Feb. 21, 2010
Photo Gallery
ATHENS, Ga. – Sophomore swimming standout Laura Dillon broke her own school record in the 200-yard breaststroke, highlighting Vanderbilt’s performance at the final day of the 2010 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday. Vanderbilt finished the meet in 10th place with 59 total points.
The Commodores closed out Saturday with 13 season-best times including the top performance of the weekend when Dillon placed 14th in the 200-yard breaststroke final with a school record time of 2:18.16. Dillon broke the school record twice in the same day after she swam a career-best 2:18.28 in the morning preliminaries. The Reston, Va., native advanced to the finals of the event after placing 12th out of 35 swimmers.
“Laura swam great in the 200-breaststroke tonight and this helps set the bar for the future of the program,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “It was an inspiring swim for Laura and for the Vanderbilt fans at the meet.”
It marks the second straight season, that Dillon has broken the school record in the 200-breaststroke at the SEC Championship. Last year, she clocked a 2:19.56 at the final day of the SEC Championships in Auburn, Ala.
Chelsea Morey, Jess Eccher, Rose Cornelson and Stephanie Falcone all swam season-highs in the 200-yard backstroke on Saturday while Jennifer Molchan, Zoe-Cooper Surma, Betsy Galenti and Anna Fargo notched season-highs in the 200-yard freestyle.
Allie Voss, Elizabeth Brunk, Sarah Lynch and Jess Cohen joined Dillon with season-best swims in the 200-breaststroke.
In the final event of the day, Vanderbilt’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Eccher, Molchan, Morey and Lynch put together a strong performance that appeared to be on-pace for a record performance before they were disqualified for a false start.
“The girls on the final relay of the night had an amazing swim, it was too bad we were called for a false start,” Organ said.
Georgia was crowned the 2010 SEC Champion after finishing the meet with 824.5 points. Florida came in second with 698 points while Auburn finished in third with 568 points.
SEC Championship Final Team Standings
1. Georgia 824.5
2. Florida 698
3. Auburn 568
4. Tennessee 497
5. Alabama 272
6. Arkansas 262.5
7. Louisiana State 262
8. Kentucky 204
9. South Carolina 158
10. Vanderbilt 59
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Vanderbilt Results (Prelims and Finals)
200-yard backstroke – 29. Chelsea Morey, 2:03.73*. 30. Jess Eccher, 2:04.25*. 31. Rose Cornelson, 2:06.51*. 33. Amy Salce, 2:06.62. 34. Stephanie Falcone, 2:10.15*
200-yard freestyle – 45. Jennifer Molchan, 53.29*. 47. Zoe Cooper-Surma, 54:39*. 48. Betsy Galenti, 54.39*. 49. Anna Fargo, 55.29*.
200-yard breaststroke (prelims) – 12. Laura Dillon, 2:18.28!. 23. Allie Voss, 2:23.23*. 25. Elizabeth Brunk, 2:24.95*. 27. Sarah Lynch, 2:25.84*. 28. Jess Cohen, 2:32.74*
200-yard breaststroke (final) – 14. Laura Dillon, 2:18.16!
* – denotes lifetime best
! – denotes school record
