University of Tennessee Athletics
SANGER EARNS FOURTH LADY VOL WEEKLY HONOR
March 27, 2003 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 27, 2003
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
After picking up a pair of All-America honors at the NCAA Championships by placing second on the one-meter springboard and eighth on the three- meter, senior diver Jaime Sanger was aptly named Lady Vol Athlete of the Week by a vote of the media relations staff.
Sanger achieved her runner-up finish on the 1m by edging out defending-champion Blythe Hartley of Southern California, and kept the pressure on eventual champion Yulia Pakhalina of Houston, a 2000 Olympic gold medallist, throughout the entire competition. Sanger recorded a career-best score of 329.90 to break her own school record in the event. She also now holds the top six 1m scores ever recorded by a Lady Vol.
The performance also marks the highest NCAA individual finish for Tennessee since Lizzy Flynt placed second on the platform in 2000, and improved upon Sanger's previous best of third on the 1m at the 2001 NCAAs. The runner-up finish also helps solidify the Plymouth, Minn., native as the most dominant 1m springboard performer in Tennessee history, giving her a pair of top-three finishes at NCAAs to go along with her three-consecutive SEC titles in the event.
On the day following her 1m success, Sanger turned around and claimed her fourth-career All-America certificate by placing eighth on the 3m. Sanger's scoring efforts helped lead the Lady Vols to 18th place at the NCAA Championships, the team's best since 1999, when they finished in the same position. Tennessee has now finished among the top-20 teams at 18 of the 22 NCAA Championships meets since the inaugural contest in 1982.
Receiving the Lady Vol weekly honor marks the fourth time this season that Sanger has received the distinction. She did so on Feb. 25 after claiming her third-straight SEC crown on the 1m, on Jan. 7 after winning the 1m "Bulldog Shootout" at the Georgia Invitational, as well as on Nov. 26 after claiming victory on the on the 1m at the Minnesota Invitational.
Other nominees for this week's award included sophomore Shyra Ely of the basketball team, senior tennis player Vilmarie Castellvi, sophomore Amber Rhinehart of the softball squad and rowing's 2nd Varsity 8+ shell.
