Feb. 28, 2004

Results

ATHENS, Ga.

After charting a bevy of NCAA qualifying times and setting four program standards throughout the four-day long 2004 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga., Head Coach Dan Colella and Diving Coach Dave Parrington's swimming and diving squad eked out a fourth-place finish by the slimmest of margins with a total of 264 points, which was just one point ahead of fifth-place South Carolina's 263 tally. Overall, Auburn took the team championship with a total of 846 points.

"I am really happy with our accomplishments this season," Colella said. "We set several goals at the beginning of the year and we are batting 1.000 so far. We have one more goal left and that is at the NCAA Championships. I am really proud of our team for the last four days. To do what the team did at the most intense meet in the country where the pressure is incredibly high, I am really pleased.

I am also excited about the 400y medley relay breaking the school record. It was a tremendous effort and the coaching staff couldn't be prouder. We just have some things to clean up and need to work on getting better for the NCAAs."

Freshman Misty Cain (Marietta, Ga.) finished in the points and blasted more than 20 seconds off her previous career-best in the 1650y freestyle with a 15th-place 17:01.26 effort, which secured two points for the Big Orange to open the final session of the week. In a non-scoring capacity, junior Elizabeth Wueste (Norcross, Ga.) swam the mile-long marathon race in 18:30.27. In the 200y IM consolation final, freshman Megan Tomes (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied four points for Tennessee with a 13th-place 2:02.55 clocking to close out UT's scoring in individual events.

In the final event of the meet, the 400y medley relay quartet of Tomes, freshman Tiffany Clay (Mason, Ohio), sophomore Jacque Fessel (Cincinnati, Ohio) and sophomore Abbi Terveer (Lima, Ohio) overcame a seemingly insurmountable deficit to South Carolina to claim a fourth-place team finish as the orange-clads seized fourth place in the event with a school record 3:42.61 clocking. Unfortunately for USC, the Gamecocks were disqualified and opened the door for the Lady Vols. As for the new standard, it replaces a six-year old mark set in the 1998 SEC Tournament. Overall, the 400y medley relay added 30 points to the cause.

Next up for the Lady Vols, Parrington's diving squad returns to the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga., for the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships over March 12-14, while the swim squad remains in Athens for the last-chance Bulldog Invitational on the leap day of Feb. 29, before heading to the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas, over March 18-20.

Tennessee at SEC Swimming and Diving
At Gabrielsen Natatorium (Athens, Ga.)

Team Scores:
1.	Auburn	846
2.	Georgia	756
3.	Florida	680
4.	TENNESSEE	264
5.	South Carolina	263
6.	Kentucky	252.5
7.	Arkansas	236
8.	Alabama	222.5
9.	Louisiana State	212
UT All-SEC Performers:
3rd	1m springboard - Lauryn McCalley	290.00
3rd	100y backstroke - Jacque Fessel	54.03
3rd	200y medley relay - Jacque Fessel, Tiffany Clay, Megan Tomes, Taryn Ternent	1:41.08
UT Individual Point Scorers:
45	Jacque Fessel
30	Lauryn McCalley
15	Tiffany Clay
10	Graciela Breece-Rodriguez
9	Megan Tomes
9	Kylee Wells
4	Misty Cain
2	Betsy Brockman
2	Julia Lutz
2	Ashley Yeager
UT Relay Point Scorers:
32	200y medley relay - Jacque Fessel, Tiffany Clay, Megan Tomes, Taryn Ternent
30	400y medley relay - Megan Tomes, Tiffany Clay, Jacque Fessel, Abbi Terveer
28	200y freestyle relay - Abbi Terveer, Taryn Ternent, Jacque Fessel, Megan Tomes
24	800y freestyle relay - Elizabeth Christy, Abbi Terveer, Jacque Fessel, Megan Tomes
22	400y freestyle relay - Abbi Terveer, Taryn Ternent, Meghan Keefer, Megan Tomes