Tennessee Swimming & Diving: 2023 SEC Championships Daily Updates

2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships

Photo by: Craig Bisacre/Texas A&M Athletics

Tennessee Swimming & Diving: 2023 SEC Championships Daily Updates

February 14, 2023 | Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving, Men's Swimming & Diving

The 2023 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships are February 14-18 at Rec Center Natatorium. Each day, this page will be updated with Tennessee Swimming & Diving's results.

Saturday, February 18

Crooks, Hattie Honored as SEC Award Winners, McSharry Sweeps Breaststroke on Final Night of SECs

After an incredible week of performances, Jordan Crooks and Bryden Hattie were named co-winners of the SEC Commissioner's Trophy, along with Baylor Nelson of Texas A&M, as the top overall point scorers. Crooks became the first Vol ever to earn SEC Swimmer of the Meet honors, while Hattie became the third Vol to win SEC Diver of the Meet.

Crooks and Hattie mark the first Vols to win the Commissioner's Trophy since diver Gabi Chereches did so in 2000, and Crooks is the first swimmer to win the award since Ricky Busquets in 1996.

One of the best performances at the SEC Championships ever by a Tennessee swimmer, Crooks broke a pair of SEC Meet record and a pair of pool records while winning two gold medals. The highlight of the week came Wednesday when he etched his name into history with the second-fastest time ever and become only the second person ever to swim under 18 seconds in the 50 free, clocking an insane 17.93 time to win gold in the event. He brought home his second individual medal of the week on Thursday night, taking silver in the 100 fly after posting a lifetime best 44.04 in prelims. Both of those times were conference championship records. He ended the meet on a high note, winning the 100 free to complete the sweep in the sprint freestyles.

Crooks spearheaded the Tennessee relays to four medals, winning gold in the 400 free relay and 200 medley relay and bringing home silver in the 200 free relay and 400 medley relay. During the third leg of the 200 medley relay, he recorded an 18.90 fly split—the fastest 50-yard fly ever.

Hattie enjoyed a monster week on the boards, bringing home a pair of gold medals on platform and 3-meter and winning silver on 1-meter. The junior dominated the platform event in both finals and prelims, eclipsing the 80-point margin on six of his dives between the two rounds. Before going on to earn his second gold of the week, Hattie recorded the second-best platform performance in Tennessee diving history in prelims with an outstanding 478.10 score. It marked the second time in his career that Hattie won the platform event, joining former Vols Chereches and Mauricio Robles as the only Vols to ever accomplish the feat.

For the week, Tennessee won a combined 26 medals, with nine gold, 12 silver and five bronze. The Lady Vols totaled 14 medals (3 gold, 8 silver, 3 bronze) to finish second overall with 950.5 points, while the Vols brought home 12 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) to place third with 1035.5 points.

On the men's side of the championships, Tennessee finished with 18 A finalists for the week, 14 B finalists and 17 C finalists. Twelve different Vols advanced to at least one A final during the week, with Crooks and Hattie earning spots in the A final and medaling in all three of their individual events.

The women tallied 17 A finalists, 10 B finalists and 12 C finalists throughout the meet. With eight different Lady Vols advancing to an A final, six of them advanced in multiple events, including Josephine Fuller, Mona McSharry and Sara Stotler doing so in all three of their individual events. Impressively, six of the eight Lady Vol A finalists went on to win a medal.

With his victory in the 100 free, Crooks became the first Vol since Busquets in 1996 to sweep the sprint freestyles at the SEC Championships. Clocking a 41.19 effort, Crooks outpaced a loaded field to earn his third medal of the week. Freshman Gui Caribe earned the first individual medal of his SEC career, touching the wall in 41.55 to win the bronze.

Crooks and Caribe weren't finished yet, though, as the duo led the front half of Tennessee's gold-medal-winning 400 free relay. The group, which also featured Björn Kammann and Aleksey Tarasenko, bested the Florida Gators in a tight race, touching the wall in 2:46.25 to become the first Volunteer 400 free relay to be crowned SEC Champions since 2001.

For the first time in her career, McSharry earned the title of SEC Champion in the 200 breast, touching the wall in 2:05.11, which was just 0.1 seconds off her lifetime best. She led at the end of the first 50-yard split and never looked back, as she became the first Lady Vol since Stephanie Brinser in 1992 to win the event. McSharry joins Tracy Ignatosky (1988) as the only swimmers in program history to ever sweep the breaststrokes. For the week, McSharry won three individual medals and two relay medals to bring her career total up 14 during the SEC Championships.

In the men's 200 breast, Lyubomir Epitropov shattered the program record, clocking a 1:51.83 effort to bring home bronze. After winning gold in the event in 2021, Epitropov is now a two-time SEC medalist. Jarel Dillard (1:55.86) finished 14th in the event, while Michael Houlie (1:56.30) took 19th.

For the third time this week, Josephine Fuller earned a spot on the podium, winning silver in the 200 back with a time of 1:52.21. Earlier in the week, the sophomore finished second in the 100 back as well as the 200 IM. Elle Caldow placed 16th in the 200 back, touching the wall in 1:55.51.

In the mile, the Lady Vols accomplished something they hadn't done since 1991, as two swimmers medaled in the event during the same meet. Aly Breslin brought home the first medal of her SEC career, winning silver with the second-fastest time in the nation this season and the No. 2 time in program history at 15:52.71. Her 1000 free split of 9:37.07 also marked the second-best time in the Tennessee record books.

For the third year in a row, Kristen Stege found herself on the 1650 free podium, taking home the bronze this year with a 15:53.47 effort. She's the first Lady Vol since Kathy Hoffman (1990-92) to medal in the long-distance event in three straight SECs. In addition to winning silver in the 500 free earlier in the week, Stege's brought home six medals during her SEC career.

Finishing ninth overall in the mile, Kate McCarville also posted a pair of UT top-10 times with her 16:05.58 effort and her 1000 free split of 9:42.45 ranking seventh on the top-10 lists. Claire Nguyen finished 19th with a 16:14.88 time. Her 1000 free split (9:46.54) was the 10th-best in Lady Vol history. Lauren Wetherell came in 21st with a lifetime best 16:21.79.

In addition to Hattie's top score on platform, Nick Stone finished sixth overall with a 351.80 score in his first SEC A final. During prelims, he recorded the eighth-best score in the UT record books at 360.70. Jacob Reasor finished ninth after scoring a 326.90.

In the men's 200 back, Nick Simons (1:40.05) threw down the third-fastest time in Tennessee history to finish fifth overall in the A final. Harrison Lierz placed 17th to win the C final with a lifetime best 1:42.03 mark that ranked eighth in the UT record books. Landon Driggers took 23rd with a 1:43.38 time.

Leading the Lady Vols in the 100 free, Brooklyn Douthwright finished seventh behind a 48.65 time. During prelims, she moved into a tie for eighth all time in the Tennessee record books with a 48.08 effort. In the C final, Julia Mrozinski posted a 48.94 mark to finish 18th.

On the men's side of the mile, Jack Little was the top finisher in the mile for the Vols, posting the fifth-fastest time in program history at 14:54.25 to take 14th. His 1000 free split of 9:01.14 was good for seventh all time in Tennessee history.

Four Vols finished in the C final of the 1650 free, with Joey Tepper (15:07.24) coming in 19th, Jake Narvid (15:10.03) taking 21st, Rafael Ponce de Leon Castilla (15:14.36) finishing 23rd and Joaquin Vargas (15:14.96) rounding things out in 24th.

Medal Tracker
Women (14)
Gold – 200 Free (Brooklyn Douthwright)
Gold – 100 Breast (Mona McSharry)
Gold – 200 Breast (Mona McSharry)
Silver – 50 Free (Mona McSharry)
Silver – 500 Free (Kristen Stege)
Silver – 1650 Free (Aly Breslin)
Silver – 100 Back (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 200 Back (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 200 IM (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 800 Free Relay (Douthwright, Mrozinski, Burroughs, Stotler)
Silver – 400 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Stotler, Douthwright)
Bronze – 1650 Free (Kristen Stege)
Bronze – 200 Fly (Sara Stotler)
Bronze – 200 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Carlton, Rumley)

Men (12)
Gold – 50 Free (Jordan Crooks)
Gold – 100 Free (Jordan Crooks)
Gold – 3-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Gold – Platform (Bryden Hattie)
Gold – 400 Free Relay (Caribe, Crooks, Kammann, Tarasenko)
Gold – 200 Medley Relay (Kammann, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)
Silver – 1-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Silver – 100 Fly (Jordan Crooks)
Silver – 200 Free Relay (Crooks, Caribe, Chambers, Scanlon)
Silver – 400 Medley Relay (Lierz, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)
Bronze – 100 Free (Gui Caribe)
Bronze – 200 Breast (Lyubomir Epitropov)

Standings
Women
1. Florida – 1255
2. Tennessee – 950.5
3. Kentucky – 946
4. Alabama – 791
5. LSU – 775
6. Georgia – 756
7. Auburn – 688
8. South Carolina – 587
9. Texas A&M – 583.5
10. Arkansas – 530
11. Missouri – 418
12. Vanderbilt – 169

Men
1. Florida – 1488.5
2. Auburn – 1089.5
3. Tennessee – 1035.5
4. Texas A&M – 1018
5. Georgia – 828.5
6. Missouri – 725.5
7. Alabama – 667
8. Kentucky– 514
9. South Carolina – 458.5
10. LSU – 337

Prelim Notables

Overall, Tennessee advanced 11 athletes to the A final (6 men, 5 women), five to B finals (3 men, 2 women) and 11 to C finals (8 men, 3 women) for a total of 27 finalists.
Bryden Hattie recorded the second-best performance in Tennessee diving history on platform with a 478.10 score. During the list, he received a perfect score from at least one judge on two different dives, and he eclipsed the 80-point margin on three of his dives.
Nick Simons posted the fourth-fastest time in program history in the 200 back, touching the wall in 1:40.99.
Nick Stone now ranks eighth in the record books on platform after netting a 360.70 effort to advance to his first-ever SEC A final.
Brooklyn Douthwright moved into a tie for eighth in Lady Vol history in the 100 free, posting a 48.08 effort.
Lauren Wetherell also recorded new lifetime bests during the time trials at 16:21.79 in the 1650 free and 9:49.37 in the 1000 free.
Elle Caldow notched a personal best in the 200 back, clocking 1:55.04 to advance to the B final.

Quotes
"We clearly had some great performances this week and saw a lot of growth from everybody. I think it's difficult to set team goals and fall short, but it's still possible to see tremendous growth from this team through the year as well as from a lot of individuals from last year. Josephine Fuller is a great example, Bryden Hattie is a great example. Over the past year, we've had people put in a lot of really good work and that emerged in their competitiveness throughout the week.

"It's fun to watch new leaders develop. I think Jordan Crooks is growing into that role instead of just being a performer – and he's a magnificent performer. He's becoming a strong leader and he had a tremendous class of our fifth-year men to mentor him, so you can see him starting to do that with other people. That's really rewarding.

"Zooming out a little bit, we've got some really exciting prospects for NCAA's ahead. I also want to commend our staff for getting our team ready at a high level for essentially all the events. Our milers were phenomenal tonight, our sprinters were fantastic, and I think both the men and women did a great job in creating and individual identity for themselves, but also helping the other team.

"It was an intense week in a lot of ways, but it was also frustrating. I think that frustration leaves us a lot to work on and it gives us some target areas for the next month as well as the next year." – Director of Swimming & Diving Matt Kredich

"The prelims, specifically from Bryden Hattie, was one of those special dives to be a part of. Bryden was on his game every single dive. He rounded up three '10s' during the course of competition. That's just something you can't take for granted and it's very pleasing to be a part of that. To see Nick Stone to get up and have a career best and find his way into that final as a freshman and showing all sorts of composure was phenomenal as well. Jake Reasor almost was in there too. It was a big day for our prelim and I'm very proud of those guys.

"It was a great week for Bryden, and just accredit to everything that he does day-in and day-out. He's just incredibly dedicated, hard training, does everything right, nutrition, mental training – the whole deal. It all paid off for him this week. I couldn't be more proud of him and I'm pleased to be a part of it myself. I'm looking forward to what's next." – Diving Coach Dave Parrington

"Our team entered the last day of competition in a tight team race for second place. I'm proud of this team of Lady Vols for competing well in the morning to position themselves to be able to compete for a second-place team finish tonight. The 1650 timed final event started the evening off and all five Lady Vols in the event scored. Aly Breslin swam her best mile, finished with a silver medal in the event and one of the fastest times in the country so far this season. Her teammates in the event, Kristen Stege, Kate McCarville, Claire Nguyen and Lauren Wetherell joined her to score big points for the team.

"Josephine Fuller completed the 200 back with another silver-medal performance. Her teammate, Elle Caldow, earned 16th place. Brooklyn Douthwright and Julia Mrozinski scored in the A and C finals in the 100 free. Mona McSharry and Kailee Morgan represented the Lady Vols in the 200 breast and scored in the A and C finals respectively. Finally, our second-place finish came down to our finish in the 400 free relay. McSharry, Douthwright, Stotler and Mrozinski competed really well.

"I'm proud of the whole team's efforts this week. We are coming out of this meet as a better group of competitors." – Associate Head Coach Ashley Jahn

"Awesome session to wrap up an outstanding SEC meet. We achieved a lot of what we wanted and will continue our pursuit of the conference title. We are hungry for more growth and an even better NCAA meet. I am thrilled for the level of excellence the men have come to expect at this meet, and three event wins and two additional top-3 finishes tonight was awesome.
Having four freshmen finish in the top six in individual events was a great sign of bright things to come.

"Very happy to see Lyubomir break his school record after needing to skip the meet last year. Thrilled for our senior and 5th-year guys for re-establishing a top-three-or-better standard at the SEC Championship meet. I'm appreciative of them as men and as student-athletes. It's so much fun to support them.

"I would like to give a thank you to Greg Adamson, our outstanding Associate Director of Olympic Sports Performance coach, for his tireless efforts. I would like to give a thank you to Dr. Joe Whitney, our outstanding Director of Mental Training, for his commitment to our men's team. Also, I would like to thank our support staff, and our athletic trainer, Kendall Wilhelm-Glab, for her exceptional work." – Associate Head Coach Rich Murphy

Friday, February 17

McSharry Becomes First Lady Vol Ever to Repeat as 100 Breast Champ, Tennessee Wins Five Medals on Day 4

For the second year in a row, Mona McSharry earned the title of SEC Champion in the 100 breast, setting the SEC Meet record with a 57.25 time to highlight Day 4 of the SEC Championships, as Tennessee racked up five medals on the day.

McSharry is the first Lady Vol to ever win the event in back-to-back years. At NCAAs last year, she became the SEC record holder in the 100 breast with a 57.18 effort. She's now won 13 SEC medals in her career, including four this week.

In the men's 400 medley relay, the lineup of Harrison Lierz, Michael Houlie, Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe shattered the Tennessee record in the event by more than a second to take silver thanks to a 3:02.51 effort. After swimming a lifetime best in the 100 back B final, Lierz upped his personal record once again in the event with a 45.70 split, which ranks as the No. 5 time in the program record books.

After winning silver in the 200 IM earlier in the week, Josephine Fuller added another medal to her collection, winning silver in the 100 back. She touched the wall 51.26—the No. 3 time in Lady Vol history. Elle Caldow took 13th in the event behind a personal-best 52.54 time, which ranks ninth in program history.

Kicking off the night, Sara Stotler brought home the first individual SEC medal of her career, winning the bronze in the 200 fly thanks to a 1:54.88 effort. She's the first Lady Vol to podium in the event since Kelsey Floyd won bronze in 2013. Earlier in the week, Stotler earned her first SEC medal after anchoring the 800 free relay to a silver.

All three medalists returned in the final event of the night to make up the Lady Vol 400 medley relay, as Fuller led things off followed by McSharry, Stotler and Brooklyn Douthwright. The lineup brought home the fourth medal of the night for the Lady Vols, winning silver with a 3:28.78 effort, which ranked as the sixth-best time in program history. It marked the seventh year in a row the Lady Vol lineup medaled in the event.

In the men's 200 fly, Martin Espernberger finished fourth overall after posting the second-fastest time in program history at 1:41.91, joining Mel Stewart as the only Vols to ever swim under 1:42.00.

On the women's platform, Tanesha Lucoe finished fourth overall with a 266.45 effort. She was in position to win gold going into the final round but just missed her final dive. Grace Cable posted a 216.05 score to take eighth to round out the A final. Also scoring points for the Lady Vols as finalists in the event, Maddie Reese finished 15th overall with a 218.85 mark, while Elle Renner took 20th behind a 207.50 score.

Nick Simons placed eighth overall in the men's 100 back, touching the wall in 46.03. During prelims, he notched a 45.63 to move into a tie for third all time in Tennessee history. In the B final of the event, Lierz tied for 10th overall thanks to a then-lifetime-best effort at 45.72. Björn Kammann finished right behind him in 12th with a 46.30 mark.

In the 100 breast, Houlie placed eighth after recording a 52.28 time in the A final. Swimming in the B final, Lyubomir Epitropov posted the fifth-fastest time in program history at 52.10 to finish 10th. Jarel Dillard checked in right behind him in 11th behind a 52.11 time.

In addition to McSharry's win in the 100 breast, Kailee Morgan took 22nd in the event, which marked the first SEC finals appearance of her career after transferring from Carson-Newman.

Overall, Tennessee won five medals on the fourth night of the SEC Championships. Another program record fell, and eight top-10 times in UT history were recorded.

Medal Tracker
Women (10)
Gold – 100 Breast (Mona McSharry)
Gold – 200 Free (Brooklyn Douthwright)
Silver – 100 Back (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 50 Free (Mona McSharry)
Silver – 500 Free (Kristen Stege)
Silver – 200 IM (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 800 Free Relay (Douthwright, Mrozinski, Burroughs, Stotler)
Silver – 400 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Stotler, Douthwright)
Bronze – 200 Fly (Sara Stotler)
Bronze – 200 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Carlton, Rumley)

Men (7)
Gold – 50 Free (Jordan Crooks)
Gold – 3-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Gold – 200 Medley Relay (Kammann, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)
Silver – 1-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Silver – 100 Fly (Jordan Crooks)
Silver – 200 Free Relay (Crooks, Caribe, Chambers, Scanlon)
Silver – 400 Medley Relay (Lierz, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)

Standings
Women
1. Florida – 962
2. Tennessee – 709.5
3. Kentucky – 698
4. LSU – 624
5. Georgia – 577.5
6. Alabama – 560
7. Auburn – 499
8. South Carolina – 489
9. Texas A&M – 470
10. Arkansas – 415
11. Missouri – 312
12. Vanderbilt – 135

Men
1. Florida – 1056.5
2. Auburn – 774.5
3. Texas A&M – 765
4. Tennessee – 727.5
5. Georgia – 584.5
6. Kentucky – 369
7. Alabama – 464
8. Kentucky – 369
9. South Carolina – 366.5
10. LSU – 240

Prelim Notables

Overall, Tennessee advanced eight athletes to the A final (5 women, 3 men), six to B finals (4 men, 2 women) and two to C finals (2 women) for a total of 16 finalists.
The Lady Vols earned the top overall seed in all three individual swimming events with Mona McSharry (57.37) in the 100 breast, Josephine Fuller (51.48) in the 100 back and Sara Stotler (1:54.61) in the 200 fly.
Four swimmers posted new top-10 times in program history during prelims.
Nick Simons (45.63) is now tied for third all time in the 100 back.
Martin Espernberger (1:42.50) climbed to fourth all time in the 200 fly.
Lyubomir Epitropov (52.19) moved into fifth all time in the 100 breast.
Josephine Fuller (51.48) now ranks fifth all time in the 100 back.
Kailee Morgan also recorded a new personal best in the 100 breast, touching the wall in 1:00.50.

Quotes
"Our women competed really well tonight. It was a great team effort. People got themselves into competitive situations this morning and gave themselves an opportunity to score points for the team, which is what we're here to do. We are competing to win, and people put themselves in position to do that. Sara Stotler getting into the A final tonight and ending up with a bronze medal was a great performance.

"Josephine was in a really competitive heat this morning. She told me in the morning that's exactly where she wants to be, and she competed really well and executed a great race She swam another best time and got herself a lane for tonight and came up with a phenomenal finish. She ended up with a silver medal.

"Mona's 100 breaststroke was just wonderful, and she has put in so much work all year to make little changes. She's just one of the toughest competitors in the field, so it was awesome to see her execute such a great race. The relay tonight was really fun. They competed really well and came up just a little bit short of the gold medal, which was ultimately the goal, but that's going to be a great relay moving forward." — Associate Head Coach Ashley Jahn

"A massive swim from Martin Espernberger. Martin has worked as hard or harder than most of the guys on the team. He loves the 200 butterfly. He's all in on it, and he really showed a lot of composure and a lot of giving his all for Tennessee tonight. To be in the middle of the pool in an A final as a freshman and your first night swim of your career at SECs and to go a best time on top of the best time you went in the morning, that's really remarkable and awesome. He's put in the work. He deserved that swim, and he's got big things ahead of him in the future. Nick Simons is going to be a force to be reckoned with here at Tennessee. This is the tip of the iceberg for him in terms of how he'll contribute and how he'll also help grow our competitive culture. He's a spark plug for us and really excited for his race tomorrow.

"I'm looking for the fifth years and the seniors to lead the competitive effort tomorrow and to continue to grow their legacy. They have done remarkable things at SECs, particularly on the last day they've been awesome competitors. Teams get their reputation based on how they compete on the last day of a meet, and this team has built a reputation as being fearless, relentless competitors. That's our charge again tomorrow." – Associate Head Coach Rich Murphy

"It was a real positive day for us. Talking about the prelims first, Elle was a little bit up and down but managed to scrape some team points by finishing 18th. I'm proud of her. She did some good things, and I think this sets her up well for positive zone meet. Maddie did some really good things but certainly showed some first-ever-SEC-meet type nerves you might say, and I think she'll learn a lot from this experience. She managed to get in there at 15th. I was happy there. Grace was like she has been all week and was a model of consistency in preliminaries, and found a way to enter the finals tonight with a fifth-place finish, which I was really happy with. Tanesha had a close to exceptional prelims with four pretty darn good dives, and then one which let her down a little bit but moved comfortably into the finals so that was that was really good. Speaking of the finals, Grace came in this evening and her first dive with a whole lot of juice and energy and didn't quite calm it down enough before that first dive, which went flying over. She was playing some catch up and may have put extra pressure on herself. I'm real proud of her effort today getting in the final. As for Tanesha, just like every year she has been in the SEC, she was right in the mix for the title and unfortunately missed her last dive even though she had the lead. I know she's hurting a little bit from that, but she'll learn a lot from it as we move forward. Some of that is means learning how to coach her in these types of situations and learning how to respond to those situations. But just again, very, very proud of her effort." – Diving Coach Dave Parrington

Thursday, February 16

Douthwright, Hattie Secure Gold to Highlight Day 3

Brooklyn Douthwright became the second Lady Vol ever to be crowned SEC Champion in the 200 free, and Bryden Hattie came out on top in a tight 3-meter final to win gold on Day 3 of the SEC Championships.

After winning silver in the event as a freshman last year, Douthwright touched the wall in 1:42.64 to join Lindsay Gendron (2013) as the only Lady Vol gold medalists in the 200 free. After notching the fastest 100 split at 50.22, Douthwright pulled ahead and kept a comfortable lead throughout the majority of the race, winning by more than half a second.

To make things even more impressive, Douthwright also competed in the event before the 200 free, finishing 12th overall in the 100 fly roughly 30 minutes prior. Fellow sophomore Sara Stotler placed eighth overall in the 100 fly A final, touching the wall in 52.64.

Hattie outlasted a battle for the top spots on 3-meter after finishing sixth in the prelims with it coming down to the final round of dives. The five-time SEC medalist rattled off three straight 70-plus-point dives to open the event. After his fourth dive, he faced a 27.25 deficit form being in first. Hattie pulled within striking distance thanks to his fifth dive, but it was his final effort that delivered the dagger.

Hattie netted an impressive 81.60 effort on his forward 2 1/2 somersault 2 twist pike to finish with a career-best 429.20 score, which moved him into eighth in program history. The final diver of the night faced a 60-point deficit to Hattie after averaging 73 points on his first five dives, but it was too much to overcome, as Hattie brought home his second career SEC gold.

Jordan Crooks won his second individual medal of the week, taking silver in the 100 fly thanks to a 44.37 effort. During prelims, he set the SEC Meet and pool record with a lifetime best 44.04. Björn Kammann came in fourth with the No. 2 time in Vols history (45.32), while Luke Brice (46.18) finished seventh and Harrison Lierz (46.23) checked in at eighth to round out the A finalists.

In the B final, Micah Chambers took 15th with a 46.60 time, while Gui Caribe won the C final with a personal-record 46.20 time, which ranked 10th in Tennessee history.

In the 400 IM, Landon Driggers finished sixth overall thanks to a lifetime-best 3:40.90 effort, which is the second-best time in Tennessee history. Joey Tepper rounded out the event on the men's side by finishing in 22nd. In the women's event, Kate McCarville placed 20th with a 4:13.69 time.

In addition to Douthwright, three other Lady Vols advanced to the finals in the 200 free. The duo of Abby Samansky (1:46.12) and Elle Caldow (1:46.29) placed 13th and 14th, respectively. In the C final, Julia Mrozinski took 18th with a 1:46.03 time. Joaquin Vargas was the lone Vol in the men's 200 free finals, finishing 20th with a 1:34.96 time.

Overall, Tennessee won three medals on the third night of the SEC Championships. One program record fell, and seven top-10 times in UT history were recorded.

Medal Tracker
Men (6)
Gold – 50 Free (Jordan Crooks)
Gold – 3-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Gold – 200 Medley Relay (Kammann, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)
Silver – 1-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Silver – 100 Fly (Jordan Crooks)
Silver – 200 Free Relay (Crooks, Caribe, Chambers, Scanlon)

Women (6)
Gold – 200 Free (Brooklyn Douthwright)
Silver – 50 Free (Mona McSharry)
Silver – 500 Free (Kristen Stege)
Silver – 200 IM (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 800 Free Relay (Douthwright, Mrozinski, Burroughs, Stotler)
Bronze – 200 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Carlton, Rumley)

Standings
Women
1. Florida – 760
2. Tennessee – 483
3. Kentucky – 452
4. LSU – 439
5. Georgia – 391
6. South Carolina – 385
7. Alabama – 364
8. Auburn – 326
9. Texas A&M – 319
10. Arkansas – 245
11. Missouri – 217
12. Vanderbilt – 94

Men
1. Florida – 810.5
2. Texas A&M – 628
3. Auburn – 560
4. Tennessee – 537
5. Georgia – 424.5
6. Alabama – 354
7. Missouri – 297.5
8. South Carolina – 270.5
9. Kentucky – 266
10. LSU – 177

Prelim Notables

Jordan Crooks broke the SEC Meet and pool record in the 100 fly during prelims, touching the wall in a new personal-best time of 44.04, which also improves his school record mark.
Overall, Tennessee advanced eight athletes to the A final (6 men, 2 women), four to B finals (3 women, 1 men) and seven to C finals (5 men, 2 women) for a total of 19 finalists.
In addition to Crooks' effort, three other Vols advanced to the 100 fly A final, with Björn Kammann (45.41) and Luke Brice (46.03) setting new career bests, which rank second and eighth in program history, respectively.
Earning a spot in the A final, Sara Stotler recorded a personal-best in the 100 fly, touching the wall in 52.07, which is the No. 10 time in UT history.
Joey Tepper notched a new lifetime best in the 400 IM with a 3:50.04 mark.
Martin Espernberger (47.17) and Nick Simons (47.23) both set new PRs in the 100 fly along with Micah Chambers (46.45) and Scott Scanlon (47.87).

Quotes
"Well, obviously it was kind of an up-and-down prelim. Bryden had four really good dives, and then two that were not up to his normal standard. It was one of those prelims, and it was kind of like that for a lot of people, but he just kept on plugging away. I knew that his last dive was a really strong dive compared to what all the divers that were kind of in the mix had left. At that point, I felt pretty confident that he was going to pull it out. I was pretty confident just knowing the other divers and their strengths and weaknesses and those type of things that, if Bryden put a good final dive in, he was going to be in good shape. He was confident, but you have to do the dive. In our world, in our sport, anything can happen. He had to get up and perform it, and he did. Those two misses were out of character for him, so I felt pretty comfortable coming into tonight about his chances of moving up.

"The final was a really interesting competition. Takuto Endo from Texas A&M was really sharp. He was really on his game through four rounds, but even through those four rounds, I knew that his last few dives are what we call backs and gainers. Those are the two days that Bryden actually missed earlier today, and they can go that way for some for some people. Endo can do those dives great. In fact, he got a 10 from one of the judges on his second to last dive in the prelim, but I also have seen him miss them. In the back of my mind, I was thinking, 'Ok, Bryden's going to stay in there and be in position to try and win.' Bryden's backs and gainers were solid tonight. They weren't great, but they were good enough. Going into the final round, Bryden nailed his dive and benefited by going earlier because he was able to put the heat on.

"It's really exciting for Bryden to get this win. He's been diving really, really well on springboard all year. He had a great summer, a great Canadian Nationals a few weeks ago, and he's just carrying on that trend and really excited for him. Now, we are on to tower." – Diving Coach Dave Parrington

"Brooklyn had a great day today. She executed a great 100 fly this morning, and then a great 200 freestyle this morning to put herself in position to score in the B final and the A final. Tonight, that was a great performance. She planned out really how much time she was going to have between events and was prepared to get right in, recover and get ready to win a 200 freestyle. That's what her goal was. She's been incredibly diligent at mastering the 200, and she executed really well tonight.

"It was really good for a lot of our girls. Kate got us started off tonight in the C final of the 400 IM. She had a much better swim than she had this morning. But even this morning, she put herself in position to score points for our team which was great. We moved into the 100 fly, with Brooklyn and Sara both in that event. Sara executed in a really good field, made a couple of mistakes, but ultimately competed really well. Finals is all about scoring points for your team and staying connected to the team, and she did a good job with that tonight. In the 200 freestyle, we had Julia, who's just putting together better and better performances every time she swims. That was a great last 50 that she executed with tonight. Elle and Abby both in the B final. They executed two really solid 200s each today to put themselves in position to score a lot of points for their team. Finally, Brooklyn in the A final, did a phenomenal job getting the win in that event." – Associate Head Coach Ashley Jahn

"I'm really thrilled for Bryden. He is a student of the sport. He's done a great job really developing his craft. He came in as a very elite diver, and he continues to get better and better, and he does things the right way and pursues excellence always. He always gives his all for Tennessee. He's a joy to watch. I'm thrilled with Jordan's performances today. He has taken our 100 fly standard internally into the 44's and nearly into the 43's this morning. To have two guys in the first SEC A finals of their careers in Harrison Lierz and Luke Brice—a Knoxville guy who has gotten better every year. Luke values being a member of this team more than probably anybody else on the team. He really upholds our standards and has elevated those standards so really excited for him. Harrison is continuing to grow in all his events, and he's really added butterfly in his collegiate career, so to see him make the A final is awesome. As far as Jordan is concerned, I'm really happy with his efforts. He scored a lot of points for us tonight. Björn posted the No. 2 time all time and improved upon his great results from last year. We are continuing to see really outstanding growth from him, and he's really mature and professional with the way that he approaches every swim and every opportunity, and he really values putting points on the board for the Vols.

"I loved Gui's aggressiveness. He was really good. Early on in that race, he took it to the heat during the first 25 and energetically set a great tone for that event for all the men. Micah continues to fight and claw to put all the points up on the board that he can. I think he's going to be viable on Saturday, and he's a really valuable last-day guy for us. I'm excited to see him get a little bit of rest tomorrow and then really come out with a great 100 free on Saturday.

"Landon was outstanding. I mean, he is one of the top three all-time Vols in the IMs and really cool to see him get his first SEC A final as well. And to go a best time from an outside lane and move up two places in his first SEC A final, it's really significant. It's a lot different environment to go a best time here at night versus at our invite in November where it's a much more hospitable environment. Really cool for him, and it's also awesome to see how he's handling his process here and to see his eagerness and getting back to work and being better at NCAAs." – Associate Head Coach Rich Murphy

Wednesday, February 15

Crooks Joins 17-Second Club in 50 Free, Lady Vols Win Three Silver Medals

Jordan Crooks etched his name in history Wednesday night, becoming only the second swimmer ever to join the 17-second club in the 50 free, while the Lady Vols won three silver medals to highlight Day 2 of the SEC Championships.

After earning the top seed in prelims, Crooks threw down an insane 17.93 to win his second-straight SEC title in the 50 free, shattering his previous record of 18.25, which he set during the morning session. He joins Caeleb Dressel, who was also the last person to win the event in back-to-back years, as the only swimmers ever to achieve the feat of swimming faster than 18.00 seconds. Crooks' performance also marked a new SEC Meet record.

Also with an impressive swim in the 50 free was freshman Gui Caribe, who finished fourth overall with a lifetime best 18.79—the second-fastest time in program history. In the B final, Micah Chambers (19.57) finished 15th while Scott Scanlon (19.59) took 16th. Winning the C final, Aleksey Tarasenko placed 17th behind a 19.55 effort.

With the No. 2 time in program history, the men's 200 free relay kicked off the night by bringing home a silver medal thanks to a 1:15.34 effort by Crooks, Caribe, Chambers and Scanlon. Crooks opened with an 18.46 split to set the tone early. Caribe threw down am 18.33 split on the second leg, setting up a pair of sub-19.40 splits from the final two Vols to take second in the event for the second year in a row.

In the women's 50 free, Mona McSharry threw down the fourth-best swim in Lady Vol history to win silver in the event. She's now garnered four individual medals during her SEC career, and this marked her first in the freestyle. Jasmine Rumley took 15th in the event with a time of 22.76.

For the fifth year in a row, a Tennessee Lady Vol medaled in the 200 IM. This time, it was sophomore sensation Josephine Fuller winning silver, touching the wall in 1:55.01. During prelims, she recorded the fourth-best time in UT history at 1:54.09. Sara Stotler (1:56.69) finished sixth overall in the event after also notching a new personal record and the No. 7 time in the school record books (1:56.21) during prelims.

A bronze medalist in the event last year, Kristen Stege threw down the No. 2 time in Tennessee history in the 500 free with a 4:36.35 mark to win silver. She finished just 0.04 seconds from first place, which was held by her sister, Rachel, from Georgia.

After posting a lifetime best during prelims and etching her name on the UT top-10 list, Kate McCarville shattered her morning time in the 500 free by nearly three seconds to win the B final with a 4:38.99 effort. She moved up to fifth all time in Lady Vol history with the performance.

Rounding out the event, Claire Nguyen placed 14th with a 4:43.13 time, while Julia Mrozinski (20th), Aly Breslin (21st) and Lauren Wetherell (24th) all scored points in the C final.

Competing in the B final of the men's 200 IM, Landon Driggers threw down the top time in program history, touching the wall in 1:43.16 to finish 10th overall. His time was the sixth-fastest of any swimmer competing in the finals.

In the men's 500 free, Joey Tepper was the top finisher, taking 12th with a 4:16.95 time. In the C final, Jack Little threw down a new lifetime best at 4:18.91 to take 19th, while Rafael Ponce de Leon Castilla and Jake Narvid came in 22nd and 24th, respectively.

In the 200 free relay, the lineup of McSharry, Brooklyn Douthwright, Julia Burroughs and Rumley touched the wall in 1:29.30 to finish eighth.

The women's 1-meter was the lone diving event on the day, with Grace Cable leading the way for the Lady Vols. She finished 10th overall with a 270.95 effort. Elle Renner took 17th after posting a 249.80 mark, while Tanesha Lucoe rounded out the finalists with her 245.95 score.

Overall, Tennessee won five medals on the second night of the SEC Championships. Two program records fell, and 10 top-10 times in UT history were recorded.

Medal Tracker
Men (4)
Gold – 50 Free (Jordan Crooks)
Gold – 200 Medley Relay (Kammann, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)
Silver – 1-meter (Bryden Hattie)
Silver – 200 Free Relay (Crooks, Caribe, Chambers, Scanlon)

Women (5)
Silver – 50 Free (Mona McSharry)
Silver – 500 Free (Kristen Stege)
Silver – 200 IM (Josephine Fuller)
Silver – 800 Free Relay (Douthwright, Mrozinski, Burroughs, Stotler)
Bronze – 200 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Carlton, Rumley)

Standings
Men
1. Florida – 542.5
T2. Auburn – 380
T2. Texas A&M – 380
4. Tennessee – 347
5. Georgia – 268.5
6. Alabama – 249
7. Missouri – 214.5
8. South Carolina – 203.5
9. Kentucky – 162
10. LSU – 131

Women
1. Florida – 502
2. LSU – 378
3. Tennessee – 375
4. Georgia – 329
5. Alabama – 306
6. Kentucky – 300
7. South Carolina – 286
8. Texas A&M – 226
9. Auburn – 222
10. Arkansas – 205
11. Missouri – 177
12. Vanderbilt – 94

Prelim Notables

Jordan Crooks secured the top seed in the 50 free with an 18.25, which set a new school record and pool record in addition to giving him the second-fastest time in NCAA history.
Overall, Tennessee advanced six athletes to the A final (4 women, 2 men), eight to B finals (4 men, 4 women) and nine to C finals (5 women, 4 men) for a total of 23 finalists.
Landon Driggers threw down the third-best time in Tennessee history, touching the wall in 1:44.27.
Josephine Fuller (1:54.09) and Sara Stotler (1:56.21) both notched lifetime bests in the 200 IM, ranking them in fourth and seventh in Lady Vol history, respectively.
Micah Chambers moved into the 50 free top-10 list for the Vols, climbing to eighth with a 19.43 mark.
Finishing 10th in the 500 free prelims, Kate McCarville recorded the ninth-best time in Lady Vol history, touching the wall in 4:41.85.
Claire Nguyen (4:42.42) and Lauren Wetherell (4:43.45) also posted new lifetime bests in the 500 free.
In the men's 500 free, Jack Little recorded a new personal-record mark with a 4:20.18 time.
Scott Scanlon notched a new lifetime best in the 50 free behind a 19.53 effort.

Quotes
"I'm excited for Jordan, and I'm excited for our program. These guys have done an awesome job, and iron sharpens iron. We've had a lot of guys who have been battling all year and been training and being really competitive and supporting each other that led to further preparing Jordan for tonight's achievement. To go 17 seconds in this sport is a very special number, and it's thrilling to see him be the second man to do that.

"We had a strong relay. To earn second place in a relay at SECs and a meet of this level is awesome. I'm really excited for the guys. I thought they did an awesome and professional job of moving from the individual event to the relay. The way they transition and handled those two assignments tonight was awesome. I'm really excited that Micah had the opportunity to be rewarded for his swim in the prelim and earn a spot on the relay, and it was awesome to have a senior, Scott Scanlon, anchor it.

"Landon Driggers was extremely competitive today, and the competitive fire that he showed was absolutely phenomenal. He dropped a bunch of time in the morning, and for him to come back tonight and drop another second, we are really excited for him. He's injected a great amount of energy and excitement into our program and has helped develop our IM crowd. I'm really happy for him on a personal level. It's always awesome to see a transfer come in and have a big career breakthrough after taking a leap of faith coming to Tennessee. He trusted that we would invest in him and support him and celebrate him on a night like tonight.

"Gui is a lot of fun to have around. He brings a real fun spirit to our team and our guys. He has been remarkable in our conference. To be in that race and do that well in probably the most competitive conference championship 50 free in history, I mean what can you say? He's got a very bright future, and we love going to battle with Gui." – Associate Head Coach Rich Murphy

"I thought our three women that made it up to the podium tonight did just a phenomenal job. They did a great job this morning to put themselves into a position to compete to win. They really put themselves out there, and they competed like Lady Vols and did a phenomenal job. There were a lot of supporting cast members to their performances to include some other women that were in those events. Some that swam faster than they did in their prelim session. We had that a number of times in the women's 500 free. It was really great to see some people scoring in their first-ever SEC meet.

"Kristen Stege's performance in the 500 free was awesome. It was a great battle, and then you've got the extra added storyline of the fact that she was just behind her sister in that finish. Obviously really great to see Kristen executed that really, really well and raced to a best time for her and the second-best time in program history. Kate McCarville's performance and the 500 free was great. She performed in the morning to put herself in a position to try to make that A final and came up just short and executed tonight in such a way that she not only swam a best time, but she moved up the top-10 list all time for the Lady Vols and put herself in a great position to compete that in a few weeks at NCAAs.

"Also, a really impressive feat, we had two women in the A final of the 200 IM as our only two women entered in the event. Really proud of how Sara Stotler and Josephine Fuller performed in that session. Sara advanced to the A final last year as a freshman, and then moved up and scored higher in the event this year than she did last year. Josephine was a B finalist last year, and she moved up to get second and put herself in a position to compete to win and came up just short of that but really proud of her effort. Then, Mona McSharry had a phenomenal 50 freestyle tonight. There aren't many women that can go out with Maggie MacNeil, and she did really successful, especially competing against somebody that's one of the best in the world underwater. It was a just a phenomenal performance by Mona and led her to not only her best time but one of the top times in Tennessee history in arguably her third-best event." – Associate Head Coach Ashley Jahn

"I felt Like Grace was really steady today. The women's 1-meter is such a tight competition because a lot of people do the same dives, and judging was tight today. She was steady, but she needed one big hit and that would have been the difference. I am still very proud of her 10th-place finish in a very tough field. I was really proud of the way Elle Renner bounced back after a tough performance yesterday, and she almost made the B final. Same thing for Tanesha Lucoe. She came back today and looked a lot better. Maddie missed scoring, but she was right there. They came back today, and I'm looking forward to what they do on platform on Friday." – Diving Coach Dave Parrington

Tuesday, February 14

Vols 200 Medley Relay Shatters Tennessee Record En Route to Gold, UT Collects Four Medals

An electric effort to kick off the 2023 SEC Championships, the Volunteer 200 medley relay sent the crowd roaring at Rec Center Natatorium on Tuesday night, when the squad threw down a program-record-shattering performance and posted the top time in the nation to win gold.

The lineup of Björn Kammann, Michael Houlie, Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe trailed by nearly half a second entering the third leg of the race, but Crooks' insane 18.90 fly split—the fastest 50-yard fly ever on a relay split—erased the deficit and vaulted the Vols ahead. Caribe finished things out with a strong 18.43 free split to touch the wall first in 1:21.43, marking the second-fastest time in SEC history and setting a new SEC Championship meet record.

The effort stood as the eighth time in UT history and the first since 2015 that the Vols were crowned SEC Champions in the 200 medley relay. Last year, the group took home bronze in the event.

That wasn't the only medal the Vols won on the first night. After finishing second in prelims with a 337.85 effort, Bryden Hattie placed second overall to win silver during the nightcap. On his final dive, he netted a 72.85 mark to secure his spot on the podium with a score of 364.40. He's now won a medal on all three events at SECs, and he was the first Vol to medal in the event since 2020.

Earning points as B finalists, Nick Stone took 13th thanks to a 280.10 score, while Jacob Reasor (279.70) finished just behind him in 14th.

The Lady Vols also enjoyed success on the first night of the SEC Championships, winning a pair of medals in the relays.

During the final women's race of the night, the Lady Vol 800 free relay posted a strong performance and came in second to win silver with a 6:58.26 effort, which ranked fifth in program history. Brooklyn Douthwright's leadoff split of 1:42.45 marked the second-best effort in Lady Vol history and paced the lineup of Julia Mrozinski, Julia Burroughs and Sara Stotler.

In the 200 medley relay, the lineup of Josephine Fuller, Mona McSharry, Emma Carlton and Jasmine Rumley touched the wall third to win bronze with a 1:35.53 effort. It was the 10th-fastest time in program history.

On the women's 3-meter, Grace Cable's 298.50 in prelims was good for seventh and punched her ticket to the A final, where she finished fifth overall thanks to a 299.85 effort. Maddie Reese was the only other Lady Vol finalists, placing 24th with a 250.75 score.

Overall, Tennessee won four medals on the first night of the SEC Championships. One program record fell, and four top-10 times in UT history were recorded.

Medal Tracker
Men (2)
Gold – 200 Medley Relay (Kammann, Houlie, Crooks, Caribe)
Silver – 1-meter (Bryden Hattie)

Women (2)
Silver – 800 Free Relay (Douthwright, Mrozinski, Burroughs, Stotler)
Bronze – 200 Medley Relay (Fuller, McSharry, Carlton, Rumley)

Standings
Men
1. Texas A&M – 229
2. Auburn – 166
3. Tennessee – 159
4. Florida – 138
5. Missouri – 126
6. South Carolina – 115
7. Georgia – 113
8. Alabama – 107
9. Kentucky – 86
10. LSU – 65

Women
1. LSU – 178
2. Florida – 150
3. Kentucky – 149
4. South Carolina – 142
5. Tennessee – 136
6. Alabama – 131
7. Auburn – 119
8. Georgia – 107
9. Missouri – 105
10. Arkansas – 97
11. Vanderbilt – 62
12. Texas A&M – 56

Quotes
"The 200 medley relay was outstanding. As we talked about it in our team meeting, I was thrilled for Michael Houlie. We have been pursuing a win in that relay for his entire time at Tennessee, and he has been a tremendous and consistent performer for us throughout his career and especially in that relay. I know that relay means a lot to him, and he wants to uphold the tradition of Tennessee being great in the 200 medley relay. Coming in tonight and winning and breaking a significant pool record with three guys who are underclassmen, it's a good snapshot in terms of the direction we are moving and the level we are striving to be at. It was really rewarding to see the team have that kind of fun at the end of the relay, celebrating it. I think we are fortunate to be at a level now with the relay where we want to grow on tonight's performance at NCAAs and pick a target further ahead. We know our peers are going to be targeting a time beyond the NCAA record, so it's exciting to be so close and we will enjoy it tonight, but tomorrow, the whole relay will go back to work and look for a better performance for NCAAs.

"I was thrilled by the performance from our divers. We have a freshman who put up a big 13th-place finish. Bryden moved up from ninth last year in the event to second this year. What an awesome way to compete from those guys. It was really inspiring, and it was awesome to see how all three of them ended their rounds. I think it gave our guys an extra boost of confidence heading into the session." - Associate Head Coach Rich Murphy

"That 200 medley relay was really special with how they started out. Josephine went out and posted her best 50 back split ever, and then Mona followed that up with her fastest 50 breast split ever. Emma Carlton came in and crushed her underwaters and 50 fly. She put us in a great position for Jasmine to dive in and compete with two other elite 50 freestylers who are going to be really good at NCAAs in a few weeks. We did a great job on that relay, and I am really proud of those women with their composure and how they competed.

"The 800 free relay was an awesome performance. There was only one returner on that relay from last year, being Julia Mrozinski. With her just returning to competition this semester, I thought she did a phenomenal job competing on that relay. Brooklyn with the leadoff and masterful swim. After Mrozinski, Julia Burroughs did a phenomenal job as a freshman competing against a field of third legs that were formidable. She executed that like a professional. Tonight was Sara Stotler's first time anchoring the 800 free relay as a Lady Vol, and she did a wonderful job with that. She really took it out aggressively, and she did a great job. It's hard to podium a relay in this conference, so I am really proud of what we accomplished tonight." - Associate Head Coach Ashley Jahn

"I was very pleased with Grace getting up and being really steady all day long. She fought and scrapped and found a way to move up in the final. She finished fifth place against an excellent field, so I am very happy with how she performed. On the men's side, all three guys put points on the board. Nick and Jake really did well, and then Bryden had a wonderful competition on 1-meter. I'm really happy with how we got started, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow." - Diving Coach Dave Parrington