2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships Day Three Heats: Florida Men Make Huge Move (Ups, Mids, Downs Report)

Bobby Finke helped Florida get 5 men in the 400 IM A-Final. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

SEC Swimming and Diving Championships

Auburn, Alabama 2020

The third morning of the 2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships had the heats of the 400 IM, 100 fly and 200 freestyle.

The Florida men made a huge statement on Thursday morning with nine swimmers advancing to championship finals while Texas A&M, the leaders after two days, only had one. The Gators had a strong showing in the 400 IM and also got two other swimmers in the finals of the 100 fly and 200 free. Kieran Smith, fresh off an American record last night, is the top seed in the 400 IM for the Gators.

The Tennessee women also made a big move on Thursday with Tess Cieplucha and Erika Brown putting up the top times in the 400 IM and 100 butterfly respectively as the Vols are looking for their first SEC team title on the women’s side.

Georgia got top seeds from Veronica Burchill (200 free) and Camden Murphy (100 fly) while Texas A&M’s Mark Theall is the top seed in the 200 free.

The ups-mids-downs report is below. The teams are in order of the team scores from last night.

Details

Ups-Mids-Downs (Women)

 
  1. Tennessee, University of, Knox    6, 4, 3   
  2. University of Florida             4, 1, 6
  3. Auburn University                 0, 5, 2  
  4. Kentucky, University of           3, 3, 3
  5. Georgia, University of            3, 2, 2   
  6. Texas A&M University              3, 3, 3
  7. University of Alabama             3, 1, 0   
  8. Missouri                          0, 1, 2
  9. University of Arkansas            1, 1, 0 
 10. South Carolina, University of,    1, 1, 1
 11. Louisiana State University        0, 1, 2  
 12. Vanderbilt University             0, 0, 0

Ups-Mids-Downs (Men)

 
  1. Texas A&M University              1, 5, 1   
  2. University of Florida             9, 4, 1
  3. University of Alabama             2, 1, 2   
  4. Kentucky, University of           0, 4, 4
  5. Georgia, University of            4, 3, 3   
  6. Tennessee, University of, Knox    2, 2, 3
  7. Auburn University                 2, 1, 3   
  8. Missouri                          2, 4, 3
  9. South Carolina, University of,    1, 0, 2  
 10. Louisiana State University        1, 0, 2

Women’s 400 IM

Tennessee’s Tess Cieplucha was on cruise control in the heats of the 400 IM as she snagged lane four for the A-Final with a 4:04.04 to lead Florida’s Vanessa Pearl (4:05.52). Both Cieplucha and Pearl used stellar breaststroke legs to split under 1:10 this morning as they will need a long warm down to get themselves back up for finals tonight.

Tennessee’s Alexis Yager (4:05.75) also qualified for the A-Final in third place. Florida also advanced two other swimmers to the final with Kathleen Golding (4:08.94) and Kelly Fertel (4:09.11) placing seventh and eighth for the Gators. Florida did not advance any women to the A-Finals last night but started off today with three getting to the championship round.

Kentucky’s Bailey Bonnett (4:06.36), Alabama’s Alexis Preski (4:06.83) and Texas A&M’s Jing Quah (4:08.35) also advanced to the championship final.

 Event 16  Women 400 Yard IM
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 3:54.60  3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
     SEC Meet: S 3:58.35  2/17/2012 Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
         Pool: P 3:56.54  3/16/2012 Katinka Hosszu, Southern Cal
                 4:03.62  A
                 4:17.30  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Cieplucha, Tess  SR Tennessee         4:03.06    4:04.04 qB     
    r:+0.73  25.44        54.49 (29.05)
        1:25.88 (31.39)     1:56.72 (30.84)
        2:31.23 (34.51)     3:06.01 (34.78)
        3:35.46 (29.45)     4:04.04 (28.58)
  2 Pearl, Vanessa   SO FLOR              4:14.16    4:05.52 qB     
    r:+0.65  25.72        55.49 (29.77)
        1:26.79 (31.30)     1:57.71 (30.92)
        2:31.46 (33.75)     3:06.51 (35.05)
        3:36.94 (30.43)     4:05.52 (28.58)
  3 Yager, Alexis A  JR Tennessee         4:10.30    4:05.75 qB     
    r:+0.72  26.49        56.59 (30.10)
        1:28.63 (32.04)     1:59.60 (30.97)
        2:33.64 (34.04)     3:07.94 (34.30)
        3:37.43 (29.49)     4:05.75 (28.32)
  4 Bonnett, Bailey  JR Kentucky          4:07.69    4:06.36 qB     
    r:+0.67  26.26        56.40 (30.14)
        1:28.27 (31.87)     2:00.77 (32.50)
        2:33.95 (33.18)     3:08.72 (34.77)
        3:38.30 (29.58)     4:06.36 (28.06)
  5 Preski, Alexis   SR Alabama           4:10.99    4:06.83 qB     
    r:+0.70  26.58        56.15 (29.57)
        1:27.91 (31.76)     1:58.85 (30.94)
        2:33.82 (34.97)     3:08.99 (35.17)
        3:38.63 (29.64)     4:06.83 (28.20)
  6 Quah, Jing       JR Texas A&M         4:15.01    4:08.35 qB     
    r:+0.62  26.28        55.73 (29.45)
        1:27.46 (31.73)     1:58.29 (30.83)
        2:34.51 (36.22)     3:11.06 (36.55)
        3:40.37 (29.31)     4:08.35 (27.98)
  7 Golding, Kathle  FR FLOR              4:10.24    4:08.94 qB     
    r:+0.70  26.52        56.83 (30.31)
        1:28.69 (31.86)     2:00.15 (31.46)
        2:35.67 (35.52)     3:11.67 (36.00)
        3:40.74 (29.07)     4:08.94 (28.20)
  8 Fertel, Kelly A  SR FLOR              4:07.58    4:09.11 qB     
    r:+0.70  26.58        56.91 (30.33)
        1:28.56 (31.65)     1:59.81 (31.25)
        2:35.05 (35.24)     3:11.55 (36.50)
        3:41.18 (29.63)     4:09.11 (27.93)

Men’s 400 IM

The Florida Gators showed their 400 IM prowess on Thursday morning at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, qualifying five men to the A-Final. Sophomore Kieran Smith, who has been on fire through 2 days, is the top seed at 3:40.54 ahead of senior Grant Sanders (3:42.90). The Gators will have more than half the field as Bobby Finke (3:43.79), Kevin Vargas (3:44.16) and Miguel Cancel (3:45.25), all underclassmen, advanced to the championship final to pile on the points for the seven-time defending champions Florida.

Alabama’s Nicholas Perera (3:43.61), Georgia’s Andrew Abruzzo (3:44.36) and Georgia’s Clayton Forde (3:44.43) also advanced to the championship final.

 Event 17  Men 400 Yard IM
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 3:33.42  3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
     SEC Meet: S 3:35.76  2/16/2018 Hugo Gonzalez, Auburn
         Pool: P 3:38.39  2/19/2015 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
                 3:39.16  A
                 3:51.46  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Smith, Kieran S  SO FLOR              3:47.25    3:40.54 qB     
    r:+0.68  23.34        50.57 (27.23)
        1:19.56 (28.99)     1:47.63 (28.07)
        2:18.34 (30.71)     2:49.76 (31.42)
        3:15.77 (26.01)     3:40.54 (24.77)
  2 Sanders, Grant   SR FLOR              3:50.53    3:42.90 qB     
    r:+0.71  23.35        50.01 (26.66)
        1:18.57 (28.56)     1:47.09 (28.52)
        2:18.42 (31.33)     2:50.08 (31.66)
        3:17.14 (27.06)     3:42.90 (25.76)
  3 Perera, Nichola  SO Alabama           3:50.39    3:43.61 qB     
    r:+0.62  23.77        50.54 (26.77)
        1:19.34 (28.80)     1:47.92 (28.58)
        2:18.57 (30.65)     2:50.08 (31.51)
        3:17.21 (27.13)     3:43.61 (26.40)
  4 Finke, Bobby C   SO FLOR              3:56.05    3:43.79 qB     
    r:+0.73  23.73        50.88 (27.15)
        1:18.90 (28.02)     1:46.24 (27.34)
        2:18.82 (32.58)     2:52.16 (33.34)
        3:18.47 (26.31)     3:43.79 (25.32)
  5 Vargas, Kevin L  FR FLOR              3:46.14    3:44.16 qB     
    r:+0.63  24.12        51.82 (27.70)
        1:21.55 (29.73)     1:50.39 (28.84)
        2:21.61 (31.22)     2:52.34 (30.73)
        3:18.81 (26.47)     3:44.16 (25.35)
  6 Abruzzo, Andrew  SO Georgia           3:45.62    3:44.36 qB     
    r:+0.77  23.55        50.82 (27.27)
        1:19.38 (28.56)     1:47.46 (28.08)
        2:19.43 (31.97)     2:52.54 (33.11)
        3:19.02 (26.48)     3:44.36 (25.34)
  7 Forde, Clayton   SR Georgia           3:42.14    3:44.43 qB     
    r:+0.72  24.24        51.58 (27.34)
        1:21.23 (29.65)     1:49.80 (28.57)
        2:21.79 (31.99)     2:53.61 (31.82)
        3:19.77 (26.16)     3:44.43 (24.66)
  8 Cancel, Miguel   SO FLOR              3:54.23    3:45.25 qB     
    r:+0.62  23.80        51.18 (27.38)
        1:20.07 (28.89)     1:48.38 (28.31)
        2:20.32 (31.94)     2:52.65 (32.33)
        3:19.39 (26.74)     3:45.25 (25.86)

Women’s 100 Fly

Tennessee’s Erika Brown, who elected to swim the 100 butterfly rather than the 200 freestyle, put up the top time in the butterfly with a 50.39. The Vols are in search of their first SEC women’s team title and they are off to a good start through two days, leading the meet over Florida. Sophomore Trude Rrothrock came up big this morning by advancing to the championship final in third spot at 51.53.

Alabama sophomore Rhyan White (50.97) is seeded second while Florida senior Sherridon Dressel (51.60) is seeded fourth. The Gators are also looking for their first SEC women’s title since 2009 and are currently in second place.

Georgia’s Dakota Luther (51.99), Kentucky’s Izzy Gati (52.02), South Carolina’s Christina Lappin (52.27) and Alabama’s Flora Molnar (52.32) also advanced to the championship final.

 Event 18  Women 100 Yard Butterfly
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 49.26  12/6/2019 L. Hansson & M. MacNeil, USC & Michigan
     SEC Meet: S 49.85  2/15/2019 Erika Brown, Tennessee
         Pool: P 50.62  3/21/2003 Natalie Coughlin, California
                 50.92  A
                 53.76  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Brown, Erika J   SR Tennessee           49.79      50.39PqA     
    r:+0.65  10.78        23.74 (12.96)
          36.66 (12.92)       50.39 (13.73)
  2 White, Rhyan E   SO Alabama             51.71      50.97 qB     
    r:+0.67  11.20        24.11 (12.91)
          37.37 (13.26)       50.97 (13.60)
  3 Rothrock, Trude  SO Tennessee           52.29      51.53 qB     
    r:+0.63  11.04        24.01 (12.97)
          37.42 (13.41)       51.53 (14.11)
  4 Dressel, Sherri  SR FLOR                52.52      51.60 qB     
    r:+0.63  11.03        24.23 (13.20)
          37.99 (13.76)       51.60 (13.61)
  5 Luther, Dakota   SO Georgia             52.09      51.99 qB     
    r:+0.70  11.24        24.13 (12.89)
          37.80 (13.67)       51.99 (14.19)
  6 Gati, Izzy G     SO Kentucky            54.64      52.02 qB     
    r:+0.64  11.22        24.50 (13.28)
          38.16 (13.66)       52.02 (13.86)
  7 Lappin, Christi  SR South Carolina      52.43      52.27 qB     
    r:+0.73  11.16        24.37 (13.21)
          37.99 (13.62)       52.27 (14.28)
  8 Molnar, Flora    JR Alabama             51.80      52.32 qB     
    r:+0.67  10.82        24.07 (13.25)
          37.79 (13.72)       52.32 (14.53)

Men’s 100 Fly

The Georgia men have been quietly off to a good start on Thursday morning at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships in Auburn. Junior Camden Murphy put up the top seed in the 100 butterfly with a 45.54 as he is ahead of Tennessee sophomore Kayky Mota (45.65), who transferred from Miami, and Alabama junior Tyler Sesvold (45.88).

It looks to be a wide open field in the final as Missouri’s Danny Kovac (45.94) also will be among those who have a chance to stand atop the podium.

Florida, in search of their eighth straight team title, put two in the A-Final with Eric Friese (46.12) and Will Davis (46.24). Texas A&M did not have any finalists in the event.

Auburn’s Santiago Grassi (46.17) and Missouri’s Daniel Hein (46.18) also advanced to the championship final.

Event 19  Men 100 Yard Butterfly
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 42.80  3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
     SEC Meet: S 44.21  2/18/2017 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
         Pool: P 45.02  2/20/2009 Matt Targett, Auburn
                 45.05  A
                 47.43  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Murphy, Camden   JR Georgia             45.36      45.54 qB     
     r:+0.62  9.68        21.39 (11.71)
          33.16 (11.77)       45.54 (12.38)
  2 Mota, Kayky M       Tennessee           47.07      45.65 qB     
     r:+0.64  9.53        21.12 (11.59)
          33.16 (12.04)       45.65 (12.49)
  3 Sesvold, Tyler   JR Alabama             46.63      45.88 qB     
     r:+0.66  9.38        20.93 (11.55)
          32.98 (12.05)       45.88 (12.90)
  4 Kovac, Danny D   SO Missouri            45.81      45.94 qB     
     r:+0.61  9.55        21.17 (11.62)
          33.33 (12.16)       45.94 (12.61)
  5 Friese, Eric E   FR FLOR                46.39      46.12 qB     
     r:+0.69  9.68        21.50 (11.82)
          33.57 (12.07)       46.12 (12.55)
  6 Grassi, Santiag  SR Auburn              46.65      46.17 qB     
     r:+0.63  9.57        21.51 (11.94)
          33.83 (12.32)       46.17 (12.34)
  7 Hein, Daniel W   SR Missouri            46.13      46.18 qB     
     r:+0.61  9.63        21.44 (11.81)
          33.47 (12.03)       46.18 (12.71)
  8 Davis, Will      SO FLOR                47.92      46.24 qB     
     r:+0.61  9.65        21.33 (11.68)
          33.35 (12.02)       46.24 (12.89)

Women’s 200 Free

Georgia continued its quiet momentum into the women’s 200 freestyle as senior Veronica Burchill posted the top time in the heats with a 1:43.74 as she leads by nearly a full second. A day after swimming the fastest 50 free relay split in history, Arkansas senior Anna Hopkin swam a 1:44.67 to grab second seed ahead of Kentucky senior Ali Galyer (1:44.69).

There will be six total seniors in the A-Final as only Georgia junior Courtney Harnish (1:44.84) and Tennessee junior Tjasa Pintar (1:45.47) qualified as non-seniors. It is a field with a lot of experience, but not a lot of champions. Harnish won the 500 last night, but she is the only one in the field, besides last night’s 200 IM champ Meghan Small, to have won an individual SEC title.

Tennessee’s Small (1:44.87), Texas A&M’s Karling Hemstreet (1:45.20) and Texas A&M’s Katie Portz (1:45.36) also qualified for the final.

Event 20  Women 200 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:39.10  3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
     SEC Meet: S 1:41.83  2/20/2014 Shannon Vreeland, Georgia
         Pool: P 1:41.21  3/16/2012 Megan Romano, Georgia
                 1:42.98  A
                 1:47.12  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Burchill, Veron  SR Georgia           1:44.62    1:43.74 qB     
    r:+0.68  23.99        49.90 (25.91)
        1:16.56 (26.66)     1:43.74 (27.18)
  2 Hopkin, Anna E   SR Arkansas          1:44.40    1:44.67 qB     
    r:+0.70  24.08        50.92 (26.84)
        1:18.01 (27.09)     1:44.67 (26.66)
  3 Galyer, Ali J    SR Kentucky          1:44.64    1:44.69 qB     
    r:+0.66  24.58        51.00 (26.42)
        1:17.71 (26.71)     1:44.69 (26.98)
  4 Harnish, Courtn  JR Georgia           1:44.86    1:44.84 qB     
    r:+0.75  24.75        51.63 (26.88)
        1:18.34 (26.71)     1:44.84 (26.50)
  5 Small, Meghan N  SR Tennessee         1:45.85    1:44.87 qB     
    r:+0.71  24.70        51.51 (26.81)
        1:18.17 (26.66)     1:44.87 (26.70)
  6 Hemstreet, Karl  SR Texas A&M         1:47.15    1:45.20 qB     
    r:+0.67  24.86        51.61 (26.75)
        1:18.33 (26.72)     1:45.20 (26.87)
  7 Portz, Katie A   SR Texas A&M         1:47.10    1:45.36 qB     
    r:+0.69  24.88        51.50 (26.62)
        1:18.40 (26.90)     1:45.36 (26.96)
  8 Pintar, Tjasa    JR Tennessee         1:45.23    1:45.47 qB     
    r:+0.66  24.71        50.90 (26.19)
        1:17.90 (27.00)     1:45.47 (27.57)

Men’s 200 Free

After Florida had a monstrous morning, Texas A&M needed to get a spark going before heading into tonight’s finals. They got what they asked for as junior Mark Theall is leading the 200 free heats at 1:32.48, nearly a full second in front of LSU freshman Brooks Curry (1:33.37).

Florida did get two to the A-Final with Gerry Quinn (1:33.73) and Khader Baqlah (1:33.82) placing fourth and fifth respectively as they should take a big lead after tonight’s finals on their way to a potential eighth straight team title.

Auburn’s Christian Sztolcman (1:33.62), South Carolina’s Phil Costin (1:34.40) and Georgia’s Grant Norgan (1:34.43) also advanced to the championship final.

Tennessee’s Seth Bailey (1:34.44) and Josh Walsh (1:34.44) tied for eighth place and will need to swim-off for the last spot in the A-Final.

 Event 21  Men 200 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:29.15  3/27/2019 Dean Farris, Harvard
     SEC Meet: S 1:30.11  2/18/2020 Kieren Smith, Florida
         Pool: P 1:30.11  2/18/2020 Kieren Smith, Florida
                 1:32.05  A
                 1:36.32  B
    Name           Year School               Seed    Prelims              
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Theall, Mark J   JR Texas A&M         1:32.96    1:32.48 qB     
    r:+0.65  21.57        44.74 (23.17)
        1:08.45 (23.71)     1:32.48 (24.03)
  2 Curry, Brooks V  FR LSU               1:36.08    1:33.37 qB     
    r:+0.63  21.34        45.03 (23.69)
        1:09.53 (24.50)     1:33.37 (23.84)
  3 Sztolcman, Chri  SO Auburn            1:36.47    1:33.62 qB     
    r:+0.66  21.47        45.06 (23.59)
        1:09.33 (24.27)     1:33.62 (24.29)
  4 Quinn, Gerry     JR FLOR              1:38.04    1:33.73 qB     
    r:+0.70  21.83        45.61 (23.78)
        1:09.69 (24.08)     1:33.73 (24.04)
  5 Baqlah, Khader   SR FLOR              1:36.04    1:33.82 qB     
    r:+0.66  22.18        46.49 (24.31)
        1:10.06 (23.57)     1:33.82 (23.76)
  6 Costin, Phil     SO South Carolina    1:38.17    1:34.40 qB     
    r:+0.69  22.37        46.10 (23.73)
        1:09.65 (23.55)     1:34.40 (24.75)
  7 Norgan, Grant C  JR Georgia           1:36.10    1:34.43 qB     
    r:+0.72  22.53        46.52 (23.99)
        1:10.74 (24.22)     1:34.43 (23.69)
  8 Bailey, Seth S   SO Tennessee         1:36.24    1:34.44 qB     
    r:+0.59  21.99        45.91 (23.92)
        1:10.34 (24.43)     1:34.44 (24.10)
  8 Walsh, Josh M    JR Tennessee         1:34.94    1:34.44 qB     
    r:+0.60  21.96        45.74 (23.78)
        1:09.99 (24.25)     1:34.44 (24.45)

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