Tennessee Women Win 2nd SEC Title in 3 Years, Highest Score in Program History

2022 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
• Jones Aquatics Center, Knoxville, Tenn. (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Men- Florida (9x) Women- Kentucky (1x)
• Live Results
• Live Video (Watch ESPN)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• 2021 SEC Scoring Breakdown

Final Women’s Team Standings:

1. Tennessee: 1313.5
2. Kentucky: 1043
3. Alabama: 1038
4. Georgia: 986
5. Florida: 905
6. Texas A&M: 625
7. Auburn: 584
8. LSU: 541
9. Missouri: 485.5
10. South Carolina: 460
11. Arkansas: 397
12. Vanderbilt: 123

After Kentucky broke through and won their first women’s SEC title in program history last year, it seemed as though women’s SECs would be highly contested this year. That was not the case, not even close. The Vols took control of this meet almost immediately, and it became evident early on that Tennessee would reclaim the SEC title at their home pool.

Tennessee racked up 1313.5 points to win the title, an astonishing improvement over last year, when the Vols took 5th place with 934 points. The performance also marks Tennessee’s highest score in program history, blowing the previous top score of 1108 points from the 2020 Championships out of the water.

In Tennessee’s press release following the conclusion of the meet tonight, they referred to this Tennessee team as the “deepest roster in program history,” and it’s really hard to argue with that. perhaps the most telling stat of these championships: all 22 members of Tennessee’s SEC roster qualified for at least one B final or better. That’s the sort of depth which is rarely seen at in a Power 5 conference.

Head Coach Matt Kredich spoke on the team’s victory, saying “This is an incredibly special and unique team with a number of different components.” He went on to say “Our depth on this team is historic and having the ability to do it does not always mean you are going to do it. I am so impressed with the fact that every person on this roster made a significant contribution in terms of points.

Outside of the pure depth Tennessee displayed this week, one of the most important factors in Tennessee’s win was the way their freshmen not only showed up and pulled through, but actually led the team in some ways.

Freshman Ellen Walshe became the 3rd woman in Tennessee program history to win 3 individual events in a single SEC Championships. Walshe was spectacular, pulling off an unusual double on Thursday. She won the 400 IM in 4:01.53, then turned around and won the very next women’s event, the 100 fly, in 50.34. her 400 IM time is currently the 2nd-fastest in the NCAA this season, and the 100 fly makes her the #3 performer nationally.

The Vols also picked up a win from freshman Julia Mrozinski, who won the 500 free in 4:35.95, currently the 3rd-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

Although Kredich’s crew only won one relay this year, the 800 free, they finished 2nd in every other relay. Additionally, the Vols were well under the NCAA ‘A’ cuts in all 5 relays.

Vols Event Winners:

• 800 free relay: Julia Mrozinski, Ellen Walshe, Trude Rothrock, Tjasa Pintar – 6:56.81 (Pool Record)
• 500 free: Julia Mrozinski – 4:35.95
• 200 IM: Ellen Walshe – 1:52.97
• 400 IM: Ellen Walshe – 4:01.53
• 100 fly: Ellen Walshe – 50.34
• 100 breast: Mona McSharry – 57.50
• 1650 free: Kristen Stege – 15:42.37

Tennessee SEC Champs Roster

• Mallory Beil – 17 points
• Aly Breslin – 48 points
• Grace Cable – 48 points
• Elle Caldow – 14 points
• Brooklyn Douthwright – 41 points
• Josephine Fuller – 57 points
• Alex Gebel – 26 points
• Kara Holt – 12 points
• AJ Kutsch – 34 points
• Kate McCarville – 41 points
• Mona McSharry – 75 points
• Julia Mrozinski – 64 points
• Claire Nguyen – 19 points
• Tjasa Pintar – 58 points
• Trude Rothrock – 49 points
• Jasmine Rumley – 50 points
• Summer Smith – 57 points
• Kristen Stege – 59 points
• Bayley Stewart – 16 points
• Sara Stotler – 71 points
• Ellen Walshe – 96 points
• Alexis Yager – 70.5 points