University of Georgia
SEC Championships
Diver Austin Highlights First Night of SECs
February 19, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
ATHENS, Ga. --- Diver McKensi Austin's fourth-place finish on the 3-meter springboard highlighted Georgia's showing in the Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships on Tuesday at Gabrielsen Natatorium.
After the first night of competition, the Lady Bulldogs stand fourth with 132 points, trailing Florida (165), Texas A&M (162), and Arkansas (139). The Bulldogs landed in 10th with 94 points in the standings led by Tennessee (187), Texas A&M (158), and Missouri (146).
"Tonight was awesome," Austin said. "I couldn't have asked for more on the first night of SECs. I always want to come in stay consistent and my goal in prelims was to just make it to the finals. After doing that, I was obviously really excited and just really wanted to relax and have fun tonight because that was going to be the way I was going to be able to do the best I could."
Austin's 331.05 points earned her fourth-place finish. Freida Lim came in 15th with 285.60 points.
Courtney Harnish, Veronica Burchill, Dakota Luther, and Olivia Carter touched the wall in 6:58.01 to place fifth in the women's 800 freestyle relay.
Gabi Fa'amausili, Sofia Carnevale, Luther, and Burchill posted a time of 1:37.19 to place eighth in the women's 200 medley relay. That time ranks ninth on Georgia's all-time top-10 list.
In the men's 800 freestyle relay, Javier Acevedo, Walker Higgins, Andrew Abruzzo, and Aidan Burns clocked in with a time of 6:18.75 for the seventh-fastest time in school history and a fifth-place finish.
Acevedo, James Guest, Camden Murphy, and Alex BeMiller registered the third-fastest time in school history, stopping the clock at 1:24.67 and finishing eighth in the men's 200 medley relay.
The SECs will resume on Wednesday with the 500 freestyle, the 200 individual medley, the 50 freestyle, the 200 freestyle relay, and the women's 1-meter springboard. Prelims begin at 10 a.m., with finals starting at 6 p.m.
"Tomorrow we'll sort of get into it; we just had two relays tonight," said Jack Bauerle, Georgia's Tom Cousins Swimming and Diving Head Coach. "Both of those went pretty well, but I think we're a little bit better than what we did. We were actually faster than we were last year. We've got a little rest left in us and we're completely sharp and ready to go for tomorrow. Pretty good start, wasn't perfect, but the effort was terrific, so tomorrow we start competing."
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Players Mentioned
