Tennessee Invite - Day Two

ALABAMA

The Alabama Swimming and Diving teams continued to set records and win events on day two of the Tennessee Invitational being held in Knoxville, Tenn. this weekend.
 
After breaking three pool records on the meet’s first day, Crimson Tide junior Kate Shannon Gray got day two off to a fast start when she destroyed the previous Allan Jones Aquatic Center record in the 400 individual medley, shaving three seconds off the old mark with a 4:16.75.
 
Overall Alabama has won 10 of the 20 individual events contested over the meet’s first two days, and broken four pool records in the process. The Tide is facing off against host Tennessee as well as Kentucky and Virginia Tech in the three-day invitational that includes prelims and finals of all the events.
 
“It was another good day,” Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. “We broke another pool record, had some folks move up our all-time top-10 and for the second day in a row we had several lifetime bests and we continue to get our hand the wall first. We just need to come back tomorrow and have a strong finish.”
 
Senior Agustina de Giovanni continues to set the pace in the breaststroke events, winning the 100 breaststroke with a 1:01.14 which ranks her second in the nation this year. Senior Maggie Zblewski was fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:03.27. Her 1:03.12 in prelims was a career-best time and moves her to eighth all-time for the Tide.
 
Sophomore Carrie Dragland won the three-meter diving event, totaling 339.05 points to edge out Tennessee’s Jodie Mgroaty by a point and a half. Senior Hannah Brinks was second in the 100 butterfly with a 54.27
 
Alabama closed out the night by winning the men’s 800 freestyle relay. Junior Denes Zubcsek, senior Mark Randall, junior Catalin Cosma and sophomore Joe Ziegler combined to post a 6:32.24, which put them more than a second ahead of the next best finisher.
 
Aaron Fleshner won the one-meter board, marking his second victory of the weekend. The senior scored a 376.65, which put him more than 20 points better than second place.
 
Alabama finished one-two in the men’s 100 breaststroke with senior Riley Boulden leading the way with a 55.09 and junior Daniel Armstrong taking second with a 55.34. Armstrong’s time is a career-best and ranks him 10th all-time at Alabama. Senior Kyle Lee took second in the men’s 400 IM, touching the wall at 3:59.10 after posting a season-best 3:58.93 in prelims. Randall took third in the 200 freestyle with a season-best 1:37.53.
 
Ziegler, the school record holder in the 200 backstroke, turned in a career-best 49.17 in the 100 backstroke, good for third place. It also ranks Ziegler seventh all-time for the Tide.


TENNESSEE MEN

After the second day of competition at the Tennessee Invitational the Tennessee men’s swimming and diving team trails first-ranked Kentucky by 10 points. The Wildcats leave the pool Friday with 614 points with The Big Orange at 604.
 
“More importantly than closing the gap, we had some really strong swims today and earned some B-cuts,” Tennessee head coach John Trembley said. “We raced harder today and I think the whole tempo of the meet increased today.”
 
Tennessee started strong with an NCAA B-cut time in the 200 medley relay. The team of Ricky Henahan, Mattias Kahlin, Michael DeRocco and Giles Smith swam a 1:28.87 in the win for the Big Orange. Also scoring was the team of Anders Storvik, Brad Craig, Herbie Behm and Ed Walsh in seventh place (1:31.75).
 
Sophomore Jake Epperson earned the second win for Tennessee in the 400 I.M. The Toledo, Ohio, native swam a 3:56.90, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of the second place swimmer. Junior Patrick Beasley finished fourth at 4:00.29.
 
In the 100 butterfly, DeRocco grabbed second with a B-cut time of 47.85. With a career-best performance, Smith finished third and also had a B-cut with a 48.17 time. Henahan placed 12th (50.30), Forrest Leary finished 18th (50.94) Behm placed 23rd (52.38).
 
Craig led the Vols in the 100 breaststroke with a third-place, B-cut time of 55.41. Junior Mattias Kahlin placed fourth and also earned a B-cut time at 55.44. Sophomore Derek Paul placed ninth (58.20).
 
The 200 freestyle was close to the finish, with the Vols’ Ryan Harrison being beat at the wall. Harrison placed second with a B-cut time of 1:36.71. Storvik finished fifth at 1:38.83. Junior Chris Winchell won the consolation heat and scored in ninth (1:40.56). Junior Carl Jones scored in 10th (1:40.63) and co-captain Geoff Sanders placed 16th (1:42.35). Walsh placed 17th (1:41.39) and won the C-Final with Knoxville, Tenn., native finished 23rd (1:44.51).
 
Entering with the fastest 100 backstroke in the country, Henahan led the pack with a win and a B-cut time of 48.54. Storvik earned a second-place finish with a 49.11 mark.
 
To wrap up the second day of competition the Vols placed third with a B-cut time in the 800 freestyle relay. The Vol squad of Smith, Harrison, Storvik and Epperson swam a 6:35.28. In fourth place and scoring for the Big Orange was the team of Winchell, Wensel, Walsh and Jones, swimming a 6:45.59 time.
 
Heading into the final day behind Kentucky and Tennessee was Alabama in third at 555 points and Virginia Tech in fourth at 401. Preliminaries will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. with the finals at 3 p.m.
 
In the one-meter diving event, the defending SEC champ Aaron Fleshner of Alabama took first at 376.65. Michael McDonald of Virginia Tech earned second (355.55).
 
Sophomore Ryan Helms placed third at 350.40. Freshman Jordan Mauney placed fifth (299.70) and Knoxville, Tenn. Native Sean Letsinger placed ninth (209.15).
 
“We had some competitive dives today,” Tennessee head coach Dave Parrington said. “Ryan had a chance to win but didn’t quite finish. We are looking to improve tomorrow. We are excited to have Michael Muscari back, as well.”
 
The senior co-captain Muscari missed the first two days of diving competition due to the flu. He will compete Saturday in the platform event.
 
The men's and women's platform final will begin Saturday at noon.


TENNESSEE WOMEN

Sophomore Jenny Connolly won the 100y back, as the Tennessee women’s swimming and diving team moved up from fourth to third at the Tennessee Invitational on Friday.
 
The Lady Vols have 543.5 points, just 31 points out of first-place, heading into Saturday’s final day of competition at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center. Kentucky is leading with 574.5 points, while Virginia Tech is in second (548.5) and Alabama is fourth (507.5).
 
Connolly nabbed Tennessee’s first victory of the meet by edging Kentucky’s Chatham Penrod’s by .03 in her signature event, touching the wall in 54.40, a season best and NCAA ‘B’ cut.
 
“Jenny’s 100 backstroke was a great swim,” Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich said. “She refused to be beat and squeezed as much as she could out of that race. I haven’t seen anybody who can beat Jenny when she is focused and sets her mind on winning.”
 
The West Lafayette, Ind., native also finished third in the 100y fly in a season-best and ‘B’ cut time of 54.28 and teamed with seniors Michele King and Alex Barsanti and freshman Kelsey Floyd to grab runner-up in the 200y medley relay with another season-best ‘B’ cut performance (1:41.04). Additionally, Connolly, Floyd and King teamed with freshman Brooke Watson to place third in the 800y free relay (7:28.81).
 
In the separate UT Diving Invitational, sophomores Jodie McGroarty and Gabbi Trudeau finished 2-3 behind Alabama’s Carrie Dragland, the reigning SEC Diver of the Year.
 
McGroarty scored a season-best 337.90, while Trudeau was awarded a career-best 318.75. Dragland took first with a 339.05 tally.
 
“I’m pleased overall with our performances today,” UT head diving coach Dave Parrington. “Jodie did great, taking it down to the wire against the defending SEC champion (Dragland). I thought it was going to be a tough battle on the women’s side, and I was right. I’m really pleased with where we are at this point season.”
 
In the pool, Floyd joined Connolly as one of the stars of the day for the Lady Vols. The Lexington, Ky., native competed in a UT-best five races. In addition to swimming on both relays, she placed third and earned season-bests in the 100y back (55.29) and 200y free (1:50.48), and finished fourth in the 100y fly (55.60). Her time in the 100y back was also a ‘B’ cut.
 
In the 100y breast, seniors Alex Barsanti and Jamie Saffer finished second and fourth, respectively. Barsanti’s time (1:02.69) was a season best and a ‘B’ cut, while Saffer’s readout (1:03.08) just missed ‘B’ cut status. Sophomore Samara Gelb recorded a season best in the 100y breast (1:04.22), finishing sixth.
 
Junior Aleksa Akerfelds placed third in the 400y IM, swimming a season-best 4:22.41, while sophomore Tori Richmond also clocked a season-best (4:24.70) en route to finishing fourth.
 
Kredich said he was pleased to see his team come into day two of the competition with more focus and confidence.
 
“We needed to put ourselves out in front of our races more,” Kredich said. “We were much more aggressive tonight. When our team races with confidence we are tough to beat. Every session has gotten better at this meet, and we were really tough tonight. Our plan is to win tomorrow.”
 
The Tennessee Invitational will wrap up on Saturday with prelims at 9 a.m. and a finals session at 3 p.m. Live results can be found at utladyvols.com and divemeets.com.


VIRGINIA TECH

Kelly deMarrais and Erika Hajnal were significant
contributors for the H2Okies on the second day of the Volunteer Invitational,
posting top finishes and earning NCAA qualifying marks, and helping the women
keep the second-place spot with 548.5 points. The men remain in fourth with
949.5 points.

deMarrais and Hajnal paced the No. 17 women’s team with first and second-place
finishes in the 200 free and 400 IM, respectively, each earning NCAA “B”
qualifying marks. After winning the preliminary 200 freestyle race, deMarrais
came out even stronger in the finals, beating her preliminary mark and taking
first with a finish in 1:48.06, half a second off of her school-record time.
Hajnal added a second-place finish in the women’s 400 IM event with a
season-best mark of 4:18.04. Both deMarrais and Hajnal earned NCAA “B”
qualifying marks in the 500 freestyle on Thursday as well.

The deMarrais and Hajnal duo would strike again in the day’s final event,
helping the women’s 800 freestyle team earn the first-place title with a
finishing time of 7:21.24 and notch an NCAA “B” qualifying mark.

Philip LaRosa led the H2Okie men with a third-place mark in the 400 IM,
finishing in 3:59.20. Charlie Higgins also factored in a strong performance,
earning fourth in the 100 backstroke with a team season-best time of 49.67.
Gregory Mahon was the next H2Okie to finish in the top-10 in the 100 back,
finishing in 51.05.

Meaghan Holloway and Mahon each recorded season-best finishes in the 100
butterfly events in 56.31 and 49.38, respectively, collecting the fastest times
for the H2Okies this season. Gregory Morgan also posted his best time of the
season, pacing Tech in the men’s 200 freestyle with a finish in 1:40.89.

Alabama dominated in the 100 breaststroke, winning both the men’s and women’s
events and earning NCAA “B” qualifying marks. Holloway and Jonathan Huss topped
the H2Okies in both events with top-10 finishes, as Holloway set a season-best
finish in 1:04.92, while Huss crossed in 57.67. Steffi Drechsel and Sara
Shapiro also added top-10 finishes in the women’s 100 back.

Both Virginia Tech squads continued to show improvement through the 200 medley
relays, as the men recorded their quickest finish of the season, finishing
fourth in 1:30.96. The women posted their second-fastest time of the season,
taking fifth in 1:44.98, and added a seventh-place finish as well. Kentucky,
Tennessee and Alabama took the top-three spots for the women, respectively,
each reaching NCAA “B” qualifying standards, while Tennessee and Kentucky
finished 1-2 for the men, also earning NCAA “B” marks.

The men’s 800 freestyle team also took 10 seconds off their previous season-best
time, placing fifth with a time of 6:48.26, and adding a seventh-place finish.

In the diving events, Mikey McDonald took second in the men’s one-meter
championship final, earning a score of 355.55 behind Alabama’s Aaron Fleshner,
who broke the three-meter pool record on Thursday. Sarah Milton led the women
in the three-meter event with another strong fifth-place performance, scoring
276.30 points, while Carissa Santora posted a sixth-place finish with a score
of 267.55. The teams will compete in the platform event tomorrow.

After two days of competition, the No. 17 Tech women remain in second with 548.5
points, while the No. 23 Tech men remain in fourth with 949.5 points. Kentucky
leads both the women and men, while the Tennessee men are in second and the
women are in third. The Alabama men and women are in third and fourth,
respectively.