KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Melissa Cowen recorded Vanderbilt swimming’s best individual finish thus far at the SEC Championships while both she and Amelia Harper added another top 10 swim on the program’s all-time list Friday at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
The duo accomplished the feat in the 200 breast on the next-to-last day of the meet, with Cowen ending up only two spots out of reaching the final of the event. The junior came back at night and added a top 10 mark with her leadoff leg in the 200 free relay.
“Today was a day we were kind of looking forward to, we thought we had a shot at getting into that 200 breast final,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “Mel had a good swim and just missed out, but she came back with a good lead off to a strong relay that capped off the night for us. We feel good about tomorrow. We’ve had some strong swims all week, we need to continue that in the morning.
“Last one, fast one, let’s go!”
The last day of competition at this year’s SEC Championships gets underway at 8:30 a.m. CT with preliminary heats of the 200 IM, 100 free and 200 back, with finals in those events scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start.
Meet Highlights
-Cowen led the Commodores on the day with a 26th place finish in the 200 breast.
-Aubrey Hull was the Dores’ top finisher in 50 free prelims.
-Madelyn Porter recorded Vandy’s fastest time in the 500 free to conclude the morning session.
-Cowen swam the opening leg of the 200 free relay at night, and was followed by Hull, Abigail Hite and Olivia Solimine.
Notes
-Cowen was three-tenths of a second away from advancing to finals in the 200 breast after touching the wall in 2:12.92.
-Her leadoff leg of 23.11 in the relay—which made the CSCAA National Invitational Championship B cut—now stands fourth on the Commodores’ all-time performer list.
-Harper entered the top 10 on Vandy’s all-time list in the 200 breast with a career-low 2:16.13 mark, achieving the CSCAA NIC B standard in the process.
-The Dores’ time of 1:32.86 in the 200 free relay was their best of the campaign, with the mark ranking ninth all-time at Vanderbilt.
-Porter posted her second NIC B cut of the meet after finishing the 500 free in a season-best 4:54.88.
-Hull’s mark of 23.64 in 50 free prelims was the lowest of her collegiate career, while Solimine (23.80) and Ryen Bosuro (24.15) had season-best times in the event as well.
-Taylor Carey’s 200 breast time of 2:18.35 was the fastest of her career.
-Both Emily Constable (2:17.17) and Bailey Ratzburg (2:18.25) added season-best marks in the event also.
-It’s the first time this season that Ratzburg and Carey have made the CSCAA NIC B cut in the 200 breast.
-Elayne Chen recorded a 5:04.90 mark in the 500 free, making it the best she has recorded in the event her first season at the collegiate level.
-For the second day in a row, Ava Allingham posted a career-best time in the 100 fly after touching the wall in 56.99 in a morning time trial.
