfly.
The Volunteers finished second in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays as well as the 200 and 400 medley relays. Other Vols who finished second at the 1999 SEC Championships include Matt Hall in the 400 I.M. and Chris Stewart in the 100 breaststroke.
Tennessee at the SECs
The Volunteers finished second (700 pts.) last season and last took the conference crown in 1996 as UT played host to the meet and scored 846 points.
UT first SEC title came in 1969, after the program was resurrected in 1968 following an eight-year hiatus. The Vols finished second the next two seasons before returning to the top spot in 1972, beginning a seven-year winning streak.
Tennessee returned to the top of the conference in 1989 as John Trembley returned to his alma mater to serve as head coach.
SEC Meet Records
Ricky Busquets remains the top 100 freestyler in SEC meet history with his time of 43.01 clocked at the 1996 meet in Knoxville.
Vol backstroke legend Tripp Schwenk holds the oldest SEC record for the Vols. At the 1993 meet in Fayetteville, Ark., Schwenk completed the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:42.07.
Gilliam Expands Repertoire
So, what possible goals could the youngest Gilliam set for the new season? The school record in the 100 backstroke (46.91) established by former NCAA champion Tripp Schwenk is one possibility. Helping his team to an SEC team championship as first four Gilliams had done is another. But who could have expected the backstroke star to expand his pool prowess into another event, much less another stroke?
Expanding his capabilities is just what Gilliam has done this season. Always a valuable contributor in the sprint freestyle events, Michael carried his freestyle ability to a new level this season. In doing so, the junior from Nashville has become more valuable to his team in dual-meet scoring and also produced the top 100 freestyle time in the SEC entering the conference meet.
Name Cl. GPA (Major)
Lance Asti Jr. 3.70 (Child Development)
Gabi Chereches Jr. 3.04 (Elec. Engineering)
Steve Cromer Jr. 3.83 (Political Science)
Zane DeWitz Jr. 3.94 (Biochemistry)
Michael Gilliam Jr. 3.18 (Sport Management)
Nick Lakin So. 3.45 (Communication)
Ross Powells Sr. 3.01 (Logistics & Tran.)
Joel Shapiro Jr. 3.37 (Computer Science)
Brett Tannhauser Jr. 3.09 (Communications)
Tennessee senior Ross Powells was named SEC Swimming and Diving Co-Athlete of the Week for his Feb. 5, performance in a 134-109 dual-meet win versus Florida. On Senior Day at the Student Aquatic Center, the team co-captain delivered three wins for the Vols. Powells led off the opening 400 medley relay with a strong backstroke leg as the Vols won the event and produced a conference-best and NCAA qualifying time. Powells then won the 200 backstroke over defending SEC 200 back champion and national runner-up Matt Cole. Finishing off a big day, Powells helped the Vols clinch the victory with a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay as UT once again produced an SEC-best and NCAA qualifying time in that event.
Michael Gilliam was named the SEC swimming and diving athlete of the week for the first week in January. The Nashville native performed impressively in dual-meets at Texas and Arizona State during the week to earn the honor. Gilliam won the 100 freestyle in both meets, posting a time of 44.49 against Texas that ranks first in the conference. The 1999 NCAA 100 backstroke champion, Gilliam swam backstroke in a pair of 200 medley relay wins in addition to leading UT to a win over Texas in the 200 freestyle relay as the Vols posted NCAA qualifying times in both relay events.
Tennessee finished second at the 1999 SEC Championships as they scored 700 points at the meet held in Lexington, Ky. The Vols won four individual events and finished second eight other event.
UT has won 10 SEC Championships and finished as the runner-up on 11 occasions. Tennessee has claimed 174 event championships since 1968.
Tennessee lays claim to seven SEC Meet records. UT breaststroke legend Jeremy Linn's 100 breaststroke American record time of 51.86 was set at the 1997 SEC meet in Athens, Ga. At the same meet Linn also established the 200 breaststroke standard with a time of 1:55.42. Linn went on to combine with Craig Gilliam, Jeff Elder, and Adam Engle to produce another American record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:25.76 at the 1997 meet. Vol diver of Evan Stewart carded a score of 583.55 in the three-meter diving event in 1997 that stands as the highest score in SEC meet history.
Michael Gilliam won both the 1999 SEC and NCAA backstroke championships. In doing so, he continued a family tradition that dates back to the beginning of the Tennessee aquatics program. His father Steve won the 1969-1971 SEC backstroke championships while older brother Craig won the title in 1996. Uncles Marc and Keith also won SEC event championships. While Craig and Keith were members of NCAA championship relays, Michael was the first of the family to win an individual NCAA title.
