University of Tennessee Athletics
DIVER JAIME SANGER NAMED LADY VOL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
February 26, 2002 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 26, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
After winning her second straight Southeastern Conference one-meter springboard championship, junior diver Jaime Sanger has been named the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week by a vote of the media relations staff for the period ending on Feb. 24.
Sanger won her second straight one-meter title in dramatic fashion after falling into second place entering her last dive. The Plymouth, Minn., native responded with her best dive of the competition to win by seven points and take her second consecutive gold medal. Sanger's winning total of 313.85 points is the second-best six-dive score in Tennessee history and ranks second only to her effort of 315.15 from last year's NCAA Championships. With the back-to-back wins, Sanger joins Lady Vol great Kathy Pesek as the only UT divers to repeat as SEC Champions. Pesek won consecutive platform titles in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
In addition to the success on the one-meter, Sanger had a breakthrough performance on the three-meter springboard to advance to her first major final in that event. A one-meter specialist, the junior made the final field of eight and finished eighth on the three-meter while scoring key points for the Lady Vol team effort.
Sanger won the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week against a tough field from other Tennessee sports including Vilmarie Castellvi (tennis), Nicole Cook (track and field), Stephanie Humphrey (softball), and Kara Lawson (basketball).
