FAYETTEVILLE — As the regular season comes to an end, Arkansas turns its attention to championship action starting Wednesday, as the Razorbacks are in College Station, Texas, for the 2018 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships.
The five-day event will run Wednesday through Sunday on the campus of Texas A&M University.
The Championships will be streamed throughout the entire week on SEC Network Plus, while Sunday’s finals will be televised on SEC Network beginning at 6 p.m.
“We are excited to get the SEC Championships started,” said coach Neil Harper. “We have had a successful seasons o far and improved in all areas from last year. We are confident and positive and now we need to make the most of every individual and team opportunity we have.”
Arkansas wrapped up the regular season 9-3 overall, including a 3-2 mark in conference play. The Razorbacks ended the season on a three-meet winning streak, with wins at Houston, versus Vanderbilt and at Kansas.
It marked the 12th consecutive season that Arkansas has finished .500 or better in dual meets.
Under second year head coach Neil Harper, the Razorbacks are a combined 14-6 overall and 4-5 against SEC opponents in regular season action.
The Championships will mark the second time this season that the Razorbacks have competed in College Station, as Arkansas finished fourth at the prestigious Art Adamson Invitational earlier in the year, falling to nationally ranked Texas A&M, Stanford and Arizona State.
The Razorbacks beat out SEC foe LSU at the invite, as the Tigers finished seventh.
This season, the Razorbacks have plenty of senior leadership heading into the championships. The senior class accounts for nine of the 17 individual event top times this season, while the freshmen class is second with four, juniors have three and sophomores have just one.
Seniors Olivia Weekley, Chelsea Tatlow and Chloe Hannam each lead Arkansas with three top times each.
Weekley has the top time in the 50 and 100 freestyles, along with the 100 butterfly.
Tatlow owns the top time in the 200 freestyle, butterfly and individual medley, while Hannam is tops in the 100 and 200 backstroke, along with the 400 individual medley.
Arkansas has combined for 39 NCAA ‘B’ cuts this season, led by Hannam who has nine of her own, including six in the 200 backstroke.
Senior Jessie Garrison has seven ‘B’ cuts, while senior Sydney Angell has six. On the boards, Razorback divers combined for 51 NCAA Zone scores, as freshman Brooke Schultz owns 20.
All 10 of her six-dive scores on the one-meter and three-meter springboards this season qualified for NCAA’s, as the six-time SEC diver of the week broke six school records in her freshman campaign, including both of Arkansas’ pool records and the UCLA pool record on the three-meter.
