University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Retain Lead at SEC Championships
February 22, 2001 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Tennessee came through with a big win in the 200 freestyle relay to close out the second day of competition at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
 |
Trailing Auburn by one point before final the final event, the Volunteers needed to beat the Tigers to regain the lead. The quartet of Chris Hussey, Renato Gueraldi, Mike Burton and Michael Gilliam produced a pool record time of 1:18.17 to capture UT's third relay title of the meet. The win put the Vols back on top at the end of the second day.
"We all swam about 10 times better in the relay than we did on our individual 50 freestyles. We needed to win to get the lead back," commented Gilliam.
"We were a little flat today," said Vol head coach John Trembley. "We have to have a big day tomorrow. It was good to end with a victory for momentum sake."
The scoring at the end of day one has the Vols in the lead with 249 points. Auburn stands in second with 242 points and Florida is third with 222.5.
The Vols charged back in the 50 freestyle with three swimmers in the finals and two in the consolation finals. Chris Hussey was the top Vol with a fourth-place time of 19.93. Renato Gueraldi finished with a time of 20.00 after swimming a career-best 19.83 in the prelims. Michael Gilliam finished seventh with a time of 20.11.
The Vols placed a pair in the finals and the consolation finals of the 200 individual medley. Jeremy McDonnell led the charge with a third-place finish in a career-best time of 1:46.86. Two-time 200 I.M. champ Zane DeWitz finished sixth with a season-best time of 1:48.15. In the consolations, Andrew Bree turned in a time of 1:48.27 to finish 11th and Ben Brink clocked a career-best 1:49.32 to take 13th position. Bree swam a career-best 1:48.24 in the morning prelims.
In the finals of the 500 freestyle, Brett Tannhauser finished fourth with a season-best time of 4:23.09. In consolation finals, Greg Simpson finished 15th with a time of 4:30.74 and Steve Cromer was 16th with a time of 4:30.80. Cromer set a career-best in the prelims with a time of 4:29.83.
| Day Two Standings | |
| 1. Tennessee | 249 |
| 2. Auburn | 242 |
| 3. Florida | 222.5 |
| 4. Kentucky | 148 |
| 5. Georgia | 119.5 |
| 6. South Carolina | 110 |
| 7. LSU | 105 |
| 8. Alabama | 64 |
| 500 Freestyle | ||
| 1. Kevin Clements | Aub. | 4:19.27 |
| 2. Ricardo Monasterio | Fla. | 4:19.37 |
| 3. James Galloway | Aub. | 4:21.30 |
| 4. Brett Tannhauser | Tenn. | 4:23.09 |
| 15. Greg Simpson | Tenn. | 4:30.74 |
| 16. Steve Cromer | Tenn. | 4:30.80 |
| 200 Individual Medley | ||
| 1. Duncan Sherrard | Fla. | 1:45.38 |
| 2. Jeff Somensatto | Aub. | 1:46.77 |
| 3. Jeremy McDonnell | Tenn. | 1:46.86 |
| 6. Zane DeWitz | Tenn. | 1:48.15 |
| 11. Andrew Bree | Tenn. | 1:48.27 |
| 13. Ben Brink | Tenn. | 1:49.32 |
| 50 Freestyle | ||
| 1. Zsolt Gaspar | S.C. | 19.53 |
| 2. Greg Busse | Aub. | 19.70 |
| 3. Carlos Jayme | Fla. | 19.91 |
| 4. Chris Hussey | Tenn. | 19.93 |
| 5. Renato Gueraldi | Tenn. | 20.00 |
| 7. Michael Gilliam | Tenn. | 20.11 |
| 12. Mike Burton | Tenn. | 20.22 |
| 15. Brent Owen | Tenn. | 20.34 |
| 200 Freestyle Relay | ||
| 1. Tennessee | 1:18.17** | |
| (Hussey, Gueraldi, Burton, Gilliam) | ||
| 2. Florida | 1:18.62 | |
| 3. Auburn | 1:19.07 | |
**Pool Record
