University of Missouri
SEC Championships
Danny Kovac Wins SEC 100 Fly Title
2/20/2020 8:09:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
AUBURN, Ala. - Sophomore Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.) of the Mizzou swimming and diving team claimed the 2020 Southeastern Conference 100 fly title on Thursday night at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships in Auburn, Ala. Kovac became the second Tiger to win an SEC men's swimming title, joining 2019 200 free winner Mikel Schreuders.
Kovac, who finished seventh in the 100 fly as a freshman, now has a pair of podium finishes at these Championships with his third-place showing in the 200 IM on Wednesday.
The Tiger men sit in seventh-place with 415 points with two days of action left, while the women are ninth with 252.
TOP TIGERS
Kovac entered SECs seeded second in the 100 fly and sat fourth after a 45.94 in morning prelims. In the championship final, he sat second at the 100 yard turn but closed strong to out-touch Auburn's Santiago Grassi by three-hundredths of a second, 45.29-45.32. Kovac's winning time was a personal-best by half a second, besting his 2019 NCAA Championships time of 45.77.
Senior Daniel Hein (Sycamore, Ill.) also swam in the 100 fly championship final, placing seventh with a career-best 45.86 for his second-straight top eight finish in the event at SECs.
The Tigers went placed 10th and 11th in the men's 200 free with strong swims from senior Giovanny Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and sophomore Jack Dahlgren (Victoria, Minn.). Lima notched a 1:34.55, just off his season-best, for 10th, while Dahlgren went 1:35.05 for 11th.
In the diving well, sophomore Sarah Rousseau (Melbourne, Fla.) earned points for the Tigers as she placed 12th on 3-meter with a prelims score of 288.75.
Senior Jennifer King (Glasgow, Scotland) and junior Amanda Smith (Dry Ridge, Ky.) both tallied career-best times in the 400 IM on Thursday night. King clocked a 4:10.64 to finish 14th overall and Smith took 17th after a finals swim of 4:12.24, which moved her from seventh to fifth all-time at Mizzou.
In the men's race, junior Carter Grimes (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished in 10th with a finals swim of 3:45.25. Also with a big personal-best in the 400 IM was sophomore Jack Dubois (Alpharetta, Ga.). He won the C final for 17th in 3:45.79, two seconds better than his prelims time and a full three seconds faster than his best entering the meet.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers
"We had a lot of Tigers with great performances today. Amanda Smith got us started with a great race in the C final of the 400 IM and the ball just kept rolling from there. That was a big swim out of Danny Kovac to win an SEC championship. It was really fun watching that race, especially seeing Daniel Hein celebrating like he won himself from lane one because he was so excited for his teammate. I couldn't be more proud as a coach to see that ZouStyle in full action. The team did a great job of cheering tonight. Mizzou is getting better every session and I'm looking forward to the morning."
Mizzou sophomore Danny Kovac
"It really was just all about details. It's very important to practice those race details and just know how to execute doing the race. Honestly, I'm just really happy to get the points for my team. I wouldn't be able to do it without them. I just appreciate all the energy and support. I could never be here without my teammates."
UP NEXT
Day four action at the 2020 SEC Championships begins Friday, Feb. 21 with preliminary action at 9:30 a.m. CT.
DAY THREE RESULTS
Women's 400 IM
14. Jennifer King (4:10.64 finals, 4:12.36 prelims)
17. Amanda Smith (4:12.24 finals, 4:15.51 prelims)
26. Lili Horvath (4:17.39)
29. Katrina Brathwaite (4:19.27)
32. Danielle Hepler (4:20.82)
37. CJ Kovac (4:25.79)
Men's 400 IM
10. Carter Grimes (3:45.25 finals, 3:45.71 prelims)
17. Jack Dubois (3:45.79 finals, 3:47.96 prelims)
22. Dane Florea (3:52.23 finals, 3:50.62 prelims)
35. Joseph Gutierrez (3:58.23)
Women's 100 Fly
22. Meredith Rees (53.42 finals, 53.35 prelims)
37. Megan Keil (54.69)
Men's 100 Fly
1. Danny Kovac (45.29 finals, 45.94 prelims)
7. Daniel Hein (45.86 finals, 46.18 prelims)
10. Micah Slaton (46.25 finals, 46.39 prelims)
20. Matthew Connealy (47.20 finals, 47.13 prelims)
27. Grant Reed (47.46)
51. Alex Moore (48.84)
55. Nick Staver (50.20)
Women's 200 Free
28. Allison Bloebaum (1:47.94)
29. Sammie Jo Porter (1:48.04)
52. Alex Moderski (1:50.60)
64. Audrey Guyett (1:53.75)
Men's 200 Free
10. Giovanny Lima (1:34.55 finals, 1:34.93 prelims)
11. Jack Dahlgren (1:35.05 finals, 1:34.46 prelims)
26. Kyle Leach (1:35.96)
34. Grant Reed (1:36.55)
Women's 3-Meter
12. Sarah Rousseau (288.75)
29. Maddie Huitt (226.4)
32. Savana Trueb (189.8)
Players Mentioned
