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Andres Echavarria, FloridaA birdie on the last hole of the SEC Championship by the fifth-year senior gave him a closing 69 and put him in a playoff with LSU's John Peterson, the duo tied at one-under 209. The Colombian native then claimed the individual title (the 22nd time a Gator has won it) on the first sudden-death hole, making a par.
"He's out senior captain and he's a fifth-year guy, so he's got a lot of experience and he's been playing really well lately," said Florida coach Buddy Alexander, who's squad also won the team title with an 11-stroke victory over Alabama. "He was actually sick last week, so I was little nervous about that, but he's a great competitor, he wants to win as much as everybody."
It was Echavarria's second individual win of the 2010-11 season and the third of his career.
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Erica Popson, TennesseeA day before her 20th birthday and a year after losing the conference title in a playoff, the sophomore from Davenport, Fla., took the SEC individual title with a two-under 70 in the final round at Auburn University GC and a six-under 210 total, one stroke better than Georgia's Marta Silva Zamora.
Popson led the tournament wire-to-wire, carding the lowest first-round score in SEC history (six-under 66). It was her second victory in three starts, with her other finish being a playoff loss to teammate Nathalie Mansson. She is also just the second Lady Vol to win the conference medalist honors, joining Katharina Larsson in 1994.
