University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Championships
Rubadue Earns Silver On Day 4 Of SECs
February 17, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee sophomore Rachel Rubadue captured silver on platform diving Friday at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
Rubadue highlighted the day by returning to the podium on platform. The 2016 champion took second place with a score of 315.20, behind South Carolina's Allyson Nied, who finished with 325.90.
Sophomore teammate Emily Pelletier competed in her first final and took seventh overall in 259.90.
The relay team of Meghan Small, Colleen Callahan, Madeline Banic and Kira Toussaint ended the evening for the women with a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay, Tennessee's third relay bronze of the meet.
The meet concludes Saturday with the 100 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, the 200 breaststroke, the 1650 freestyle, men's platform diving and the 400 freestyle relay.
The Tennessee women head into Saturday in third place with 673 points. Texas A&M sits in first place with 961 points and Georgia is in second with 843 points.
On the men's side, UT is in sixth place with 526.5 points. Florida leads with 929.5 points and Georgia is next with 788.
Friday featured three record-setting performances on the women's side and two on the men's side.
Texas A&M senior Sarah Gibson set a new SEC and pool record in the 200 fly final with a winning time of 1:52.64. She beat the previous pool record by nearly two seconds.
In the women's 100 backstroke, Georgia's Olivia Smoliga clocked the fastest time in the nation this year with a pool-record 50.60. Jenny Connolly held the old record at 51.37 in 2012.
The Texas A&M women's 400 medley relay of Lisa Bratton, Jorie Caneta, Sarah Gibson and Beryl Gastaldello set a new pool record with a winning time of 3:29.81.
Alabama senior Connor Oslin set a new SEC record in the 100 back with a winning time of 44.73, breaking the old record of 45.19 set by Florida's Ryan Lochte in 2005.
The Florida men's 400 medley relay of Bayley Main, Chandler Bray, Jan Switkowski and Caeleb Dressel (40.43 final leg) set a new pool record with a winning time of 3:04.52, beating the previous mark set by Missouri in 2015 by nearly two seconds.
Tennessee had six individuals reach championship finals, including seniors Michelle Cefal and Callahan making their first top eight. Cefal was sixth in 200 butterfly, and Callahan was seventh in the 100 breaststroke.
WOMEN'S 200 BUTTERFLY: In her first career championship final, senior Michelle Cefal dropped time from her preliminary and climbed into sixth place with a time of 1:56.87. Fellow senior Heather Lundstrom took 10th overall -- second in the consolation heat -- in 1:57.36. Senior Madeline Tegner took 19th overall in 1:59.04.
WOMEN'S 100 BACKSTROKE: Senior Kira Toussaint narrowly missed the podium in the 100 backstroke, taking fourth in 51.69.
MEN'S 100 BACKSTROKE: Freshman Braga Verhage, in his first final, took 15th overall in 47.34. In the C final, sophomore Joey Reilman was 20th overall in 47.69 and Matthew Garcia was 21st in 47.86.
WOMEN'S 100 BREASTSTROKE: Swimming in her first career championship final, Colleen Callahan took seventh overall in 1:00.47, picking up 23 points for Tennessee. Sophomore Meg Wiggins was 23rd in 1:02.54.
MEN'S 100 BREASTSTROKE: Junior Peter John Stevens led at the halfway point but finished sixth in 52.56 in the championship final. Senior Ross Dibblin had the best 100 breaststroke in his career, clocking the third fastest time in program history in 52.66. Sophomore Matthew Dunphy shaved nearly half a second off his prelim time, taking second in the C final and 18th overall in 53.67.
WOMEN'S PLATFORM: Sophomore Rachel Rubadue finished her list strong, but could not make up enough ground against South Carolina's Allyson Nied, who finished with 325.90.
WOMEN'S 400 MEDLEY RELAY: The relay team of Meghan Small, Colleen Callahan, Madeline Banic and Kira Toussaint ended the evening for the women with a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay, Tennessee's third relay bronze of the meet. Toussaint swapped swimming the 100 backstroke for the anchor freestyle leg.
MEN'S 400 MEDLEY RELAY: The relay of Braga Verhage, Peter Stevens, Ryan Coetzee and Kyle DeCoursey placed seventh with the sixth-fastest time in program history at 3:07.99.
