University of Tennessee Athletics
Swimming Drops Meet to No. 2 Georgia
January 26, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Complete Results
ATHENS, Ga. ??? The No. 9 Tennessee swimming and diving team nearly knocked off second-ranked Georgia (10-0, 4-0 SEC) this afternoon, as Lady Vols took top honors in nine of 16 events at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga. Despite multiple victories from senior Christine Magnuson and sophomore Michele King, Tennessee dropped to 5-2 on the season (2-2 in the Southeastern Conference) by a close score of 161-139.
???We came here to win the meet so we are not really satisfied with the outcome,??? head swim coach Matt Kredich said. ???But we really had some great performances.???
Tennessee was victorious in both relays contested today, the 200y medley and 200y free. The foursome of freshman Tricia Weaner, King, Magnuson and junior Brittany Nauta recorded the team???s fastest 200y medley relay time of the season at 1:41.25 to take the first event. King, Nauta, and juniors Katie Gehring and Carly Mathes ended the meet with a win in the 200y free relay in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:33.02.
Magnuson picked up wins in the 50y and 200y free in NCAA ???B??? cuts, and the 100y fly in a season-best NCAA automatic qualifying time. The Tinley Park, Ill., native was a mere .03 seconds from an NCAA ???A??? cut in the 50y free as she came in at 22.65. Gehring picked up sixth in 23.74. In the 200y free event, Nauta (1:51.65) joined Magnuson (1:47.10) in earning points for UT by finishing fifth. They both recorded their quickest performances of the season.
Magnuson???s time in the 100y fly, 52.96, put her ahead of second-place Annie Broom of Georgia by almost three seconds. She was also .79 seconds quicker than the automatic qualifying standard of 53.75. Junior Betsy Lange finished fourth in 56.33, while freshman Morgan Farrell rounded out the top five by touching the wall in 56.69. All three times were season bests.
In addition to helping two relay teams to victory, King recorded two wins of her own in individual events. From York, Pa., King took top honors in the 100y breast and 50y free. During the fall campaign, King took over as the fastest Lady Vol in the 100y breast by posting a 1:01.19 mark at Auburn. Today, she picked up her second NCAA automatic qualifying time of the season by touching the wall in 1:01.31. The competition was stiff in the event, as sophomore Jamie Saffer finished fifth with an NCAA ???B??? cut (1:03.60). Sophomore Alex Barsanti was sixth with a season-best time of 1:04.70.
In the 100y freestyle, King was .75 second quicker than Kelly McNichols of UGA to grab the win. Her 50.01 readout is her fourth NCAA ???B??? cut in the event this year. Nauta recorded a new personal best with her fourth-place finish in 51.27.
Freshman Aleksa Akerfelds improved on her personal-best time in the 1000y free for the fourth time this season, as she demolished the competition by over 16 seconds to come in at 9:47.64. In UT???s last meet versus Indiana (Jan. 18), the Bronxville, N.Y., native recorded a time of 9:52.93. Akerfelds??? time today makes her the fifth-fastest Lady Vol in school history.
Akerfelds also led the Lady Vols in the 500y free by posting another career best time. The freshman came in third at 4:50.85, topping her 4:51.53 time achieved in the Indiana meet. The defending Division I National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week, Mathes, was fifth with an NCAA ???B??? cut and the fastest time of her career, 4:53.51.
Mathes also led UT in the 200y butterfly by placing second in 2:01.87. It marks her first NCAA provisional cut in the event and is the quickest clocking of her Lady Vol career. Farrell added points with fourth place (2:03.40).
Mathes picked up another runner-up honor in the 200y IM with a 2:02.84 readout. Weaner took fifth in a career-best 2:04.40 and put her name in the Lady Vol record books as UT???s No. 19 performer.
Weaner was the fastest Lady Vol in both the 100y and 200y backstroke. The Gettysburg, Pa., product was third in the 100y back (55.63) with a season-best performance and NCAA ???B??? cut. Her time in the 200y back, 1:58.01, was both a career best and NCAA ???B??? cut, as well as good enough for runner-up honors. Farrell placed fifth with a season-best 2:03.58 readout.
???Aleksa, Christine, Tricia and Carly were all very tough,??? Kredich said. ???But we had some really clutch performances from some people that we really needed like Bryttany, Alex, Jamie and Betsy. I am proud of the way we competed.???
Tennessee and Georgia split the diving events as UGA???s Hannah Moore took the three-meter title, while Lauren LeRoy won the one meter. LeRoy???s 321.30 points from the one-meter board is a career high for the Oshkosh, Wis., native, and is the third-highest score in school history. Senior Vicky Linnell came in second (286.05) and junior Staley McCartney was fourth with 245.09 points.
UT divers took the second through fourth spots from the three-meter board, led by LeRoy who posted a season-high 314.70 points. Linnell was third (293.55) and McCartney placed fourth (249.30).
In the 200y breast, freshman Bryttany Curran, Barsanti and Saffer came in at third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Barsanti recorded a personal-best 2:19.31, while Curran???s 2:19.18 and Saffer???s 2:20.21 were their quickest times of the season.
The Lady Vols will return to the water on Friday, Feb. 1 to take on No. 6 Florida. The Lady Vol senior class will be honored in a presentation prior to the meet???s 7 p.m. start. Admission to the Student Aquatic Center is free.
