Feb. 23, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Freshman Leigh-Ann Axt set school records in the 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly to lead the Vanderbilt swimming and diving team at the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships held this past weekend at the Alabama Aquatic Center in Tuscaloosa. The `Dores finished the event in 10th place with 80 points.
“I think we did well this weekend,” Vanderbilt swimming and diving head coach Jeremy Organ said. “We had three school records fall. We just missed the school record in the 400-yard freestyle. I think the girls started to feel more comfortable in the meet. I’m really happy with how they performed. They came in and competed and represented Vanderbilt.”
Axt set her first school record of the weekend in the 100-yard butterfly. Improving on her already school-best time of 56.42, Axt swam the distance in 55.89 seconds. Proving the difficulty of the Southeastern Conference, Axt was unable to qualify for the finals with her time, finishing the preliminaries in 22nd place.
Axt also set a new school record in the 200-yard freestyle, an event held just 15 minutes after Axt set her first school record in the 100-yard butterfly. The freshman bested the previous record of 1:52.21, set in 1990 by Wrenn Terrill, by nearly two seconds. Axt finished with a time of 1:50.32, good for a 24th-place finish.
Axt broke her third school record in the 200-yard butterfly. She also became the first Commodore to reach the finals in a race at the conference meet since Vanderbilt restarted its swimming program last season. Axt finished 15th in the preliminaries with a Vanderbilt record time of 2:02.32, which also qualified as an NCAA “B” qualifying standard. Axt finished 15th in the finals, recording a time of 2:03.28.
“I think she really started to show her competitiveness this weekend,” Organ added. “She swam one of the hardest doubles, with the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle back-to-back. That was an incredible performance to set two school records in the span of about 15 minutes. I think with her being a freshman, she learned a lot this weekend and will grow a lot from this.”
Four of the Commodore relay teams posted season-best times. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Axt, Jennifer Molchan, Alex Jennings and Rachel Dyer improved their time by an impressive 12 seconds, finishing the event with a time of 7:42.21. Vanderbilt’s 200-yard freestyle relay team, consisting of Axt, Anna Fargo, Chao and Molchan swam a season-best time of 1:38.16. The 400-yard medley relay squad finished with a season-best performance of 4:03.67. Finally, the 400-yard freestyle relay team recorded a time of 3:32.65, improving their season-best time by six seconds and just missing setting a new school record in the event.
Jennings also set season-best marks in three other races at the conference meet. The freshman finished the 500-yard freestyle in 5:15.81, the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.46, and the 200-yard backstroke in 2:10.61.
Chao posted season-best times in the 50-yard freestyle (25.57), the 100-yard freestyle (55.21) and the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.62).
Andrea Roldan had a season-best performance in the 200-yard individual medley, recording a time of 2:21.70, almost three seconds faster than her previous best on the season.
Fargo was the top finisher for the `Dores in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.50, also a season best.
“There were a lot of girls who had lifetime bests,” Organ said. “I think a lot of our freshmen did compete very well. To get a season-best time is a great accomplishment at a meet like this. As a whole, we see the weekend as a success but we have to strive for a little bit more.”
Auburn swept the men’s and women’s titles for the fourth time in school history. The Auburn women finished with 761.5 points, while the men had 806 points.
Final Team Results:
Women – Team Scores
Place School Points
1 Auburn University 761.5
2 Florida, University of 706
3 Georgia, University of 566.5
4 Tennessee, University of 477
5 Kentucky, University of 332
6 Louisiana State University 238.5
7 Arkansas, University of 229
8 Alabama, University of 202.5
9 South Carolina, University of 199
10 Vanderbilt University 80
