University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Championships
Sanders, Divers Shine on Day Two of SEC Championships
February 19, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 19, 2009
Tennessee held down second place as the second day of the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships concluded. Day two events included the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, three-meter diving and 200 freestyle relay.
In the 500 freestyle, sophomore Geoff Sanders built off a strong preliminary round to finish fourth (4:16.20). His time breaks Tennessee's oldest school record previously held by Vol swimming legend Melvin Stewart (4:16.45- 1990). Georgia's Troyden Prinsloo, who finished second at the 2008 championships, won the event followed by Florida's Balazs Gercsak in second and Alabama's Mark Randall in third. UT sophomore Carl Jones also had a strong performance placing 12th (4:21.28) and becoming UT's fifth-best all-time performer.
"I'm really happy for Geoff," Tennessee head coach John Trembley said, "And Carl Jones swam a great technical race."
The 200 individual medley featured some of the nation's best and the event resulted in a new national top time. Bradley Alley from Florida boasted an NCAA best 1:41.96 to win the event. Vol sophomore Michael Christy finished seventh (1:46.65). Senior All-America Nolan Morrell finished tenth (1:46.69) and senior Stephen Fortney moved to twelfth on UT's all-time top-times list with his 14th place finish (1:47.05).
Heading into the championships, Tennessee boasted the SEC's top three times in the 50 freestyle. Auburn swept the top four places with Olympian Matt Target winning the individual title. UT senior Olympian Jonas Persson and sophomore All-America Michael DeRocco both qualified for the championship heat. Persson finished sixth (19.70) and DeRocco placed eighth (19.79). Senior co-captain Barry Murphy just missed the final heat finishing ninth (19.48).
Tennessee's divers continued to shine as freshman Ryan Helms and juniors Michael Wright and Michael Muscari all made the championship field. Helms placed fifth (404.40), Wright finished seventh (399.70) and Muscari rounded out the field in eighth (371.10). Auburn had a one-two finish with Daniel Mazzaferro winning the title and Kelly Marx landing in second. Alabama's Aaron Fleshner finished third.
"I'm proud of all our guys," UT diving coach Dave Parrington said. "It was a great contest, and to see our divers battling was really great. For Helms, competing in this type of field will really show benefits down the road."
To end day two of competition, the Vols' relay team of DeRocco, Persson, Morrell and Murphy came up just shy of a school record. The Vols finished second (1:17.39) to Auburn (1:15.47).
After day two of competition, the top of the leader board remained unchanged with Auburn leading (329.5), Tennessee in second place (260) and Florida in third (246).
Players Mentioned
