University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vol Swimmers Upset No. 20 Northwestern, Fall To No. 5 Auburn
January 13, 2001 | Women's Swimming & Diving
- Results in PDF format
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.----The University of Tennessee women's swimming and diving team ended its 2000-01 home schedule in dramatic fashion on Saturday with an upset win over No. 20 Northwestern, 191.5-158.5, in a double dual meet. The Lady Vols also dropped a narrow 187-163 decision to No. 5 Auburn. UT is now 4-4 on the season, 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference.
Tennessee had five overall event wins on the night during the 19-event program. The Lady Vols were paced by their senior class of six, who were honored before the evening session of the meet. The seniors won five individual events and were two members of UT's winning relay. Senior Pam Hanson won three events for the Orange and White in the pool. She won the 200y backstroke with a time of 1:59.63 while also taking the 200y individual medley with a time of 2:03.62 and the 100y backstroke in a time of 56.06. Senior Tanya Felton also got in on the winning ways as she claimed victory in the 200y freestyle with a mark of 1:51.64. The 400y freestyle relay team won the evening's last event in a time of 3:29.39 from a team of Felton, junior Laura Hancock, senior Azurdee Engel and sophomore Bethany Hall.
The meet marked the first time in the careers of the senior class that Tennessee has defeated Northwestern as it was UT's first win over the Wildcats since 1997. Tennessee has competed in a double dual format against Auburn and Northwestern for the past three seasons, but did not mark its first win until the defeat of Northwestern on Saturday.
"Our team was up from start to finish in this meet," Lady Vol assistant coach Jamie Bloom said. "We knew that we could get these strong performances from what we see in practice, so it was great to see the team put everything together in a meet. It was also fabulous to see the team so excited and ready to compete and win. We had outstanding performances from so many people, but our senior class really went out with a bang in their final home meet." 
Senior diver Lizzy Flynt was also a strong performer for UT in her last home meet. She won the three-meter diving with a score of 296.84 while finishing second on the one-meter board with a score of 264.00. The Lady Vols swept the top three positions in both the 1m and 3m competitions. Sophomore Jaime Sanger won the 1m with a mark of 298.80 while finishing second in the 3m with a tally of 285.52. Sanger's score in the 1m was her career-high and the third best by a Lady Vol in dual meet competition. Freshman Kylee Wells finished third in both events with scores of 280.19 in the 3m and 249.59 in the 1m.
In the pool, the Lady Vols also had point-scoring efforts from a variety of swimmers. Junior Monica Shannahan competed in five individual events and finished third in the 200y butterfly with a time of 2:04.06, third in the 200y breaststroke with a mark of 2:21.49, third in the 400y IM in 4:26.50, sixth in the 100y butterfly with a 58.09 and eighth in the 100y breaststroke with a mark of 1:07.67. Hanson, in addition to her three wins, finished second in the 400y IM in 4:19.45 and earned an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Her mark in the 200y IM was also an NCAA consideration time. Junior Valerie Conte finished second in the 200y IM with a time of 2:06.14 while also taking fourth in the 200y backstroke in 2:02.63 and joining several relays. Engel also had a strong meet for the Orange and White and provided the team with a third-place finish in the 200y freestyle with a time of 1:52.74.
Tennessee will take a break from action before its final dual meet of the 2000-01 season. The team will take on Florida on Feb. 3 in Gainesville.
 (left to right) Diving Coach Dave Parrington, Assistant Swimming Coach Jamie Bloom, Missy Bell, Azurdee Engel, Tanya Felton, Lizzy Flynt, Pam Hanson, Jenny Heffernan, and Student Assistant Coach Ron Turner. |
