Brown Earns Third Title, Sixth Gold to End SECs

Sunday, February 18

College Station, TX

All Day

University of Tennessee

SEC Championships: Day 5

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

February 18, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

Complete Results

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Sophomore Erika Brown captured her third individual title and sixth gold overall Sunday to end the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.

Like her other victories this week, Brown pulled away from the pack before the final wall. She won the 100-yard freestyle in a school-record 47.17 seconds, leading by nearly half a second over silver medalist Veronica Burchill of Georgia (47.66).

Earlier this week, she won the 50 freestyle (21.39) and became the second-fastest woman ever to swim the 100 butterfly, cruising into the final wall in 49.85.

Brown was also part of the winning 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay teams, upping her gold medal count to six. She also took bronze as part of the 800 freestyle relay team, giving her a medal in all seven events.

She was named the SEC Swimmer of the Meet and shared the Commissioners Trophy for high points scorer with Texas A&M's Sydney Pickrem.

In the final team standings, the Lady Vols finished third with 950.5 points. Texas A&M won with 1,319, and Georgia was second (1,030).

The Vols were fourth in the men's team scores with 899 points. Florida won the team title with 1,237 points.

SILVER HEIGHTS: Junior Rachel Rubadue rallied after missing her third dive to take silver on women's platform with a score of 295.65. It was her second medal of the meet, having also earned a third-place finish on 3-meter springboard.

Rubadue has now medaled on platform the first three years of her career, winning as a freshman and also taking second as a sophomore.

ONE MORE RELAY MEDAL: The Lady Vols medaled in all five relays, capping the meet with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:12.76). The team of Micah Bohon, Stanzi Moseley, Madeline Banic and Meghan Small finished in a time of 3:12.76.

Tennessee finished just off the podium in fourth place. The team of Alec Connolly, Joey Reilman, Kyle DeCoursey and Austin Hirstein swam the second-fastest time in program history in 2:50.64.

GOLD MEDAL HISTORY: Erika Brown is the fourth Tennessee swimmer -- men or women -- to win three SEC individual titles at one meet. She joins:

Christine Magnuson (2008) - 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly
Chris Knoll (1973) - 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 butterfly
David Edgar (1970) - 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle

MOVING UP THE CHARTS: Junior Joey Reilman finished just off the podium in the 200 backstroke, taking fourth place, but he did move into rare territory on the top-10 list. He posted a time of 1:41.25, which moves him to No. 2 on the list, ahead of Olympian Tripp Schwenk (1:41.55, 1992).

Sophomore Tess Cieplucha also moved to No. 2 on the charts. She won the B final in the women's 200 breaststroke in 2:08.66, just the second Lady Vol in history to swim below 2:10. Olympian Molly Hannis holds the record (2:07.09).

Senior Micah Bohon is now second on Tennessee's 200 backstroke list. She swam 1:52.79 in the prelims and finished eighth overall.

UT RECORDS BROKEN: Erika Brown lowered her own school record in the 100 freestyle. Tennessee broke eight school records this meet.

Women's 100 Freestyle - Erika Brown - 47.17 (old record: Erika Brown - 47.54 - 2017).

QUOTES
Head Coach Matt Kredich
(On Sunday's performance)
"We had some real bright sports this morning. I felt we showed a little bit of slippage of discipline in our preparation. The morning of the fifth day, it's a test of discipline. Some were outstanding. Our male backstrokers were fantastic. Tonight, I think we competed really well across the board. Our relays at the end were fantastic. I think this last session gives us great momentum heading into NCAAs."

(On Erika Brown's meet)
"I'm excited for her performances, but I'm so proud for her, for the way she's approached this year and this meet. The success she's had and attention she's had hasn't disrupted her. She's been very gracious in accepting of the attention. She has the ability to get a lot better and equipped to handle everything that's coming at her, including higher expectations. I know she'll have disappointments and dips, but you can tell the way people handle loss by the way she handle their success, and that's been impressive to watch. She's well equipped to keep progressing in the sport, and that's going to help her and her teammates."

Diving Coach Dave Parrington
"It was a very evenly contested event. You had three or four women really battling it out, just waiting for someone to make a move. Unfortunately, Rachel missed her third dive a little, which is strong for her. She had two big rounds after to put her right back in the thick of it, but she needed a little more. A good preliminary and a good final to cap what has been a stellar week for her. I'm also extremely proud of Ana coming up a little shy to make the finals. It will be great experience. For Emily to get some points coming back from surgery, it's been a great week for the Lady Vol divers."