University of Missouri
SEC Championships
Slaton Nabs 200 Fly Silver During Fourth Day of SEC Championships
2/21/2020 9:02:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
AUBURN, Ala. - The Mizzou swimming and diving teams tallied four top eight individual finishes, including a runner-up showing from senior Micah Slaton (Austin, Texas), during day four action at the 2020 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships in Auburn, Ala.
Slaton took second in the men's 200 fly, while senior Daniel Hein (Sycamore, Ill.) also earned a podium finish as he was third in the 100 back.
Mizzou moved up the team standings with strong performances on Thursday. The men sit fourth with 681.5 points, only one point behind Georgia in third, and the Tiger woman are eighth with 363 points.
TOP TIGERS
Slaton, who finished fifth in the men's 200 fly in 2019 and eighth in 2018, was fourth at the 150-yard mark but closed with the second-fastest final 50 to go 1:42.01, a hundredth of a second ahead of the third-place finisher. His time was a season-best and less than two-hundredths off his all-time best.
Mizzou's second podium finish of the night came in the men's 100 back from Hein, who earned his fourth top eight finish in the event in four SEC Championships. The senior swam a 45.93 in the final to place third on Friday night, besting his previous finishes of sixth (twice) and seventh.
Freshman Leonardo Garcia Varela (Cali, Colombia) narrowly missed a top three finish as he took fourth on men's platform. He went 76.85 on his final dive to total a career-best 377.4, a score that moves him into fifth all-time at Mizzou on tower. It marked his second top eight finish of the meet, as he also finished eighth on 3-meter on Tuesday.
In the women's 100 back, junior Sarah Thompson (Collierville, Tenn.) dropped a personal-best 51.07 to take fourth overall in the event. She improved on her prelims time of 51.75 and bettered her old career-best of 51.43, set at November's Mizzou Invite.
Three Tigers, senior Nick Alexander (St. Louis, Mo.), junior Carter Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev.) and freshman Carlo Lopez (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) all added ninth-place finishes on Friday. Alexander won the 100 back consolation final with a 46.38, Grimes won the 200 fly consolation final in 1:44.36, and Lopez took ninth on platform with 277.35 points.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers
"We definitely had a lot of fun tonight. This morning the Tigers got it done. Unfortunately we did fall on the wrong side of a couple of bubbles for some finals but all in all, we competed great in the morning and came back and moved up at night. We had a lot of reasons to celebrate. We had a couple seniors getting individual podiums for the first time. Leonardo (Garcia Varela) getting fourth was awesome to watch. We also got ninth and 11th, all three divers in the top 11 for major points. The women's relay was phenomenal with having to fix it up a little bit and still improving on our midseason time."
UP NEXT
Final day action at the 2020 SEC Championships begins Saturday, Feb. 22 with preliminary action at 9:30 a.m. CT.
DAY FOUR RESULTS
Women's 200 Fly
26. Danielle Hepler (2:00.41)
28. Ana Pozder (2:00.73)
34. Lili Horvath (2:02.22)
Men's 200 Fly
2. Micah Slaton (1:42.01 finals, 1:43.09 prelims)
9. Carter Grimes (1:44.36 finals, 1:44.95 prelims)
13. Jack Dahlgren (1:44.83 finals, 1:44.55 prelims)
27. Giovanny Lima (1:47.01)
28. Giovanni Gutierrez Lozano (1:47.03)
34. Dane Florea (1:48.54)
Women's 100 Back
4. Sarah Thompson (51.07 finals, 51.75 prelims)
12. Meredith Rees (53.15 finals, 53.12 prelims)
17. Jennifer King (53.14 finals, 53.51 prelims)
32. Amy Feddersen (54.22)
38. Audrey Guyett (54.75)
Men's 100 Back
3. Daniel Hein (45.93 finals, 45.75 prelims)
9. Nick Alexander (46.38 finals, 46.82 prelims)
15. Matthew Connealy 47.39 finals, 47.14 prelims)
17. Ben Patton (47.52 finals, 47.55 prelims)
Women's 100 Breast
14. Katrina Brathwaite (1:00.47 finals, 1:01.06 prelims)
25. Molly Winer (1:01.99)
27. Emily Snyder (1:02.11)
29. Kayla Jones (1:02.26)
Men's 100 Breast
10. Danny Kovac (52.74 finals, 52.74 prelims)
16. Caleb Hicks (54.21 finals, 52.79 prelims)
21. Nick Staver (53.67 finals, 53.72 prelims)
22. Will Goodwin (54.02 finals, 53.87 prelims)
Men's Platform
4. Leonardo Garcia Varela (377.4 finals, 358.65 prelims)
9. Carlo Lopez (277.35)
11. Ike Khamis (270.05)
Women's 400 Medley Relay
6. Sarah Thompson, Katrina Brathwaite, Meredith Rees, Megan Keil (3:32.58)
Men's 400 Medley Relay
7. Nick Alexander, Danny Kovac, Daniel Hein, Jack Dahlgren (3:08.22)
Players Mentioned
