University of Tennessee Athletics
Wolfe Wins 100 Back on Day 3 of SEC Championships
February 22, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Results??
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The seventh-ranked Tennessee men???s swimming and diving team collected several top-eight finishes on Friday at day two of SEC Championships in the Alabama Aquatic Center. The Vols still remain in third after Friday???s competition. Auburn leads the championships, Florida is second and Georgia follows Tennessee in fourth.
???It was another great day for the Vols,??? UT head coach John Trembley said. ???Noteworthy performances start with our captain Michael Wolfe, who added an SEC title to his r??sum??.???
The senior raced to a lifetime best in the 100 backstroke when he won the competition with a time of 47.26. His time also pushes him up to fourth all-time in UT history, just squeezing by former national champion Melvin Stewart???s time of 47.58. Florida???s Rexford Tullius placed second at 47.31 and Auburn???s Kohlton Norys finished third at 47.36.
In the 400 individual medley, Michael Christy led the way with an 11th-place finish in 3:57.70. Sanders trailed in at 14th with a time of 3:53.51. Chris Winchell and Stephen Fortney took 19th and 20th, respectively, as Winchell clocked in at 3:57.37 and Fortney at 3:57.60. Freshman Patrick Beasley swam to a time of 4:00.06.
After ending day two of the championships in the hospital, Octavio Alesi dashed to a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly, ending with a time of 46.96. Michael DeRocco timed in at 47.70 at 11th-place. Greg Houchin finished 26th with a time of 49.91. Auburn???s Alexei Puninski won the event in 45.60.
???The 200 freestyle was a great frace for the Vols as Nolan Morrell and Jonas Persson both came close to winning,??? Trembley said. ???Andrew Thirlwell also swam his lifetime best in the event as did Scott Wherry.???
Morrell highlighted the 200 freestyle competition when he earned second place in a lifetime-best 1:34.29. Persson followed not too far behind in fourth with a time of 1:34.50. Thirlwell and Jim Dabney finished the consolation finals in 10th and 14th, respectively. Thirlwell concluded with a time of 1:37.27 and Dabney with a time of 1:38.06. Carl Jones finished 20th in 1:39.60 and Wherry tapped the board at 1:38.76.
???The 100 breaststroke was the premier Tennessee event with the three of the top-eight finishers wearing orange and white,??? Trembley said.
Murphy topped his lifetime best in the race with a time of 53.91 and a fourth-place finish. Freshman Mattias Kahlin clocked in at 54.49 and finished just behind Murphy in fifth. Fellow freshman Brad Craig fell in at eighth with a time of 54.71. Michael Silva from Auburn triumphed in the event with a time of 53.60.
The platform event saw UT???s Chris Davis and Ryan Rincon advance to the finals and finish seventh and eighth, respectively. Davis scored 310.20 and Rincon tallied a score of 295.65. Michael Muscari departs from the championships with a 14th-place finish on the platform.
???The 400 medley was a great race,??? Trembley said. ???And our time stands as one of the greatest ever in UT???s history.???
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The Tennessee 400 medley relay ended the evening on a strong night after taking second. Wolfe, Murphy, Alesi and Persson beat the team???s season best by splashing in at 3:09.54. Auburn took first-place in 3:08.57.
???We???re close to Florida and well ahead of Georgia,??? Trembley said. ???But we???ll see if we can close on the Gators tomorrow.?????
Saturday, the fourth and final day of competition, will feature the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay. Preliminaries are scheduled to start at 11 a.m. and finals will follow at 7 p.m. (All times EST).
