The Tennessee men are in second place after the first day of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships in Auburn, Ala.
Auburn leads with 118 with UT at 110.
Michael Wright of UT led after the preliminary round of the 1-meter diving with 385.40 points and teammate Ryan Helms was second.
However, Wright finished seventh in the championship field with 353.30 and Helms was was fourth at 371.50. Aaron Fleshner of Alabama was first with 415.15.
UT, which entered the championships with the SEC's best time in the 200-yard medley relay, finished second with Ricky Henahan, Barry Murphy, Michael DeRocco and Jonas Persson in 1:24.62. Auburn won with an SEC and pool record 1:23.69.
The 800 freestyle relay didn't live up to having the best SEC time and finished third with Nolan Morrell, Persson, Anders Storvik and Chris Winchell in 6:23.32.
Jodie McGroarty, who was sixth after the prelims of the 3-meter diving, had the second-highest score (348.10) in Lady Vols history and finished third.
"I'm very proud of Jodie," UT diving coach Dave Parrington said. "What I said to her before the event was 'when you get to the finals in the SEC, all bets are off.' She took that to heart and competed like a veteran tonight."
UT's 200 medley relay team of Jenny Connolly, Tricia Weaner and Jamie Saffer and Michele King placed fourth in a school record time of 1:38.04. The old record was 1:38.09 set a year ago at the SEC meet by Weaner, King, Carly Mathes and Christine Magnuson.
The 800 free relay of Caitlin Perks, Morgan Farrell and Brittany Nauta and Mathes finished fifth in a season-best 7:14.25, the seventh fastest performance in Lady Vols history.
The Lady Vols are in third place with 76 points. Florida leads with 116, followed by Auburn with 88.
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Comments » 4
ravensearay writes:
It looks like everyone is falling off a little bit in the championships. I mean, "best time all year and then second in the championship". Sounds like not being prepared or peaking too soon........
jeff1vol writes:
Dude...we're swimming AT AUBURN! Gimme a break! Are you telling me that there isn't a neutral facility in all of the Southeastern US that could accomodate the SEC's???
joeaubie writes:
Are you worried about a disparity in fouls called by the refs?
SEC Championships rotate to various schools every year. I'm sure UT will be hosting very soon with its new facility
bleuvol writes:
'Home court' is still an issue, and with all the parity amongst the teams, Auburn should consider it a failure if they don't win the meet. I used to swim, and it's an obvious advantage in having a 'feel' for the nuances of your own pool. Plus having a home crowd I'm sure has nothing to do with anything...
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