Tuesday, February 18
Auburn, AL
University of Tennessee
vs
SEC Championships
Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Win First SEC Title in Program History
February 22, 2020 | Swimming & Diving
AUBURN, Ala. – The Tennessee Lady Vols' swimming and diving team won its first SEC Championship in program history Saturday night, holding off second place Florida in a tight, down-to-the-wire finish at Auburn's James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
Tennessee finished the 2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships with 1,108 points, while Florida placed second at 1,079. 5. The Lady Vols captured 11 medals – eight gold, two silver and one bronze – this week on the way to their first-ever conference title.
"For 15 years, I and everyone else who has been a part of this program has been striving for this and envisioning this," director of swimming and diving Matt Kredich said. "The main thing I feel is a tremendous appreciation for everybody that's helped along the way. We built a culture over years and years that could win a championship and our staff has worked tirelessly. I am really humbled and really grateful for everyone that's been a part of this. It's been a lot of people."
The championship race firmly swung in the Lady Vols' favor after Alexis Yager and Emily Sykes took their turns in the 200 breaststroke. Both women set new personal bests with Yager going 2:08.11, which lowers her third-fastest time in school history.
Sykes lowered her time to 2:11.79, the 10th-quickest in Lady Vol history.
Even though neither swimmer won their heat, the races epitomized what the women's team had done all week long, answer the call when it was needed. Yager got her hand to the wall in the A-final for a fourth place finish while Sykes was seventh in the B-final.
With only one Florida swimmer in the entire field, those two swims from a pair of juniors helped propel the Lady Vols to their first SEC title.
"Alexis and Emily have done an excellent job this whole week of being prepared," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "They have executed their races well and tonight was no different. Sykes was great, that was a best time for her tonight. That is tough to do, with all the energy and nerves going around some people tend to over swim. She stayed calm and swam very well. Yager was calm, cool and collected like always. Those were two huge swims that really set us up to win at the end."
Senior Erika Brown capped her SEC Championship career by winning the SEC Swimmer of the Meet for the second-straight season. She also took home the Commissioner's Trophy, given to the swimmer who scored the most points at SECs, for the second time.
Brown won her third-consecutive SEC title in the 100 free Saturday night in a time of 45.83. She is just the second woman to ever swim a sub 46, joining Olympian Simone Manuel. Brown's time is the third-fastest swim in the history of the event and it lowered her own SEC and school record.
The Charlotte, N.C., native went a perfect 3-for-3 during the week, winning the 50 and 100 free and the 100 fly. This is the third-straight season she has accomplished the feat. Brown closes her SEC Championship career with 18 gold medals and 22 total medals.
"Erika did a fantastic job of preparing and knowing what she wanted to do all week long," Jahn said. "She executed her races exceptionally well every time she went out. She is an exceptional swimmer and like I've said before, she is always looking at the little things. She makes small changes that enable her to go even faster. She loves this team and has done everything that's been asked of her for her entire career."
On Thursday night, Brown set the American Record in the 100 fly with a swim of 49.38. The time made her the third-fastest performer in the event's history.
The men's team finished sixth at the conference championships, scoring 817 points. Florida won the men's title with 1194.
Women's 1650 Freestyle
Amanda Nunan swam a monster 1650 to open the evening session, scoring a silver medal and crucial points for the women in the championship race. The Egg Harbor, N.J., native swam the mile in a school record 15:53.39.
"Amanda has had an incredible year so far and she's not done yet, I can't wait to see what she's going to do in a few weeks at NCAAs," Jahn said. "She got us off to a great start and that performance was certainly not a surprise to her or her teammates."
Men's 1650 Freestyle
Taylor Abbott swam in the final heat of the 1650 on Saturday night, throwing down a massive 14:50.62. His time is the second-fastest in school history and a new personal best. The senior from Cedar Park, Texas finished fourth overall in the mile swim.
Abbott's 1,000 split of 8:56.48 is now the No. 2 time in Vol history.
The men opened up the 1650 freestyle with Ethan Sanders' swim in the afternoon. The sophomore stopped the clock in 14:57.70, finishing seventh overall in the event. His time is also the seventh-fastest in school history. Sanders set the program's third-quickest 1,000 time, splitting in 8:56.93.
"That was an identity swim," associate head coach Lance Asti said. "Specifically, from the distance group, Rich Murphy has been preaching all year about being aggressive when taking out their races. At times, we have succeeded and at time we have fallen short but now after months of executing a learning, it paid off. They got a big reward from that."
Women's 200 Backstroke
Meghan Small and Kaitlin Harty earned second swims Saturday night and turned in two strong performances. Harty won the C-final heat in a 1:53.62, lowering her own fourth-fastest time in Lady Vol history.
In the A-final, Small placed sixth in a time of 1:51.80.
"Kaitlin did a wonderful job tonight," Jahn said. "She executed the plan and vision we all had for tonight very well. The result was a win in the C-final and some positive points that really shot the team forward. Meghan in the A-final, she didn't have the swim she wanted this morning but made adjustments and executed a lot better."
Men's 200 Backstroke
In the final swim of his SEC Championship career, senior Matthew Garcia got on the podium to win his first SEC medal – a bronze – in a time of 1:40.75.
"He has earned it," Asti said. "He has put in so much work, both on his own swimming and on building the team. For him to get his first medal in his last SEC race, I am going to get chocked up just talking about that. He just raced harder than everybody else and lived out what it means to be a Tennessee Volunteer."
In prelims, Benjamin Blevins-Boor set a new personal best at 1:46.73.
Women's 100 Freestyle
The Lady Vols brought back five swimmers for the night session with Brown and Tjasa Pintar swimming in the A-final. The other three were Stanzi Moseley, Trude Rothrock and Bailey Grinter going in the B-final.
Pintar joined Brown in the 100 free A-final, swimming a best time of 47.90 and finishing sixth. Her swim places her into a tie with Moseley for the fourth-quickest in program history.
In the B-final, Moseley placed second at 48.30 while Rothrock was sixth with a time of 49.00. Grinter was seventh in the heat, getting her hand to the wall in a time of 49.02.
"Our 100 freestylers did great," Jahn said. "Just from a strategy perspective, we had to make a decision yesterday on where we wanted to use Erika and then potentially Meghan because she swam so fast on the 4x50 freestyle relay. We decided we could have a great medley relay last night and knew our pack of 100 freestylers had the potential to be really strong today and they were excited. They wanted the opportunity to compete and that's exactly what they did."
Rothrock in the preliminaries swam a personal best of 48.96.
Men's 100 Freestyle
Three men came back for the finals in the 100 freestyle as the Vols had one swimmer in each heat. Alec Connolly swam a personal best 42.50, finishing fifth in the A-final. His time is now the fourth-fastest in school history.
"I saw the continual pursuit of improvement," Asti said. "This whole week has not come easy for him, but he keeps getting better and keeps finding ways to improve. He's been watching video in-between sessions and made a couple of little adjustments and he goes a lifetime best."
In the B-final, Nolan Briggs turned in a 43.35, good for seventh. In the morning session, he posted a best time of 43.18. Seth Bailey swam a new personal best in the C-final, churning out a time of 43.24, finishing fifth.
Freshmen Oskar Hoff and Scott Scanlon turned in a pair of strong swims during the morning's preliminaries. Scanlon stopped the clock at 45.11 and Hoff got his hand on the wall in 45.69. Both times are new personal bests.
Men's 200 Breaststroke
A youth movement took over for the men in the B-final of the 200 breast on Saturday night. The Vols returned three swimmers, Brett Champlin, Michael Houlie and Jarel Dillard – all underclassmen – for the final and all three turned in excellent swims.
Champlin placed third in the heat, swimming a new personal best of 1:55.75. Houlie finished fifth at 1:56.70, while Dillard was eighth in 1:58.01. Champlin, a freshman, now holds the eighth-quickest time in Vol history after his turn Saturday night.
"These are guys we can build championship teams around," Asti said. "They fed off each other tonight and there are more coming behind them. We have 18 freshmen coming next year on the men's side alone. If this team will teach them what we learned this week, we're going to be making some steps forward. That breaststroke group is just a picture of what's to come."
In the morning session, Dillard went 1:56.01. That time is a new personal best and is 10th all-time in the program's history.
Women's Platform Diving
Sophomore Grace Cable made it back to her second event final at these SEC Championships, returning for a second round of dives in the women's platform. Battling through injury, Cable stepped up and kept Florida from having three divers in the A-final, knocking out a Gator diver in the prelims.
The Winter Park, Fla., native came back in the finals and posted a 246.35 and once again finished ahead of a Florida diver, taking away points that were crucial to the Gators.
"Grace was the epitome of heart and toughness today," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "She was diving with a pretty bad injury on her hand and was just tough as nails. She sneaked into the final and knocked out a Florida diver which proved to be critical."
Freshman Kara Holt and junior Ana Celaya Hernandez scored crucial points for the women's team as they finished 13th and 19th, respectively. Holt scored 235.05 and Hernandez closed with 220.20.
Women's 400 Free Relay
The women entered the final event of the 2020 SEC Championships knowing they just had to avoid a disqualification to claim the conference title. The relay quartet of Pintar, Rothrock, Grinter and Moseley swam a clean race and finished fifth at 3:12.99. Not only did their clean swim and relay exchanges clinch the title for the Lady Vols, but it also became the sixth-fastest 400 free relay in school history.
Men's 400 Free Relay
The men's squad of Briggs, Bailey, Josh Walsh and Connolly placed eighth in the final event of the conference meet, stopping the clock in 2:52.14.
Tennessee finished the 2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships with 1,108 points, while Florida placed second at 1,079. 5. The Lady Vols captured 11 medals – eight gold, two silver and one bronze – this week on the way to their first-ever conference title.
"For 15 years, I and everyone else who has been a part of this program has been striving for this and envisioning this," director of swimming and diving Matt Kredich said. "The main thing I feel is a tremendous appreciation for everybody that's helped along the way. We built a culture over years and years that could win a championship and our staff has worked tirelessly. I am really humbled and really grateful for everyone that's been a part of this. It's been a lot of people."
The championship race firmly swung in the Lady Vols' favor after Alexis Yager and Emily Sykes took their turns in the 200 breaststroke. Both women set new personal bests with Yager going 2:08.11, which lowers her third-fastest time in school history.
Sykes lowered her time to 2:11.79, the 10th-quickest in Lady Vol history.
Even though neither swimmer won their heat, the races epitomized what the women's team had done all week long, answer the call when it was needed. Yager got her hand to the wall in the A-final for a fourth place finish while Sykes was seventh in the B-final.
With only one Florida swimmer in the entire field, those two swims from a pair of juniors helped propel the Lady Vols to their first SEC title.
"Alexis and Emily have done an excellent job this whole week of being prepared," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "They have executed their races well and tonight was no different. Sykes was great, that was a best time for her tonight. That is tough to do, with all the energy and nerves going around some people tend to over swim. She stayed calm and swam very well. Yager was calm, cool and collected like always. Those were two huge swims that really set us up to win at the end."
Senior Erika Brown capped her SEC Championship career by winning the SEC Swimmer of the Meet for the second-straight season. She also took home the Commissioner's Trophy, given to the swimmer who scored the most points at SECs, for the second time.
Brown won her third-consecutive SEC title in the 100 free Saturday night in a time of 45.83. She is just the second woman to ever swim a sub 46, joining Olympian Simone Manuel. Brown's time is the third-fastest swim in the history of the event and it lowered her own SEC and school record.
The Charlotte, N.C., native went a perfect 3-for-3 during the week, winning the 50 and 100 free and the 100 fly. This is the third-straight season she has accomplished the feat. Brown closes her SEC Championship career with 18 gold medals and 22 total medals.
"Erika did a fantastic job of preparing and knowing what she wanted to do all week long," Jahn said. "She executed her races exceptionally well every time she went out. She is an exceptional swimmer and like I've said before, she is always looking at the little things. She makes small changes that enable her to go even faster. She loves this team and has done everything that's been asked of her for her entire career."
On Thursday night, Brown set the American Record in the 100 fly with a swim of 49.38. The time made her the third-fastest performer in the event's history.
The men's team finished sixth at the conference championships, scoring 817 points. Florida won the men's title with 1194.
Women's 1650 Freestyle
Amanda Nunan swam a monster 1650 to open the evening session, scoring a silver medal and crucial points for the women in the championship race. The Egg Harbor, N.J., native swam the mile in a school record 15:53.39.
"Amanda has had an incredible year so far and she's not done yet, I can't wait to see what she's going to do in a few weeks at NCAAs," Jahn said. "She got us off to a great start and that performance was certainly not a surprise to her or her teammates."
Men's 1650 Freestyle
Taylor Abbott swam in the final heat of the 1650 on Saturday night, throwing down a massive 14:50.62. His time is the second-fastest in school history and a new personal best. The senior from Cedar Park, Texas finished fourth overall in the mile swim.
Abbott's 1,000 split of 8:56.48 is now the No. 2 time in Vol history.
The men opened up the 1650 freestyle with Ethan Sanders' swim in the afternoon. The sophomore stopped the clock in 14:57.70, finishing seventh overall in the event. His time is also the seventh-fastest in school history. Sanders set the program's third-quickest 1,000 time, splitting in 8:56.93.
"That was an identity swim," associate head coach Lance Asti said. "Specifically, from the distance group, Rich Murphy has been preaching all year about being aggressive when taking out their races. At times, we have succeeded and at time we have fallen short but now after months of executing a learning, it paid off. They got a big reward from that."
Women's 200 Backstroke
Meghan Small and Kaitlin Harty earned second swims Saturday night and turned in two strong performances. Harty won the C-final heat in a 1:53.62, lowering her own fourth-fastest time in Lady Vol history.
In the A-final, Small placed sixth in a time of 1:51.80.
"Kaitlin did a wonderful job tonight," Jahn said. "She executed the plan and vision we all had for tonight very well. The result was a win in the C-final and some positive points that really shot the team forward. Meghan in the A-final, she didn't have the swim she wanted this morning but made adjustments and executed a lot better."
Men's 200 Backstroke
In the final swim of his SEC Championship career, senior Matthew Garcia got on the podium to win his first SEC medal – a bronze – in a time of 1:40.75.
"He has earned it," Asti said. "He has put in so much work, both on his own swimming and on building the team. For him to get his first medal in his last SEC race, I am going to get chocked up just talking about that. He just raced harder than everybody else and lived out what it means to be a Tennessee Volunteer."
In prelims, Benjamin Blevins-Boor set a new personal best at 1:46.73.
Women's 100 Freestyle
The Lady Vols brought back five swimmers for the night session with Brown and Tjasa Pintar swimming in the A-final. The other three were Stanzi Moseley, Trude Rothrock and Bailey Grinter going in the B-final.
Pintar joined Brown in the 100 free A-final, swimming a best time of 47.90 and finishing sixth. Her swim places her into a tie with Moseley for the fourth-quickest in program history.
In the B-final, Moseley placed second at 48.30 while Rothrock was sixth with a time of 49.00. Grinter was seventh in the heat, getting her hand to the wall in a time of 49.02.
"Our 100 freestylers did great," Jahn said. "Just from a strategy perspective, we had to make a decision yesterday on where we wanted to use Erika and then potentially Meghan because she swam so fast on the 4x50 freestyle relay. We decided we could have a great medley relay last night and knew our pack of 100 freestylers had the potential to be really strong today and they were excited. They wanted the opportunity to compete and that's exactly what they did."
Rothrock in the preliminaries swam a personal best of 48.96.
Men's 100 Freestyle
Three men came back for the finals in the 100 freestyle as the Vols had one swimmer in each heat. Alec Connolly swam a personal best 42.50, finishing fifth in the A-final. His time is now the fourth-fastest in school history.
"I saw the continual pursuit of improvement," Asti said. "This whole week has not come easy for him, but he keeps getting better and keeps finding ways to improve. He's been watching video in-between sessions and made a couple of little adjustments and he goes a lifetime best."
In the B-final, Nolan Briggs turned in a 43.35, good for seventh. In the morning session, he posted a best time of 43.18. Seth Bailey swam a new personal best in the C-final, churning out a time of 43.24, finishing fifth.
Freshmen Oskar Hoff and Scott Scanlon turned in a pair of strong swims during the morning's preliminaries. Scanlon stopped the clock at 45.11 and Hoff got his hand on the wall in 45.69. Both times are new personal bests.
Men's 200 Breaststroke
A youth movement took over for the men in the B-final of the 200 breast on Saturday night. The Vols returned three swimmers, Brett Champlin, Michael Houlie and Jarel Dillard – all underclassmen – for the final and all three turned in excellent swims.
Champlin placed third in the heat, swimming a new personal best of 1:55.75. Houlie finished fifth at 1:56.70, while Dillard was eighth in 1:58.01. Champlin, a freshman, now holds the eighth-quickest time in Vol history after his turn Saturday night.
"These are guys we can build championship teams around," Asti said. "They fed off each other tonight and there are more coming behind them. We have 18 freshmen coming next year on the men's side alone. If this team will teach them what we learned this week, we're going to be making some steps forward. That breaststroke group is just a picture of what's to come."
In the morning session, Dillard went 1:56.01. That time is a new personal best and is 10th all-time in the program's history.
Women's Platform Diving
Sophomore Grace Cable made it back to her second event final at these SEC Championships, returning for a second round of dives in the women's platform. Battling through injury, Cable stepped up and kept Florida from having three divers in the A-final, knocking out a Gator diver in the prelims.
The Winter Park, Fla., native came back in the finals and posted a 246.35 and once again finished ahead of a Florida diver, taking away points that were crucial to the Gators.
"Grace was the epitome of heart and toughness today," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "She was diving with a pretty bad injury on her hand and was just tough as nails. She sneaked into the final and knocked out a Florida diver which proved to be critical."
Freshman Kara Holt and junior Ana Celaya Hernandez scored crucial points for the women's team as they finished 13th and 19th, respectively. Holt scored 235.05 and Hernandez closed with 220.20.
Women's 400 Free Relay
The women entered the final event of the 2020 SEC Championships knowing they just had to avoid a disqualification to claim the conference title. The relay quartet of Pintar, Rothrock, Grinter and Moseley swam a clean race and finished fifth at 3:12.99. Not only did their clean swim and relay exchanges clinch the title for the Lady Vols, but it also became the sixth-fastest 400 free relay in school history.
Men's 400 Free Relay
The men's squad of Briggs, Bailey, Josh Walsh and Connolly placed eighth in the final event of the conference meet, stopping the clock in 2:52.14.
Players Mentioned
Distance Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Back/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Back
/ Swimming & Diving
Backstroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Swimming & Diving
Breaststroke
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Fly/IM/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
Distance Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
Free/Fly
/ Swimming & Diving
IM/Back/Breast
/ Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Swimming & Diving
Freestyle
/ Swimming & Diving
IM/Breast
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