2019 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships: Four Schools Win Relays on Night One (RACE VIDEOS AVAILABLE)

Photo Courtesy: Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association

The first night of the 2019 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships got the Division I conference season started in a big way Tuesday night from Athens, Georgia. Four different schools won the four relays on the University of Georgia campus as Tennessee, Alabama, Texas A&M and Florida each heard its fight song being played after victoriously winning relays.

There were some monster splits on the first night as well with Tennessee’s Erika Brown, Alabama’s Zane Waddell and Tennessee’s Braga Verhage each put up noteworthy splits on the first night of the meet.

Missouri’s Mikel Schreuders broke the SEC meet record in the 200 free that had stood from 2011 by Florida’s Conor Dwyer (1:31.73). Schreuders broke the long-standing record with a 1:31.61 to lead-off Missouri’s 800 free relay.

Team Scores (Women)

Florida, 165
Texas A&M, 162
Arkansas, 139
Georgia, 132
Auburn, 126
Tennessee, 123
Kentucky, 122
LSU, 118
Missouri, 113
South Carolina, 105
Alabama, 97
Vanderbilt, 60

Team Scores (Men)

Tennessee, 187
Texas A&M, 158
Missouri, 146
Kentucky, 142
Alabama, 135
Florida, 123
Auburn, 121
South Carolina, 117
LSU, 115
Georgia, 94

Women’s 200 Medley Relay

Tennessee got the night started with a blistering 200 medley relay at 1:34.26 as the Vols have now won seven of the last ten SEC titles in the 200 medley relay on the women’s side. The team of Meghan Small (24.16), Nikol Popov (26.68), Maddy Banic (22.51) and Erika Brown (20.91) won the crown for the Vols as they dominated the field. Missouri (1:35.62) and Florida (1:35.64) finished second and third on the podium.

Tennessee now has the fastest time in the nation this year, moving ahead of NC State’s 1:35.60 from the Indiana Invite.

The fastest splits outside of Tennessee came from Missouri’s Haley Hynes (23.63), Texas A&M’s Anna Belousova (26.33), Missouri’s Ann Ochitwa (22.44) and Arkansas’ Anna Hopkin (21.01).

Auburn (1:35.73), Texas A&M (1:35.86), Arkansas (1:36.67), Alabama (1:37.03) and Georgia (1:37.19) rounded out the top eight.

 Event 2  Women 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
         1:36.75  A
         1:37.39  B
    School                           Seed     Finals              
====================================================================
  1 Tennessee-SE  'A'             1:36.33    1:34.26 A      
     1) Small, Meghan JR              2) Popov, Nikol SO              
     3) Banic, Madeline SR            4) Brown, Erika JR              
                 24.16        50.84 (26.68)
        1:13.35 (22.51)     1:34.26 (20.91)
  2 Missouri-MV  'A'              1:37.03    1:35.62 A      
     1) Hynes, Haley JR               2) Jones, Kayla FR              
     3) Ochitwa, Ann SR               4) Thompson, Sarah SO           
                 23.63        51.60 (27.97)
        1:14.04 (22.44)     1:35.62 (21.58)
  3 Florida-FL  'A'               1:37.26    1:35.64 A      
     1) Ball, Emma JR                 2) Pearl, Vanessa FR            
     3) Dressel, Sherridon JR         4) Garofalo, Isabella JR        
                 23.93        50.80 (26.87)
        1:13.66 (22.86)     1:35.64 (21.98)
  4 Auburn-SE  'A'                1:37.95    1:35.73 A      
     1) Falconer, Erin SR             2) Cummings, Carly SO           
     3) Tetzloff, Alyssa SR           4) Fisch, Claire JR             
                 24.30        51.85 (27.55)
        1:14.63 (22.78)     1:35.73 (21.10)
  5 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             1:39.75    1:35.86 A      
     1) Armstrong, Amanda FR          2) Belousova, Anna JR           
     3) Carlton, Emma FR              4) Eldridge, Raena JR           
                 24.74        51.07 (26.33)
        1:14.47 (23.40)     1:35.86 (21.39)
  6 Arkansas-AR  'A'              1:37.89    1:36.67 A      
     1) Sansores DeLa Fuente, Andrea  2) Angell, Sydney SR            
     3) Melton, Kobie FR              4) Hopkin, Anna JR              
                 24.54        52.07 (27.53)
        1:15.66 (23.59)     1:36.67 (21.01)
  7 Alabama-SE  'A'               1:38.05    1:37.03 B      
     1) White, Rhyan FR               2) Macfarlane, Justine SR       
     3) Molnar, Flora SO              4) Antoniou, Kalia FR           
                 24.50        51.89 (27.39)
        1:15.09 (23.20)     1:37.03 (21.94)
  8 Georgia-GA  'A'               1:38.16    1:37.19 B      
     1) Fa'amausili, Gabrielle SO     2) Carnevale, Sofia JR          
     3) Luther, Dakota FR             4) Burchill, Veronica JR        
                 24.76        51.97 (27.21)
        1:15.35 (23.38)     1:37.19 (21.84)

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

For the first time since 1994, Alabama has won the opening men’s relay at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships as the Crimson Tide won the 200 medley relay at 1:22.19. Zane Waddell led off a monstrous 20.22 on the backstroke leg to give the Crimson Tide the lead right off the bat. Laurent Bams (23.08), Knox Auerbach (20.59) and Robert Howard (18.30) finished the relay for Alabama as the Crimson Tide won ahead of Tennessee (1:22.79) and Florida (1:23.25).

Waddell’s split is believed to be one of the fastest of all-time. Cal’s Ryan Murphy was a 20.20 on the lead-off at the 2016 NCAAs in this event.

This is the first year since 1994 that a team other than Florida, Auburn or Tennessee has won the men’s 200 medley relay at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.

The quickest splits outside of Alabama came from Georgia’s Javier Acevedo (20.95), South Carolina’s Itay Goldfaden (23.06), Tennessee’s Braga Verhage (19.94) and Tennessee’s Kyle DeCoursey (18.29).

Missouri (1:23.49), Texas A&M (1:23.67), Auburn (1:24.35), South Carolina (1:24.54) and Georgia (1:24.67) also finished in the top eight.

Alabama’s time is well ahead of Cal’s time from the Georgia Invite (1:23.42) as the Tide now lead the nation in the event.

Event 3  Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
====================================================================
         1:24.56  A
         1:25.33  B
    School                           Seed     Finals              
====================================================================
  1 Alabama-SE  'A'               1:24.51    1:22.19 A      
     1) Waddell, Zane JR              2) Bams, Laurent SR             
     3) Auerbach, Knox SR             4) Howard, Robert SR            
                 20.22        43.30 (23.08)
        1:03.89 (20.59)     1:22.19 (18.30)
  2 Tennessee-SE  'A'             1:24.57    1:22.79 A      
     1) Garcia, Matthew JR            2) Houlie, Michael FR           
     3) Verhage, Braga JR             4) Decoursey, Kyle SR           
                 21.11        44.56 (23.45)
        1:04.50 (19.94)     1:22.79 (18.29)
  3 Florida-FL  'A'               1:25.37    1:23.25 A      
     1) Stokowski, Kacper FR          2) Guarente, Marco JR           
     3) Rooney, Maxime JR             4) Davis, Will FR               
                 21.06        44.59 (23.53)
        1:04.77 (20.18)     1:23.25 (18.48)
  4 Missouri-MV  'A'              1:24.75    1:23.49 A      
     1) Alexander, Nick JR            2) O'Brien, Jordan SR           
     3) Hein, Daniel JR               4) Mankus, Luke SR              
                 21.27        44.66 (23.39)
        1:04.76 (20.10)     1:23.49 (18.73)
  5 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             1:24.83    1:23.67 A      
     1) Casas, Shaine FR              2) Walker, Benjamin JR          
     3) Martinez, Angel SR            4) Koster, Adam JR              
                 21.09        44.85 (23.76)
        1:05.13 (20.28)     1:23.67 (18.54)
  6 Auburn-SE  'A'                1:27.08    1:24.35 A      
     1) Crossland, David JR           2) Brewer, Tommy SR             
     3) McCloskey, Liam SR            4) Grassi, Santiago JR          
                 21.61        45.27 (23.66)
        1:05.56 (20.29)     1:24.35 (18.79)
  7 South Carolina-SC  'A'        1:29.73    1:24.54 A      
     1) Tosh, Caleb SR                2) Goldfaden, Itay JR           
     3) Khoo, Lionel JR               4) Delaney, Dylan FR            
                 21.27        44.33 (23.06)
        1:05.25 (20.92)     1:24.54 (19.29)
  8 Georgia-GA  'A'               1:26.23    1:24.67 B      
     1) Acevedo, Javier JR            2) Guest, James SR              
     3) Murphy, Camden SO             4) BeMiller, Alex SR            
                 20.95        44.66 (23.71)
        1:05.13 (20.47)     1:24.67 (19.54)

Women’s 800 Free Relay

Texas A&M won its third straight 800 free relay crown on the women’s side with a 6:54.47 to hold off a hard-charging Tennessee (6:55.15) on the final leg. Texas A&M’s Katie Portz (1:44.57), Claire Rasmus (1:43.06), McKenna DeBever (1:44.18) and Sydney Pickrem (1:42.66) won the race on the opening night of the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships from Athens, Georgia.

The Aggies held off a strong anchor leg by Tennessee’s Erika Brown, who came home in a 1:40.68, as the Vols finished in second. Brown was out in a blistering 47.98 on the first 100 of her leg but it was not enough as the Aggies’ Pickrem held her off. Texas A&M had a very experienced relay with three seniors on the end. Texas A&M’s swim puts them ahead of USC (6:56.33) as the top time in the country this season.

The fastest splits outside of the top team came from Tennessee’s Brown (1:40.68), Kentucky’s Asia Seidt (1:43.13), Kentucky’s Geena Freriks (1:43.30) and Tennessee’s Meghan Small (1:43.31)

Kentucky also put up a good swim placing third at 6:56.23.

Auburn (6:57.00), Georgia (6:58.01), Florida (7:01.32), South Carolina (7:05.22) and Missouri (7:10.37) also finished in the top eight.

 Event 5  Women 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
====================================================================
         7:02.52  A
         7:06.19  B
    School                           Seed     Finals              
====================================================================
  1 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             7:01.82    6:54.47 A      
     1) Portz, Katie JR               2) Rasmus, Claire SR            
     3) DeBever, McKenna SR           4) Pickrem, Sydney SR           
                 24.72        51.14 (51.14)
      1:18.09 (1:18.09)   1:44.57 (1:44.57)
        2:08.54 (23.97)     2:34.97 (50.40)
      3:01.48 (1:16.91)   3:27.63 (1:43.06)
        3:51.12 (23.49)     4:17.72 (50.09)
      4:44.63 (1:17.00)   5:11.81 (1:44.18)
        5:35.77 (23.96)     6:02.03 (50.22)
      6:28.68 (1:16.87)   6:54.47 (1:42.66)
  2 Tennessee-SE  'A'             7:03.31    6:55.15 A      
     1) Small, Meghan JR              2) Cieplucha, Tess JR           
     3) Moseley, Stanzi JR            4) Brown, Erika JR              
                 24.26        50.77 (50.77)
      1:17.10 (1:17.10)   1:43.31 (1:43.31)
        2:07.69 (24.38)     2:34.39 (51.08)
      3:01.40 (1:18.09)   3:27.99 (1:44.68)
        3:51.97 (23.98)     4:18.46 (50.47)
      4:46.12 (1:18.13)   5:14.47 (1:46.48)
        5:37.13 (22.66)     6:02.45 (47.98)
      6:28.88 (1:14.41)   6:55.15 (1:40.68)
  3 Kentucky-KY  'A'              7:03.69    6:56.23 A      
     1) Galyer, Ali JR                2) Seidt, Asia JR               
     3) Gaines, Riley FR              4) Freriks, Geena SR            
                 24.75        51.52 (51.52)
      1:18.15 (1:18.15)   1:44.88 (1:44.88)
        2:08.49 (23.61)     2:34.62 (49.74)
      3:01.02 (1:16.14)   3:28.01 (1:43.13)
        3:51.73 (23.72)     4:18.33 (50.32)
      4:45.60 (1:17.59)   5:12.93 (1:44.92)
        5:36.55 (23.62)     6:02.74 (49.81)
      6:29.49 (1:16.56)   6:56.23 (1:43.30)
  4 Auburn-SE  'A'                7:08.39    6:57.00 A      
     1) Falconer, Erin SR             2) Nero, Bailey SR              
     3) Oeztuerk, Sonnele SO          4) Merritt, Jessica JR          
                 24.24        50.70 (50.70)
      1:17.13 (1:17.13)   1:43.42 (1:43.42)
        2:07.13 (23.71)     2:33.50 (50.08)
      3:00.60 (1:17.18)   3:27.66 (1:44.24)
        3:51.53 (23.87)     4:18.15 (50.49)
      4:45.48 (1:17.82)   5:12.87 (1:45.21)
        5:36.80 (23.93)     6:03.18 (50.31)
      6:29.96 (1:17.09)   6:57.00 (1:44.13)
  5 Georgia-GA  'A'               7:01.29    6:58.01 A      
     1) Harnish, Courtney SO          2) Burchill, Veronica JR        
     3) Luther, Dakota FR             4) Carter, Olivia FR            
                 24.72        51.35 (51.35)
      1:17.75 (1:17.75)   1:43.87 (1:43.87)
        2:07.60 (23.73)     2:33.94 (50.07)
      3:00.58 (1:16.71)   3:27.63 (1:43.76)
        3:51.50 (23.87)     4:18.05 (50.42)
      4:45.54 (1:17.91)   5:13.44 (1:45.81)
        5:37.43 (23.99)     6:03.80 (50.36)
      6:30.76 (1:17.32)   6:58.01 (1:44.57)
  6 Florida-FL  'A'               7:08.69    7:01.32 A      
     1) Fertel, Kelly JR              2) Zavaros, Rosie FR            
     3) Bindi, Tori JR                4) Marris, Georgia SR           
                 24.57        50.55 (50.55)
      1:17.99 (1:17.99)   1:45.24 (1:45.24)
        2:09.76 (24.52)     2:36.38 (51.14)
      3:04.03 (1:18.79)   3:32.01 (1:46.77)
        3:56.35 (24.34)     4:22.70 (50.69)
      4:49.83 (1:17.82)   5:17.71 (1:45.70)
        5:41.50 (23.79)     6:07.48 (49.77)
      6:34.15 (1:16.44)   7:01.32 (1:43.61)
  7 South Carolina-SC  'A'        7:17.10    7:05.22 B      
     1) Barksdale, Emma SR            2) Cornell, Emily JR            
     3) Novoszath, Melinda FR         4) Kinsey, Hallie FR            
                 24.22        50.66 (50.66)
      1:17.75 (1:17.75)   1:44.61 (1:44.61)
        2:09.09 (24.48)     2:36.00 (51.39)
      3:02.89 (1:18.28)   3:30.11 (1:45.50)
        3:54.73 (24.62)     4:22.06 (51.95)
      4:49.58 (1:19.47)   5:17.25 (1:47.14)
        5:41.44 (24.19)     6:09.29 (52.04)
      6:37.33 (1:20.08)   7:05.22 (1:47.97)
  8 Missouri-MV  'A'              7:07.15    7:10.37        
     1) Porter, Samantha SO           2) Gowans, Molly FR             
     3) Evensen, Courtney SR          4) Dahlgren, Kylie SR           
                 25.45        52.11 (52.11)
      1:19.83 (1:19.83)   1:48.11 (1:48.11)
        2:12.46 (24.35)     2:39.89 (51.78)
      3:08.31 (1:20.20)   3:36.97 (1:48.86)
        4:01.17 (24.20)     4:28.07 (51.10)
      4:55.65 (1:18.68)   5:23.35 (1:46.38)
        5:48.03 (24.68)     6:15.38 (52.03)
      6:42.80 (1:19.45)   7:10.37 (1:47.02)

Men’s 800 Free Relay

Florida’s Maxime Rooney came from behind to give Florida its ninth SEC 800 free relay title in the last ten years as the Gators swam a 6:10.50 to beat Missouri (6:11.77) and Texas A&M (6:16.63). Florida had to swim from behind the whole race as Trey Freeman (1:33.83), Khader Baqlah (1:32.48), Kieran Smith (1:32.09) and Rooney (1:32.10) won the title for the Gators.

Missouri got off to a very quick start as Mikel Schreuders (1:31.61) broke the SEC meet record previously held by Conor Dwyer from Florida. Giovanny Lima (1:32.94), Jack Dahlgren (1:31.70) and Kyle Leach (1:35.52) finished in second for the Tigers.

Florida and Missouri now have the top two times in the nation moving ahead of Texas (6:14.29).

Tennessee (6:18.64), Georgia (6:18.75), Kentucky (6:21.53), South Carolina (6:22.89) and Auburn (6:23.07) also finished in the top eight.

 Event 6  Men 800 Yard Freestyle Relay
====================================================================
         6:18.46  A
         6:22.60  B
    School                           Seed     Finals              
====================================================================
  1 Florida-FL  'A'               6:15.04    6:10.50 A      
     1) Freeman, Trey FR              2) Baqlah, Khader JR            
     3) Smith, Kieran FR              4) Rooney, Maxime JR            
                 22.00        45.53 (45.53)
      1:09.59 (1:09.59)   1:33.83 (1:33.83)
        1:54.97 (21.14)     2:18.51 (44.68)
      2:42.13 (1:08.30)   3:06.31 (1:32.48)
        3:27.36 (21.05)     3:50.96 (44.65)
      4:14.74 (1:08.43)   4:38.40 (1:32.09)
        4:58.80 (20.40)     5:21.72 (43.32)
      5:45.21 (1:06.81)   6:10.50 (1:32.10)
  2 Missouri-MV  'A'              6:19.76    6:11.77 A      
     1) Schreuders, Mikel SR          2) Lima, Giovanny JR            
     3) Dahlgren, Jack FR             4) Leach, Kyle FR               
                 21.21        43.91 (43.91)
      1:07.29 (1:07.29)   1:31.61 (1:31.61)
        1:52.56 (20.95)     2:16.12 (44.51)
      2:40.36 (1:08.75)   3:04.55 (1:32.94)
        3:25.32 (20.77)     3:48.10 (43.55)
      4:12.04 (1:07.49)   4:36.25 (1:31.70)
        4:57.26 (21.01)     5:20.99 (44.74)
      5:45.61 (1:09.36)   6:11.77 (1:35.52)
  3 Texas A&M-GU  'A'             6:20.46    6:16.63 A      
     1) Bobo, Clayton FR              2) Theall, Mark SO              
     3) Richardson, Steven SR         4) Casas, Shaine FR             
                 22.07        45.76 (45.76)
      1:10.00 (1:10.00)   1:34.98 (1:34.98)
        1:56.06 (21.08)     2:19.13 (44.15)
      2:43.08 (1:08.10)   3:07.28 (1:32.30)
        3:27.82 (20.54)     3:51.44 (44.16)
      4:16.68 (1:09.40)   4:43.02 (1:35.74)
        5:04.21 (21.19)     5:28.31 (45.29)
      5:52.48 (1:09.46)   6:16.63 (1:33.61)
  4 Tennessee-SE  'A'             6:26.44    6:18.64 B      
     1) Reilman, Joey SR              2) Walsh, Josh SO               
     3) Decoursey, Kyle SR            4) Connolly, Alec JR            
                 21.13        44.56 (44.56)
      1:08.38 (1:08.38)   1:32.37 (1:32.37)
        1:53.65 (21.28)     2:17.02 (44.65)
      2:41.49 (1:09.12)   3:05.74 (1:33.37)
        3:27.53 (21.79)     3:51.71 (45.97)
      4:17.07 (1:11.33)   4:42.08 (1:36.34)
        5:02.72 (20.64)     5:26.81 (44.73)
      5:52.12 (1:10.04)   6:18.64 (1:36.56)
  5 Georgia-GA  'A'               6:22.56    6:18.75 B      
     1) Acevedo, Javier JR            2) Higgins, Walker JR           
     3) Abruzzo, Andrew FR            4) Burns, Aidan SR              
                 21.88        45.79 (45.79)
      1:10.36 (1:10.36)   1:34.76 (1:34.76)
        1:56.10 (21.34)     2:19.87 (45.11)
      2:44.16 (1:09.40)   3:08.86 (1:34.10)
        3:30.26 (21.40)     3:54.42 (45.56)
      4:19.28 (1:10.42)   4:44.12 (1:35.26)
        5:06.02 (21.90)     5:30.15 (46.03)
      5:54.49 (1:10.37)   6:18.75 (1:34.63)
  6 Kentucky-KY  'A'              6:28.13    6:21.53 B      
     1) Wetzlar, Peter JR             2) Head, Jason JR               
     3) Siefert, Hank SO              4) Brown, Glen JR               
                 21.65        45.88 (45.88)
      1:10.43 (1:10.43)   1:35.70 (1:35.70)
        1:56.66 (20.96)     2:20.30 (44.60)
      2:45.01 (1:09.31)   3:09.74 (1:34.04)
        3:31.40 (21.66)     3:55.98 (46.24)
      4:21.43 (1:11.69)   4:46.48 (1:36.74)
        5:08.32 (21.84)     5:32.50 (46.02)
      5:56.95 (1:10.47)   6:21.53 (1:35.05)
  7 South Carolina-SC  'A'        6:32.91    6:22.89        
     1) Minuth, Fynn SR               2) Davila, Rafael SO            
     3) Novoszath, Tamas SO           4) Bekemeyer, Cody SR           
                 21.50        44.93 (44.93)
      1:09.09 (1:09.09)   1:34.04 (1:34.04)
        1:55.49 (21.45)     2:19.47 (45.43)
      2:44.26 (1:10.22)   3:09.03 (1:34.99)
        3:30.75 (21.72)     3:55.10 (46.07)
      4:20.54 (1:11.51)   4:46.58 (1:37.55)
        5:08.17 (21.59)     5:32.48 (45.90)
      5:57.72 (1:11.14)   6:22.89 (1:36.31)
  8 Auburn-SE  'A'                6:36.54    6:23.07        
     1) Sztolcman, Christian FR       2) Upchurch, Owen JR            
     3) Davis, Brogan FR              4) Noletto, Russell SR          
                 21.82        45.84 (45.84)
      1:10.47 (1:10.47)   1:35.17 (1:35.17)
        1:57.00 (21.83)     2:21.17 (46.00)
      2:46.11 (1:10.94)   3:10.78 (1:35.61)
        3:33.13 (22.35)     3:57.71 (46.93)
      4:22.63 (1:11.85)   4:47.15 (1:36.37)
        5:08.91 (21.76)     5:32.98 (45.83)
      5:57.68 (1:10.53)   6:23.07 (1:35.92)

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