Tennessee Claims Three Medals on Night Two of SEC Championships

Tennessee Claims Three Medals on Night Two of SEC Championships

February 18, 2021 | Swimming & Diving

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The second night of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships from Gabreilsen Natatorium saw the Lady Vols claim three medals and finish the night in fourth place with 326 points, just 67 points back of first-place Florida.

"It was an awesome day of racing," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "It was a great night with two people jumping onto the top 10 board. We had other best times throughout the day and it was just a fun exciting day of races."

UT opened the night with Kristen Stege laying down the program's second-fastest 500 freestyle time at 4:38.38. The sophomore touched the wall in second to take home silver in the event and win her first SEC medal.

"Kristen competed so well this morning and has done a great job preparing," Jahn said. "Then tonight she came in and in a really strong field of competitors, she did a great job of just racing and saying within her race."

In the B-final of the 500 free, Claire Nguyen and Amanda Nunan finished 13th and 16th overall, respectively. Nguyen hit the wall in 4:44.03, while Nunan closed in 4:46.94.

Tennessee's second medal of the night came courtesy of Alexis Yager in the 200 IM. Yager was fourth at the final turn, but raced back to the finish and out-touched Georgia's Danielle Dellatorre to bring home bronze. The Lady Vol senior stopped the clock in 1:55.67, a new personal best.

Yager's time lowers her own third-fastest time in school history.

"Alexis said she came off the wall and could see the field on the other side and she just put her head down and raced home," Jahn said. "It was phenomenal to watch. Every point is critical and it was huge for her to score those points for us. It was also really cool because that's her first individual SEC medal. Every year she has gotten better and better and for her first individual event of SECs her senior year, to get the first individual medal of her career is awesome."

In the 200 IM B-final, Tjasa Pintar touched in 1:57.93 and finished 15th overall. Trude Rothrock and Danika Katzer swam in the C-final, closing with times of 1:57.90 and 1:58.17.

Katzer's 1:58.17 is a new personal best.

The Lady Vols closed out the night the way they started it, taking home another medal in the night's final event, the 200 free relay. UT's quartet of Mona McSharry, Natalie Ungaretti, Megan Sichterman and Bailey Grinter finished third in 1:28.00 to bring home bronze.

At 1:28.00, the 200 free relay is now the 10th-fastest in school history.

McSharry led off the relay with a 22.07 50 free. It was McSharry's third time swimming the 50 free on the day and the third time she had lowered her personal best time. Her 22.07 places her ninth in Lady Vol history.

The bronze medal is the first SEC medal for McSharry, Ungaretti and Sichterman.

"The 200 free relay was very consistent," Jahn said. "Mona, just looking at her day, she swam the 50 free twice individually and then had the opportunity to leadoff the relay tonight – she got faster every time. She handed off to Natalie who is competing at her first SECs and it was also her first time being on that relay at SECs. She helped the team to a third place finish and was just very consistent all night. She passed off to Sichterman and it was her first time being on that relay as well. Megan has been developing throughout her four years here, but has gotten more and more consistent and it was great to see her earn a spot on that relay. Bailey is really the veteran on that relay and nobody anchors it better than her."

The 50 freestyle was the third event of the night and also saw some great races from the Lady Vols. In the A-final, Grinter touched fifth in 22.08, while in the B-final McSharry hit the wall in 22.18. Ungaretti joined McSharry in the B-final and turned in a 22.42. In prelims, Ungaretti swam a 22.31 to set a new personal best.

Sichterman swam in the C-final, stopping the clock in 22.52.

DIVING
In diving, junior Grace Cable finished 11th on 3-meter springboard with a score of 285.70. Elle Renner placed 19th with a mark of 254.40, followed by Kara Holt in 26th at 235.75.

"Grace did some really good things today," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "She had her legs buckle a little bit on one dive, but it was just a little bit of bad luck. Like she is known to do, she battled and scrapped her way back into contention but just needed a little bit more. She dove well and dove solidly and we're looking forward to tower tomorrow."

The men took to the boards for the first time at the 2021 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, competing on the 1-meter springboard. Junior Matthew Wade (308.30) and freshman Bryden Hattie (303.80) narrowly missed making the final, placing ninth and 10th, respectively.

Senior Will Hallam was 19th with a score of 282.65 and was followed up by freshman Jacob Reasor in 25th at 262.80. Keegan Richardson rounded out the group in 28th, scoring 242.00.

"I saw some really good stuff from both Matt and Bryden," Parrington said. "In Matt's case, he was going like gangbusters and just missed one dive and came up a little short. I am proud of him and he is in a good place going into tomorrow. For Bryden, it was a great start to his SEC Championships career. Came up a little short as well of making the final, but did a fantastic job and was steady across the board. He wasn't intimidated by the competition and made a real run at finals."

UP NEXT
Day three from SECs starts at 10 a.m. ET Friday with prelims for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, and 100 back. In diving, the day gets going at 11 a.m. for the women as they head up on platform, while the men's 3-meter preliminaries begin at 4 p.m.

LADY VOL TIME DROP – NIGHT TWO
Kristen Stege – 500 Free – 4:38.38 (PR)

Danika Katzer – 200 IM – 1:58.17 (PR)

Alexis Yager – 200 IM – 1:55.67 (PR)

Mona McSharry – 50 Free – 22.07 (PR)

Natalie Ungaretti – 50 Free – 22.31 (PR)

200 Free Relay – McSharry, Ungaretti, Sichterman, Grinter – 1:28.00