Freshman Carrie Dragland Sets SEC Diving Record
2/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Feb. 19, 2009
AUBURN, Ala. - Alabama freshman Carrie Dragland broke the Southeastern Conference record on her way to winning the three-meter diving title on day one of the league championships being held in Auburn, Ala. this week.
Dragland scored 366.50 points on her way to winning her first SEC crown, bettering the old mark of 361.35 set by South Carolina's Allison Brennan in 2006. Dragland's win was the 10th diving title for the Tide women and the first three-meter title since Lane Bassham in 2004.
Junior Aaron Fleshner also won an SEC title on Wednesday, giving the Tide a clean sweep off the boards on day one of the championships. Fleshner won the one-meter diving title after finishing second in that event last season.
Other highlights from day one included the men setting the school record in the 800 freestyle relay, breaking the second oldest record on Alabama's books, and the women breaking the school 200 medley relay record.
Sophomores Denes Zubcsek and Cosma Catalin, freshman Joe Ziegler and senior Alin Mihalca combined to post a 6:24.98 in the 800 freestyle relay, bettering the previous mark by more than three seconds. Don Berger, Matt Mullane, Brendan McCarthy and Andreas Schmidt set the old mark of 5:28.26 in 1983, giving them a more than 25-year reign as the Tide's best.
Sophomore Cassie Craddock, junior Agustina de Giovanni, junior Hannah Brinks and sophomore Ida Persson set the school record in the 200 medley relay with a school-record 1:39.38. The previous mark of 1:39.98 was set in 2002 by Michelle King, Anne Poleska, Irini Kosta and Marcy Warriner.
Leading off the Tide's relay, Zubcsek posted a career-best 1:35.93, which puts him third all-time for Alabama in the 200 freeestyle, just two-tenths of a second off Don Berger's second place time from 1985.
Junior Shannon Van Hoy also got the Tide off to a fast start in the women's 800 freestyle relay, touching the wall at 1:49.49 in her lead off leg, making her the fifth fastest 200 freestyler in school history.
Players Mentioned
