NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt swimming opens postseason action this week when the SEC Championships get underway Tuesday at Tennessee’s Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
The opening day of the event, which runs through Saturday, will see the completion of the 1,650 freestyle and a pair of relays at night, with the schedule the rest of the week featuring preliminary heats beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT and finals starting at 4:30 p.m.
Vanderbilt at SEC Championships
Tuesday-Saturday, Feb. 17-21 • Prelims 8:30 a.m. CT • Finals 4:30 p.m.
Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center • Knoxville, Tenn. • SEC Network+
SEC Championships On Deck
• Vanderbilt begins postseason competition at the SEC Championships hosted by Tennessee.
• The duo of Melissa Cowen and Aubrey Hull have already made the A cut for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship while 10 other Commodores have posted B standard times for the meet.
• Seniors Taylor Carey, Meredith DiPasquale and Jenna Ravarino are competing at the SEC Championships for the fourth time in their collegiate career.
• This will also mark the final appearance at the meet for seniors Ryen Bosuro and Quinlan Hinerfeld.
• Eight of the 22 individuals on the Dores’ roster for the meet will be swimming at the SEC Championships for the first time in their collegiate career including Cowen, sophomores Abigail Hite and Merritt Zieminick and five freshmen.
Commodores Close Strong
• Vandy recorded an individual victory and had a double-figure number of student-athletes with their best times of the season in the final meet of the regular season at Arkansas on Jan. 30.
• Cowen paced the Commodores after placing first in the 200 breast.
• Both Bailey Ratzburg (200 free, 400 IM) and Hite (50 free, 100 free) had multiple season-low marks.
• Hull led the Dores, and was second overall, in both the 100 and 200 back.
• Hinerfeld recorded a mark meeting the CSCAA NIC B cut for the first time this season in the 200 back.
Solid Sophomore Season
• It’s the second straight season that Hull leads the Commodores in the 100 and 200 back.
• The Charlotte, North Carolina, native, missed breaking her own school record in the 100 back by two-tenths of a second at the Phill Hansel Invitational in November.
• She was also just four-hundredths of a second from matching her best mark and one-tenth of a second shy of breaking the program record in the 200 back at that meet.
• In less than two seasons at the collegiate level, Hull has recorded 13 individual victories including a team-best five the season.
• Last season, she placed among the top 35 in both the 100 and 200 back in her SEC Championships debut.
Cowen Makes Immediate Impact on Dores
• Cowen, a transfer from Florida, will be swimming at the SEC Championships for the first time after leading Vandy in three events—the 50 free, and 100 and 200 breast—her first season with the program.
• In addition to achieving the CSCAA NIC A standard in the 200 breast, she has made the B cut for the event in not only the 100 breast but 200 IM as well.
• The New Zealand native already ranks among the top 10 on the Dores’ all-time performance list in three events including the 100 and 200 breast and 200 IM.
• Her win in the 200 breast at Arkansas in the regular-season finale was her first individual victory as a Commodore.
• She medaled with a third-place performance in the A Final of the 200 breast and was also fifth in the 100 breast A Final at the Phill Hansel Invitational.
Constable Coming On Strong
• Sophomore Emily Constable, who ranks second on the team in the 100 and 200 breast, put together her best performances of the campaign in the Commodores’ final two match-ups against SEC competition.
• In a Jan. 16 tri-meet with Kentucky and Texas A&M, she posted her fastest marks of the season in both events to achieve the CSCAA NIC B standard for the first time this season.
• She then improved that time while leading the Dores in the 100 breast at Arkansas two weeks later.
• Constable was among the top 40 in the 100 breast and top 45 in the 200 breast at her first SEC Championships last winter.
• The Westfield, New Jersey, resident still ranks second on the school’s all-time performer list in the 100 breast with her best swim in the event as a freshman.
Versatility On Display
• Ratzburg has shown her versatility for the Commodores as a junior, ranking among the top five on the squad in a team-high six different events—100 and 200 free, 200 back, 200 breast, and 200 and 400 IM—this season.
• That includes posting the Dores’ best marks in the 200 free, and 200 and 400 IM.
• All three of those times have come in Vandy’s last two meets.
• The native of Janesville, Wisconsin, is one of five individuals on the roster to have met standards for this year’s CSCAA NIC meet in at least three different events.
Freshmen Find Way to Contribute
• All five freshmen on the Commodores’ roster this season will be competing at the SEC Championships this week.
• The group is led by Ellie Butler, who entered the top 10 on the program’s all-time performer list in the 200 fly with her swim at the Phill Hansel Invitational.
• Both Butler and Lane Gooding contributed to the 400 medley relay team that also posted a top-10 mark all-time at Vandy at that meet.
• Butler (200 fly) and Sadie Suppiger (200 back) have recorded marks meeting the CSCAA NIC B standard this winter.
• Elayne Chen earned victories in the 200 and 500 free in her collegiate debut while Ava Allingham claimed the 100 breast E Final at the Phill Hansel Invitational to close the fall season.
