University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Starts Strong Versus No. 1 Auburn
November 09, 2007 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Complete Results
AUBURN, Ala. ??? The 12th-ranked Lady Vol swimming and diving team completed the first half of its two-day meet versus the Auburn Tigers this evening with a score of 90-74, in favor of the Tigers. Tennessee swimmers and divers took four of nine events from the defending national champion Tigers.
???We are in the middle of a great college swim meet,??? head swimming coach Matt Kredich said. ???We had some phenomenal performances tonight, and so did Auburn. We came up a little short in a couple of races, so we are going to have to step up our game tomorrow to have a shot to win.???
UT went into the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala., with a 3-0 overall (2-0 Southeastern Conference record). This weekend???s competition marks the first dual meet of Auburn???s season.
In the 200y free relay, sophomore Michele King, juniors Katie Gehring and Carly Mathes, and senior Christine Magnuson started the meet by producing an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 200y free relay. The foursome???s mark of 1:31.77 was over a second faster than Auburn???s runner-up team. Tennessee???s other squad of juniors Ashley Quinn and Brittany Nauta, and seniors Laura Fehrman and Brooke Boncher took fourth in 1:35.12
Swimming in the first 400y IM of her collegiate career, freshman Aleksa Akerfelds led the Lady Vols with a third-place 4:20.74 and her first NCAA provisional cut. Mathes followed Akerfelds in fourth place (4:24.92) and junior Sarah McCall finished sixth with a time of 4:26.42.
Tennessee swimmers took the first two positions in the 100y freestyle event, as King and Magnuson both earned NCAA ???B??? cuts. King touched the wall in 49.86, while Magnuson posted a 49.98 readout. UT had six other entrants in the event. Nauta (51.33), Fehrman (51.91), Gehring (51.99), Boncher (52.44), Quinn (52.87) and sophomore Alex Barsanti (53.95) finished in the seventh through 12th spots, respectively. Quinn and Barsanti registered new career-best times.
Freshman Tricia Weaner registered the first NCAA provisional cut of her collegiate career in the 200y backstroke with a third-place 1:58.92. Freshman Morgan Farrell and senior Danyelle Vincent also banked points for the Orange and White by placing sixth and seventh with times of 2:04.74 and 2:06.85, respectively. Junior Maria Jugan was eighth in 2:11.81.
For the third time of the evening, a UT freshman interrupted Auburn???s attempt to sweep the top-three positions. Martina Moravcikova???s NCAA ???B??? time in the 200y breast gave the freshman a third-place finish. By touching the wall in 2:17.03, she registered a new career-best time. Sophomores Bryttany Curran and Jamie Saffer also entered the event. Curran???s 2:19.20 placed her in fifth, while Saffer???s 2:21.37 earned her sixth place.
In the 100y fly, the 16-time All-American Magnuson took the gold with an NCAA ???B??? time of 54.17. Mathes also helped the Tennessee cause by registering a new career best and placing fourth (56.37) and Saffer was seventh with a career-best 56.75. Farrell was ninth (57.02), junior Betsy Lange finished 10th (57.25) and Boncher was 13th (58.84).
Akerfelds picked up her second third-place finish of the evening in the 500y freestyle. Her 4:53.65 readout was another NCAA provisional cut. Nauta scored more points for UT with a sixth-place 5:02.65 readout and McCall contributed tallies with a seventh-place 5:02.68 clocking. King???s time of 5:04.74 placed her in eighth.
The evening concluded with the 400y medley relay, which saw Weaner, Moravcikova, Magnuson and Mathes finish third with an NCAA provisional time of 3:44.50. Tennessee???s ???B??? team of Farrell, Curran, Saffer and Nauta was fourth in 3:50.10
On the diving side, senior Lauren LeRoy was a mere three-tenths of a point ahead of classmate Vicky Linnell with a score of 296.93. Junior Staley McCartney produced 246.83 points for third place, while freshman Jill Pierce was fourth with a score of 225.60. Auburn did not enter any divers in the event.
Saturday???s events will begin at 10 a.m. CT.
Tennessee at Auburn Event Order- Sat., Nov. 10
200y Medley Relay
1000y Free
200y Free
100y Back
100y Breast
200y Fly
50y Free
200y IM
400y Medley Relay
