University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE IN 12TH PLACE FOLLOWING DAY ONE OF NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 16, 2006 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 16, 2006
ATHENS, Ga. - The Lady Volunteer swimming team sits in 12th place after compiling a sizeable 41 points, which tops last year's entire total of 32, during the first night of action of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Gabrielsen Natatorium Friday evening. Eight-place finishes in the 200y IM (Megan Tomes) and the 400y medley relay highlighted the Big Orange effort.
To put first-year head coach Matt Kredich's squad's performance into perspective, consider the following. Tennessee has already accounted for more points on day one than it has done the entire competition four of the past six national meets. In fact, the Lady Vols' total is better than seven overall in their 25-year history at the event.
Needless to say, with two days remaining in the national meet, and ample opportunities to add to the total, the Lady Vols are on their way to a memorable performance on the sport's highest stage.
"I'm really we happy we swam as well as we did this morning. The next step for us is to perform better at night," said Kredich. "To have our relays swim either as fast or faster than they have all year, and Megan's great swim this morning starts us off well for the championships. It should make the team believe that we can be better, keep getting people back into the finals to score. It's a good start. There is a lot we can learn from it and apply the next two days."
The big scoring night started with the 200y freestyle relay. Team Orange secured eight points following a solid 13th-place finish. Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.) equaled the ninth-fastest time in school history in the 50y free with a blistering lead-off leg (22.81), giving UT a strong start. Senior Abbi Terveer (Lima, Ohio), appearing in her first national meet, swam with the expected poise of a veteran before giving way to Carly Mathes. The freshman swam well, keeping the Orange and White in the mix. Tomes then hit the water to cap off the fourth-fastest readout in program annals, 1:32.15. The group becomes the first UT 200y FR unit since 1996, and 14th overall, to bank points in the event.
Attention then switched to the 200y IM, with Tomes poised to add to the Big Orange point total. The junior, who finished 16th a year ago, reeled in eighth place and its 11 allotted points after churning out a time of 2:01.86. With the result, which matches the second-highest finish by a Lady Vol in the event, Tomes joins former All-American Tracy Ignatosky as the only swimmers in UT history to finish in the money in the event on two occasions.
The night concluded with the 400y medley relay. The Lady Vols, seeded 17th, clocked the second-fastest time in school history (3:39.04), to tally a sizeable 22 points. All-American Jacque Fessel (Cincinnati, Ohio) equaled her school standard in the 100y backstroke with a sparkling lead-off leg of 53.67. Junior All-American Tiffany Clay then dove in for the breaststroke and swam well, before Magnuson took over with the butterfly discipline. Tomes anchored the unit with a solid effort in freestyle.
The eight-place result equals the third-best finish in program history and lifts Tennessee to its best outcome in the event since 1996.
Arizona leads the pack with 161 points, with Auburn (151) and Georgia (147) holding down second and third, respectively. Stanford sits fourth with 82, while California (79), Southern Cal (78), Texas (54), Wisconsin (52), SMU (50.5) and Kentucky (50) rounding out the top 10. Texas A&M (42) holds a slight edge over the Big Orange for 11th.
The national championships continue on Friday, with the 200y medley relay, 400y IM, 100y butterfly, 200y freestyle, 100y breaststroke, 100y backstroke, three-meter diving and 800y freestyle relay on tap.
TENNESSEE POINT SCORERS
22 - 400y Medley Relay
11 - Megan Tomes
8 - 200y Freestyle Relay
TOMES AND 400Y MEDLEY RELAY QUALIFY FOR CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
200y Freestyle Relay Also Secures Evening Swim During First Day of NCAA Meet
ATHENS, Ga. - Megan Tomes (200y IM) and the 400y medley relay will compete for national titles Thursday evening following an outstanding preliminary session for the Tennessee Lady Volunteer swimming team on the first day of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Tomes, from Cincinnati, Ohio, qualified with the sixth-fastest time to ensure a spot in championship final. In the 400y MR it was two school records for the price of one, as Jacque Fessel (Cincinnati, Ohio) shattered her own school record in the 100y backstroke, which helped the team obliterate the event mark by nearly two seconds. As a squad, Tennessee touched in 3:38.87 to qualify eighth.
"The most impressive thing about the morning was that we had seven people swimming and everybody was right on or faster than their best times with great attitudes," said head coach Matt Kredich. "Everyone raced with enthusiasm and with the idea that it is fun to be here."
The morning session commenced with the 200y freestyle relay, and Team Orange was locked in. The quartet of Christine Magnuson (Tinley Park, Ill.), Abbi Terveer (Lima, Ohio), Carly Mathes (Kettering, Ohio) and Tomes churned out the second-fastest time in school history (1:31.41) to secure a spot in the consolation final. UT's effort places it 12th heading into the evening's finals.
Tomes then returned to the pool for the 200y IM, and the junior rose to the occasion. She used powerful strokes to surge to the wall in 1:59.13. Tomes' performance, the third fastest in program annals, vaulted her past several would-be contenders, as she had stood 21st on the pre-meet rankings.
Mathes also improved her stock by recording a solid 36th-place showing by virtue of stopping the clock in 2:02.21. She ranked 45th coming into the competition.
Junior Elizabeth Christy (Indianapolis, Ind.), who owned the 70th qualifying time, charted a lifetime-best 2:03.90 to upgrade to a 54th-place finish, while Tiffany Clay (Mason, Ohio) brought home 62nd with a clocking of 2:04.49. The junior continued the trend of improving heat sheet position, as she had been 66th prior to the beginning of the meet.
The final event of prelims was the 400y MR, and it supplied a fitting ending to the session. Fessel posted a blistering lifetime-best mark of 53.67 to provide a strong start to race. Clay maintained the pace in the breaststroke leg, before giving way to Magnuson for the butterfly. Tomes added the finishing touches to an outstanding swim.
Finals will commence at 7 p.m. The 200y FR, 500y free, 200y IM, 50y free, one-meter diving and 400y MR are all on tap.
