Spring Sports

 
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Baseball:
Georgia and Tennessee represented the SEC in the Men's College World Series and were two of an NCAA-record eight teams from the league that went to the NCAA Tournament. Georgia, under coach Ron Polk, won its first SEC Championship since 1955 and Mississippi State claimed its fifth SEC Tournament title and its first since 1990.

Tennessee's Chris Burke was named the SEC Player of the Year while LSU's Lane Mestepey was named the league's Freshman of the Year. Georgia skipper Ron Polk was named the SEC Coach of the Year.

Setting the Standard for Excellence

  • The SEC has sent 22 teams to the Men's College World Series since 1990, an average of two per year. LSU has been to Omaha seven times during that stretch, while Alabama, Mississippi State and Florida have been three times each, and Auburn, Georgia and Tennessee have each been twice.

  • The SEC has placed 13 teams in the top four finishers of the Men's College World Series since 1990. Only twice, 1992 and 1994, has the SEC failed to get a team in the top four.

  • Since 1990, the SEC has posted a .717 non-conference winning percentage, best in the nation. Last season, the league recorded a 249-100-2 mark against out-of-conference foes, a .712 winning percentage.

  • Since 1990, 51 SEC teams have finished in the final Collegiate Baseball poll, while 46 have appeared in the final Baseball America poll and 42 in the final Baseball Weekly poll. Last season, six teams finished in the final Collegiate Baseball poll and five placed in the final Baseball America and Baseball Weekly polls.

  • Five SEC players were chosen in the first round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Tennessee's Chris Burke was chosen 10th overall by Houston, Auburn's Gabe Gross was chosen 15th by Toronto, LSU's Mike Fontenot was taken 19th by Baltimore, Wyatt Allen of Tennessee was chosen 39th by the Chicago White Sox and LSU's Todd Linden was chosen 41st by San Francisco. With those selections, the SEC has now had a first-round pick every year since 1991 and 44 total.

Golf:
The Southeastern Conference won both the men's and women's NCAA Golf Championships in 2001. Florida's men took top national honors with an 18-stroke victory over their nearest competitor. The Gators shot 13-under-par on the final day of the tournament to capture their fourth NCAA men's golf title in school history.

Georgia's women captured the NCAA title, eking out a three-shot win over second-place Duke. The Lady Bulldogs came from four strokes back on the final day of competition. The national title was the first for the Lady Bulldog golf program.

Setting the Standard for Excellence

  • The SEC has claimed nine NCAA men's team titles and six individual champions in its history. Along with claiming the team title, Florida's Nick Gilliam won individual medalist honors at the NCAA Championships. On the women's side, the league has captured three team national championships and three individual titles.

  • Since 1985, the SEC has had 28 top-10 finishes in the NCAA Men's Championships and 39 top-10 finishes in the NCAA Women's Championships. Along with Florida, Georgia finished fifth in the NCAA Men's Championships while Auburn, which finished fourth, joined Georgia in the top 10 of the NCAA Women's Championships.

  • The SEC had seven individuals finish in the top 25 of the NCAA Women's Golf Championships and four were named to the All-America team. LSU's Katy Harris was the SEC's top golfer, tying for third, one-under-par.

  • The SEC had six men's golfers finish in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships and three were named to the All-America team.

Track & Field:
For the 12th time in 13 years, a team from the Southeastern Conference won the NCAA Men's Track and Field Championship. Tennessee, behind two national championship performances from freshman sprinter Justin Gatlin, slipped past second-place Texas Christian by just one point to claim its third-ever team title. The Vols also won the SEC title earlier in the year, easily outdistancing second-place Florida. LSU won the NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship while Arkansas won the SEC indoor title.

For the second straight year, Arkansas took top honors in both the SEC Women's Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The Lady Razorbacks were led by senior distance runner Amy Yoder Begley, who was named the SEC Female Outdoor Athlete of the Year. South Carolina was the SEC's top finisher in both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships. The Lady Gamecocks finished second in the indoors and fourth in the outdoors.

Setting the Standard for Excellence

  • During the last 10 seasons, the SEC has won 36 combined national championships in men's and women's cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field. The Arkansas men have won 20 of those championships while LSU's women have won 13. The LSU men won the indoor title and Tennessee's men won the outdoor title last season while Florida won the women's indoor championship in 1992.

  • In indoor track, the SEC has had 81 men's individual NCAA champions since 1992 and 56 women's individual champions since 1987.

  • In outdoor track, the SEC has had 107 men's individual NCAA champions since 1989 and 74 women's individual champions since 1982.

  • In 2001, the SEC won a conference-best nine individual titles at the NCAA men's outdoor championships. During the last 10 years, the SEC has had 68 individual national championships in men's outdoor track.

  • For the fifth straight year, the SEC placed three teams in the top 10 of the NCAA women's indoor championships.

Softball:
LSU won its third straight SEC title with a 26-4 conference record. Since the start of SEC softball in 1997, the Lady Tigers are 120-23 against league competition, an .839 winning percentage. LSU pitcher Britni Sneed was named SEC Player of the Year and Lady Tiger coach Yvette Girouard was voted SEC Coach of the Year.

Along with LSU, Alabama, South Carolina and Florida made the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Tigers advanced to the semifinal round of the College World Series, making it further in the CWS than any team in SEC history. The SEC had three players receive first-team All-America honors including LSU's Britni Sneed, Kelly Kretschman of Alabama and Mississippi State's Kellie Wilkerson.

Setting the Standard for Excellence

  • After only five years in existence, the Southeastern Conference had two top seeds in the NCAA Tournament in 2001. LSU and Alabama were both top seeds and hosts to regionals in the NCAA Tournament. It marks the first time that the SEC has ever had two top seeds in the NCAA Softball Tournament.

  • SEC teams have been ranked in every NFCA/USA Today Top 25 poll since the inception of SEC softball in 1997. Three SEC teams, LSU (tied for 3rd), Alabama (10th) and South Carolina (23rd) finished in the top 25 of the final 2001 poll.

  • SEC teams have won 221 games against top 25 opponents in the last five seasons.

  • SEC teams posted a 208-123-1 record against non-league competition in 2001, a .627 winning percentage.

Tennis:
Georgia's men won top honors in the singles, doubles and team competitions at the NCAA Tennis Championships. The Bulldogs defeated SEC-rival Tennessee in the finals while sophomore Matias Boeker won the singles title and teamed with junior Travis Parrott to win the doubles championship as well. The feat has only been accomplished two other times in NCAA history. The Bulldogs won the SEC team title as well in 2001.

The Lady Gator duo of Whitney Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff won the doubles title at the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships. In eight of the last 10 years, a team or individual(s) from the SEC have won either the team, doubles or singles title at the NCAA Championships. Vanderbilt had its best finish in school history, finishing second in the NCAAs. Florida won its 18th SEC team championship since 1980.

Setting the Standard for Excellence

  • Twenty-three of 24 SEC teams participated in NCAA postseason action with eight advancing to the round of 16, four in the women's tournament and four in the men's tournament.

  • The SEC has had 129 men's and 98 women's tennis All-Americas in the last 10 seasons. That is an average of more than 22 All-Americas combined each year.

  • The SEC had three of the four teams in the finals of the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships in 2001. The SEC has had a team in the NCAA men's semifinals in each of the last 10 seasons.

  • Georgia coach Manuel Diaz was named the Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year in men's tennis while Tennessee's Mike and Sonia Hahn-Patrick were named Wilson/ITA National Coaches of the Year in women's tennis.

SEC CHAMPIONS

Baseball:
Georgia

Golf:
Men's - Florida
Women's - Georgia

Outdoor Track & Field:
Men's - Tennessee
Women's - Arkansas

Softball:
LSU

Tennis:
Men's - Georgia
Women's - Florida