Vols Earn Three Medals on Day 4 of SECs

Saturday, February 17

College Station, TX

All Day

University of Tennessee

SEC Championships: Day 4

COLLEGE STATION, TX - 2018.02.15 - SEC Swimming and Diving Championships

February 17, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

Photo Gallery Results

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Tennessee picked up three more medals, including relay gold, Saturday night at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at Texas A&M Natatorium.

Senior Peter John Stevens took third in the 100-yard breaststroke, and redshirt junior Zhipeng (Colin) Zeng did the same in the men's platform competition. Tennessee ended the night with a win in the women's 400 medley relay.

Through 31 events and four days, the Lady Vols are third in the standings with 706.5 points, and host Texas A&M leads with 953. The Vols are fourth in the men's standings with 690 points. Florida is first with 876.

The Lady Vols closed the night with their third relay victory of the meet. The team of Micah Bohon, Katie Armitage, Erika Brown and Stanzi Moseley reached the wall in 3:29.26.

Tennessee was well back of Texas A&M after the first half of the race. Brown split a 49.11 on her leg -- the fastest 100-yard butterfly relay split in recorded history -- to give Tennessee the lead which Moseley kept to the finish.

Brown has won five gold medals at this year's meet. She has individual titles in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly and has been a part of all the winning relays.

Stevens made Tennessee's first trip to the awards podium when he took bronze in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 52.29 seconds.

Despite having taken second in his signature event at the NCAA meet as a sophomore in 2016, Saturday marked Stevens' first time on the SEC awards podium in the 100 breaststroke. He was sixth last season.

Zeng followed with a bronze medal of his own. In a men's platform competition in which four divers scored above 450 points, Zeng took third with 451.40.

He briefly moved into second within striking distance of eventual winner Juan Hernandez of LSU when his fifth of six dives when for 89.60 points. Hernandez won with 474.85.

Zeng earned two medals in his first SEC meet, having won silver on 3-meter.

Seven Vols qualified for championship finals during the evening session. In total, 17 swimmers and divers competed during the evening, including five who qualified in the men's 100 back.

While the Tennessee women won the 400 medley relay, the Vols were set back in the men's competition with a disqualification after initially placing fourth.

UP NEXT: The meet concludes Sunday with the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, women's platform, 1650 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay. The night session starts at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central) and will be broadcast live on SEC Network.

QUOTES
Tennessee Head Coach Matt Kredich
"We had a lot of really good swims this morning. I was impressed with our focus and competitiveness. It was another good morning session to put ourselves in a good position for the finals. Tonight, we had a lot of people move up in their heat. We were really competitive. I was proud of the consistent competitiveness the team is showing.

"The relay at the end was bittersweet. We had a championship for the women, but it's frustrating for our men to fight really hard and get a disqualification. it's something we'll need to clean up for NCAAs.

"We're in a great team race. For our men, the disqualification will be a great test for that fight we have. For our women, we're in a great battle for second with Georgia. That adds extra fuel for the morning session tomorrow. I also think heading into the last day, our focus and endurance are tested. I'm looking forward to seeing how we handle that test."

Tennessee Diving Coach Dave Parrington
"The prelims were really good performances by Will (Hallam) and Liam (Stone). In Will's case, I'm really pleased with his development on platform. He's been limited with back and knee issues that have limited his development, but he has excellent potential up there. Liam put up a valiant effort to put the points up for his team. Colin did what he needed to do in prelims. He was rusty with his battle with illness this week. I was really proud of his fight this evening. His strength was back but his spacial awareness isn't what it should be. I couldn't be more proud of his effort for his team."