University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Swimming Championships
Harrison Wins SEC 200 Free Title
February 18, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Feb. 18, 2011
Sophomore Ryan Harrison claimed the SEC 200 freestyle championship on Friday, the third day of the conference championships in Gainesville, Fla.
The Londonderry, Northern Ireland, native swam a career-best school-record time of one minute 32.38 seconds, an NCAA automatic qualifying time.
"I just went out and used the game plan my coaches and I went over beforehand," Harrison said. "(Coach) Lars (Jorgensen) really prepared me well for the meet and I just went out there and stuck my head down and swam like I should have. I knew there was going to be some tough competition here but I was confident in my preparation."
At the 2010 SEC championships, Harrison earned conference All-Freshman honors for his fifth-place finish in the 200 free. This is his first SEC title.
"It felt great to see all that orange cheering in the stands," Harrison said. "It was really fantastic. But it felt better to see my teammates jumping up and down--I felt good to earn points for my team. I've been waiting all year for this so I'm just really happy that I was able to win and help my team."
Harrison has now broken two school records in two days at the SEC championships. He broke UT's 500 free record on Thursday. The previous 200 free record was held by 2008 Olympian Jonas Persson.
"Ryan was brilliant in prelims and in finals, tonight," head coach John Trembley said. "He swam an amazing race and is not only an SEC champ, but he owns another school record."
Freshman Samuel Rairden came in eighth in the 200 free on a mark of one minute 36.30 seconds, a B-cut. Anders Storvik finished 15th in one minute 37.50 seconds, also a B-cut time.
The Vols breaststrokers had a strong evening as Brad Craig earned a silver medal and Jake Epperson took home bronze in the 100 breast. Craig's season-best 53.36-second mark was a B-cut time. Epperson also punched his ticket to NCAAs with a career-best 53.39-second B-cut time. Senior Mattias Kahlin also made the championship final, finishing fifth in 53.90 seconds, also a B-cut mark. Junior Derek Paul won the consolation final in ninth place with a career-best 54.81-second B-cut time.
Junior Ricky Henahan earned a bronze medal in the 100 back. His 46.75-second time is good enough for a B-cut. Rairden continued his strong SEC-meet performance with a fifth-place finish with a time of 47.00 seconds.
In the 100 fly, captain Michael DeRocco finished fourth with a 46.61-second B-cut time. Freshman Oystein Hetland came in 15th in 48.51-seconds.
Michael Christy led UT in the 400 I.M. with a 10th-place finish on a time of three minutes 48.09 seconds. Epperson was 14th in three minutes 50.93 seconds while freshman Christoffer Wallin was 15th in three minutes 51.79 seconds. All three marks are NCAA B-cuts.
To conclude the third day of the SEC championships, Tennessee took third in the 400 medley relay. Henahan, Craig, DeRocco and Harrison swam a B-cut mark of three minutes 8.72 seconds.
Heading into the fourth and final day of competition, the Vols sit in third place with 443.5 points, behind first-place Auburn (574 points) and Florida (547 points).
The final day of the SEC championships begins with preliminary rounds a t 10 a.m. on Saturday. Finals will begin at 6 p.m. Live results as well as live streaming video can be found at www.UTsports.com.
SCORING REPORT:
400 I.M.: 1. Conor Dwyer (UF) 3:37.75 A, SEC record, previous record 3:39.08; 2. Bill Cregar (UGA) 3:42.24 A; 3. Michael Joyce (UF) 3:44.07 B; 4. Connor Signorin (UF) 3:44.09 B; 5. Peter Benner (UGA) 3:44.84 B; 6. Brian Howell (UF) 3;46.83 B; 7. Martin Grodzki (UGA) 3:48.81 B; 8. Kyle Owens (AU) 3:49.08 B; 10. Michael Christy (UT) 3:48.09 B; 14. Jake Epperson (UT) 3:50.93 B; 15. Christoffer Wallin (UT) 3:51.79 B
100 fly: 1. Marcin Cieslak (UF) 46.03 A; 2. Mark Dylla (UGA) 46.33; 3. Hanes Heyl (LSU) 46.55 B; 4. Michael DeRocco (UT) 46.61 B; T-5. Tony Cox (AU) 46.67 B; T-5. Adam Brown (AU) 46.67-B; 7. Marco Loughran (UF) 47.15 B; 8. Michael Arnold (UF) 47.34 B; 15. Oystein Hetland (UT) 48.51
200 free: 1. Ryan Harrison (UT) 1:32.38 A, school record, previous record 1:32.79; 2. Brett Fraser (UF) 1:32.60 A; 3. Sebastien Rousseau (UF) 1:33.87 B; 4. Jeffrey Raymond (UF) 1:35.38 B; 5. Michael Flach (USC) 1:35.39 B; 6. Jameson Hill (UGA) 1:35.46 B; 7. Zane Grothe (AU) 1:35.90 B; 8. Samuel Rairden (UT) 1:36.30 B; 15. Anders Storvik (UT) 1:37.50 B
100 breast: 1. Stuart Ferguson (AU) 53.01 B; 2. Brad Craig (UT) 53.36 B; 3. Jake Epperson (UT) 53.39 B; 4. George Klein (AU) 53.70 B; 5. Mattias Kahlin (UT) 53.90 B; 6. Andrei Tuomola (LSU) 53.99 B; 7. Chip Aplin (UK) 54.06 B; 8. Sean Roddy (LSU) 54.22 B; 9. Derek Paul (UT) 54.81 B
100 back: 1. Marco Loughran (UF) 45.70 A; 2. Tony Cox (AU) 45.99 A; 3. Ricky Henahan (UT) 46.75 B; 4. Kohlton Norys (AU) 46.95 B; 5. Samuel Rairden (UT) 47.00 B; 6. Max Murphy (AU) 47.17 B; 7. Hannes Heyl (LSU) 47.22 B; 8. Jared White (AU) 47.38 B
400 medley relay: 1. Florida (Marco Loughran, Conor Dwyer, Marcin Cieslak, Brett Fraser) 3:04.99 A; 2. Auburn (Kyle Owens, Stuart Ferguson, Tony Cox, Adam Brown) 3:06.52 A; 3. Tennessee (Ricky Henahan, Brad Craig, Michael DeRocco, Ryan Harrison) 3:08.72 B; 4. Georgia (Matt Bartlett, Martin Kata, Mark Dylla, Michael Arnold) 3:11.31 B; 5. LSU (James Meyers, Sean Roddy; Hannes Heyl; Andrei Tuomola) 3:11. 44 B; 6. Alabama (Alan Axford, Devan Terry, Alex Coci; BJ Hornikel) 3:13.06 B; 7. South Carolina (Jay Warner, Bobby Cave, Michael Flach, Alex Fitton) 3:15.12 B; 8. Kentucky (Ramon Walton, Chip Aplin, David Sanders, Colin Faris) 3:16.09 B
TEAM SCORING:
1. Auburn 574; 2. Florida 547; 3. Tennessee 443.5; 4. Georgia 347; 5. LSU 215.5; 6. Alabama 182; 7. Kentucky 165; 8. South Carolina 153
Players Mentioned
