University of Tennessee Athletics
Craig's Repeat Tops of 2011
January 03, 2012 | General
Jan. 3, 2012
We asked, and you answered.
The results are in, and Tennessee fans chose Brad Craig's defense of his 200-meter breaststroke title at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships as their favorite moment of 2011 in Tennessee athletics.
Nearly 4,000 votes were cast, and Craig's repeat title received 1,219 votes, enough to edge Alexis Owens' hat-trick in soccer's victory over Florida, which finished in second with 1,013 votes.
Eric Gordon's interception return touchdown against Vanderbilt (361 votes) finished third, followed by volleyball's win over Kentucky to clinch the outright SEC title (286 votes) and tennis star John-Patrick Smith becoming the first Vol since Peyton Manning to be named SEC Male Athlete of the Year (260 votes).
Full voting results are listed below.
Thanks for voting!
| | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Brad Craig wins back-to-back SEC titles in the 200-meter breaststroke | 1,219 | 31.6 % |
| Alexis Owens records first Lady Vol hat trick since 2002 to help UT defeat No. 6 Florida | 1,013 | 26.3 % |
| Eric Gordon returns an interception 90 yards for a touchdown to beat Vanderbilt in overtime | 361 | 9.4 % |
| Lady Vols volleyball team defeats Kentucky 3-1 to win its first outright SEC title | 286 | 7.4 % |
| Tennis player John-Patrick Smith becomes the fourth Vol and first since Peyton Manning to be named SEC Athlete of the Year. | 260 | 6.7 % |
| Joe Berry wins the SEC indoor and outdoor title in the pole vault, joining Olympic silver medalist Lawrence Johnson as the only Vols to win five conference titles in the pole vault | 200 | 5.2 % |
| Shelby Burchell hits a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Georgia and win the SEC Softball Tournament | 144 | 3.7 % |
| Lady Vols basketball team claims the 'daring double,' winning the SEC regular season and tournament championships | 143 | 3.7 % |
| Jackie Areson becomes the first woman in UT history to win an NCAA Indoor title in the 5000 meters | 60 | 1.6 % |
| Lady Vol basketball players sweep SEC Player of the Year (Shekinna Stricklen) and SEC Freshman of the Year (Meighan Simmons) awards | 50 | 1.3 % |
| Jenny Connolly wins three gold medals (100 fly, 100 back and 400 medley relay) in the same day at the SEC Championship in Florida | 35 | 0.9 % |
| John-Patrick Smith defeats Georgia's Will Spencer in straight sets to clinch the first back-to-back regular season SEC titles in men's tennis | 28 | 0.7 % |
| Softball co-head coach Ralph Weekly wins his 1,000th career game with a 9-0 victory at Ole Miss | 24 | 0.6 % |
| Men's basketball star Tobias Harris is selected No. 19 overall in the NBA Draft | 19 | 0.5 % |
| Volleyball head coach Rob Patrick collects his 300th career victory | 10 | 0.3 % |
| Diver Michael Wright wins the SEC 1-meter title, named All-American | 3 | 0.1 % |
| Men's golf team ties a program-best streak of three straight NCAA finals appearances | 3 | 0.1 % |
