KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following day three of the Southeastern Conference swimming and diving championships Friday, the Auburn men and the Georgia women lead the event heading into its final day at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
Auburn leads the men’s team race with 535 total team points, while Florida is second with 515 points and Tennessee is third with 363 points. Georgia headlines the women’s standings with 528 total team points, Tennessee is second with 436.5 points and Florida is third with 361.5 points.
Florida sophomore Elizabeth Beisel captured her second consecutive women’s 400-yard IM championship in an SEC meet-record time of 3:58.35. Beisel turned in the second-fastest 400-yard IM in NCAA history with her time. She impressively shattered her own meet record of 4:00.83, set last season in Gainesville, by nearly two seconds.
Florida’s Gomez Solaeche took home the men’s 400-yard IM championship, becoming the fifth Gator in the last six years to capture that event. He did so in a time of 3:43.57, as Florida swept both the men’s and women’s titles in that event this season. Solaeche’s time goes down as the second-fastest in the country so far this season.
Tennessee senior Jenny Connolly won her second consecutive SEC individual championship in the women’s 100-yard butterfly in a time of 51.49. A Tennessee athlete has captured that event in four of the last six seasons.
Georgia sophomore Doug Reynolds claimed the men’s 100-yard butterfly event in a time of 46.41. He becomes just the second Georgia athlete ever to win that event, joining Bo Holland who captured the men’s 100-yard butterfly in 1965.
Georgia junior Megan Romano captured the women’s 200-yard freestyle event in a time of 1:43.03, becoming the third different Bulldog to win the event in the last three years.
Florida sophomore Marcin Cieslak used the third-fastest time in the country to take home the men’s 200-yard freestyle championship, clocking a 1:34.49. The Gators have now won five of the last six titles in the men’s 200-yard freestyle.
Tennessee freshman Molly Hannis claimed the women’s 100-yard breaststroke event in a time of 59.60. She becomes the first Tennessee athlete to win that event since Jamie Saffer did so in 2009.
Georgia freshman Nicolas Fink took home the men’s 100-yard breaststroke title in a time of 52.81. He became the first Georgia athlete to claim that event since Neil Versfeld in 2009.
Connolly captured her second title of the evening, claiming the women’s 100-yard backstroke in a nation-leading time of 51.37. She repeats her championship from 2011 in that event.
Auburn junior Kyle Owens claimed the men’s 100-yard backstroke title with the second-fastest time in the country this season (46.09). The Tigers have claimed six of the last eight crowns in that event.
Tennessee concluded its sweep of the men’s diving event as Mauricio Robles captured the men’s platform diving event with a facility-record score of 438.35. He becomes the first Tennessee athlete to win men’s platform diving since Gabi Chereches won three in a row from 1999-2001.
Tennessee took home the women’s 400-yard medley relay title with the quartet of Jenny Connolly, Molly Hannis, Kelsey Floyd and Lindsay Gendron. The Lady Vols clocked a SEC meet-record time of 3:30.36, which goes down as the fastest time in the nation so far this season, en route to the victory. It is Tennessee’s second consecutive title in that event.
The Auburn men’s quartet of Kyle Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Marcelo Chierighini and James Disney-May captured the men’s 400-yard medley relay crown with the second-fastest time in the country this season at 3:08.36. The Tigers have won six of the last seven titles in that event.
The final day of the 2012 SEC Swimming and Diving Championship begins at 10 a.m. ET Saturday at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
For all of the latest information on SEC Swimming and Diving, log on to www.SECDigitalNetwork.com.
SEC Swimming and Diving Championships Day 3
Men’s Team Scores (Through 15 Events): 1. Auburn 535; 2. Florida 515; 3. Tennessee 363; 4. Georgia 362; 5. LSU 295; 6. Kentucky 207.5; Alabama 175; 8. South Carolina 152.5.
Women’s Team Scores (Through 14 Events): 1. Georgia 528; 2. Tennessee 436.5; 3. Florida 361.5; 4. Auburn 358; 5. LSU 254; 6. Alabama 183; 7. South Carolina 165; 8. Arkansas 162; 9. Kentucky 82; 10. Vanderbilt 64.
Women’s 400-Yard IM Final
1. Elizabeth Beisel (UF) 3:58.35; 2. Melanie Margalis (UGA) 4:05.88; 3. Teresa Crippen (UF) 4:06.42; 4. Jana Mangimelli (UGA) 4:09.21; 5. Rachael Schaffer (SC) 4:09.55; 6. Nicole Vernon (UGA); 7. Sarah Peterson (AU) 4:11.23; 8. Kirsten Smith (UF) 4:14.31.
Men’s 400-Yard IM Final
1. Gomez Solaeche (UF) 3:43.57; 2. Dan Wallace (UF) 3:45.02; 3. Connor Signorin (UF) 3:45.86; 4. Peter Benner (UGA) 3:47.11; 5. Jared Markham (UGA) 3:48.04; 6. Tristan Slater (UT) 3:48.51; 7. Andrew Gemmell (UGA) 3:49.48; 8. Martin Grodzki (UGA) 3:52.90.
Women’s 100-Yard Butterfly Final
1. Jenny Connolly (UT) 51.49; 2. Olivia Scott (AU) 52.04; 3. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace 52.08; 4. Kelsey Floyd (UT) 52.08; 5. Kristel Vourna (UA) 52.30; 6. Amanda Kendall (LSU) 52.48; 7. Sarah Bateman (UF) 52.80; 8. Lauren Harrington (UGA) 52.86.
Men’s 100-Yard Butterfly Final
1. Doug Reynolds (UGA) 46.41; 2. Michael Arnold (UGA) 46.49; 3. Lucas Gerotto (UK) 47.00; 4. Cameron Martin (UF) 47.02; 5. Alex Coci (UA) 41.17; 6. Marcelo Chierighini (AU) 47.74; 7. Bradley deBorde (UF) 47.84; 8. TJ Leon (AU) 47.91.
Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle Final
1. Megan Romano (UGA) 1:43.03; 2. Lindsay Gendron (UT) 1:44.51; 3. Shannon Vreeland (UGA); 4. Jamie Bohunicky (UF) 1:46.09; 5. Jordan Mattern (UGA) 1:46.45; 6. Madeline Locus (UGA) 1:46.58; 7. Natasha Fung (UF) 1:47.41; 8. Becca Jones (AU) 1:47.87.
Men’s 200-Yard Freestyle Final
1. Marcin Cieslak (UF) 1:34.49; 2. BJ Hornikel (UA) 1:34.81; 3. James Disney-May (AU) 1:35.03; 4. Tyler Reed (UK) 1:35.53; 5. Zane Grothe (AU) 1:35.80; 6. Joe Ziegler (UA) 1:35.87; 7. Samuel Rairden (UT) 1:35.89; 8. Drew Modrov (AU) 1:38.79.
Women’s 100-Yard Breaststroke Final
1. Molly Hannis (UT) 59.60; 2. Michelle McKeehan (UGA) 1:00.21; 3. Hilda Luthersdottir (UF) 1:00.49; 4. Lauren Norberg (AU) 1:00.54; 5. Abby Duncan (AU) 1:00.70; 6. Kayli Burchell (UA) 1:00.76; 7. Megan Molnar (UGA) 1:01.26; 8. Shannon O’Malley (UGA) 1:01.38.
Men’s 100-Yard Breaststroke Final
1. Nicolas Fink (UGA) 52.81; 2. Stuart Ferguson (AU) 53.08; T3. Renato Prono (UT) 53.85; T3. Andrei Tuomola (LSU) 53.85; 5. Ricardo Alvarado Jiminez (LSU) 54.26; 6. Matthew Elliott (UF) 54.14; 7. Sean Roddy (LSU) 54.26; 8. Chris Manning (AU) 54.29.
Women’s 100-Yard Backstroke Final
1. Jenny Connolly (UT) 51.37; 2. Megan Romano (UGA) 52.07; 3. Lauren Solernou (UT) 52.72; 4. Kristen Shickora (UGA) 52.79; 5. Emily Bos (AU) 53.29; 6. Kelsey Gaid (UGA) 53.96; 7. Kate McNeilis (UT) 53.99; 8. Lauren Piper (UA) 54.80.
Men’s 100-Yard Backstroke Final
1. Kyle Owens (AU) 46.09; 2. Samuel Rairden (UT) 46.68; T3. Max Murphy (AU) 47.17; T3. Ricky Henahan (UT) 47.17; 5. Cameron Martin (UF) 48.09; 6. Michael Young (LSU) 48.16; 7. Matthew Curby (UF) 48.85; 8. Brandon Siemasko (AU) 48.87.
Men’s Platform Diving Final
1. Mauricio Robles (UT) 438.35; 2. John Santieu (AU) 382.10; 3. Michael Lewark (UF) 362.65; 4. Jordan Lesser (UA) 346.45; 5. Cole Miller (SC) 343.55; 6. Daniel Helm (LSU) 339.90; 7. Greg Ferrucci (UK) 333.10; 8. John Fox (UK) 306.20.
Women’s 400-Yard Medley Relay Final
1. Tennessee (Connolly, Hannis, Floyd, Gendron) 3:30.36; 2. Georgia (Shickora, McKeehan, Harrington, Romano) 3:33.28; 3. Florida (Beisel, Luthersdottir, Bateman, Bohunicky) 3:34.02; 4. Alabama (Piper, Burchell, Vourna, Popa) 3:36.10; 5. LSU (Goates, Bussey, White, Carter) 3:40.37; 6. Arkansas (Braun, Daniels, Whitbeck, White) 3:42.00; 7. South Carolina (Peteh, Rutqvist, Brockington, Schaffer) 3:42.12; 8. Kentucky (Lash, Willis, Gerotto, Eppler) 3:43.80; 9. Vanderbilt (Oberg, Faulkner, Brunk, Thomas) 3:48.77.
Men’s 400-Yard Medley Relay Final
1. Auburn (Owens, Ferguson, Chierighini, Disney-May) 3:08.36; 2. Georgia (Markham, Fink, Reynolds, Arnold) 3:10.27; 3. Florida (Martin, Elliott, Cieslak, deBorde) 3:10.45; 4. LSU (Young, Alvarado Jiminez, Greeff, Tuomola); 5. Tennessee (Henahan, Prono, Hetland, Rairden) 3:12.32; 6. Kentucky (Walton, Russell, Gerotto, Reed) 3:14.16; 7. South Carolina (Covert, Cave, Kaden, Seiler) 3:18.43; 8. Alabama (Servati, Conners, Basse, Shirey) 3:18.69.
