University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Invitational
Vols Continue Success on Day Two
November 20, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 20, 2008
The Vols' swimming and diving team broke even more records Thursday on day two of the Tennessee Invitational. The school record for the 200 freestyle relay and the 50 freestyle were both beaten as the Vols dominated the second day of competition.
"Day two of the Tennessee Invitational proved to be unbelievable for our team," said head coach John Trembley. "I was really pleased with our swims across the board."
The day started with the All-America laden 200 free relay team of sophomore Michael DeRocco, senior Jimmy Dabney, Olympian Jonas Persson and co-captain Barry Murphy making an A-Cut for the NCAA Championships and breaking a seven-year-old school record. With a time of 1:17.29, the relay squad bested the mark previously held by McDonnell, Hussey, Gueraldi, and Michael Gilliam (1:17.56) set in 2001.
Sophomore Geoff Sanders won the 500 freestyle with the second-best time in UT history and an Allan Jones Aquatic Center record of 4:20.40. The Vols rounded out the top three with Carl Jones in second and Chris Winchell in third.
Also coming just short of a school record was Mr. Clutch Brad Craig in the 200 I.M. Craig's 1:45.88 is second in the school's history and sets a new pool record. UT dominated the event grabbing six of the top ten finishes. In second place was All-America Andrew Thirwell followed by senior Stephen Fortney and freshman Jake Epperson. Sophomore Patrick Beasley finished in sixth, freshman Anders Storvik placed ninth and in eleventh-place was freshman Derek Paul.
Senior co-captain Persson won the 50 freestyle with a school record-setting time of 19.27. The mark makes an NCAA A-Cut and leads the Southeastern Conference. Murphy, DeRocco, Dabney, and junior Jordan Walters took second through fifth place and senior Scott Wherry finish eighth.
At the end of the second day, the Vols were at the top of the leader board with 374 points. Virginia Tech was second with 208 and Kentucky was third with 201 points.
Action will begin Friday with preliminaries at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. Events include the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, 400 I.M. and the 400 medley relay.
ALLAN JONES DIVING INVITATIONAL
Virginia Tech junior Michael McDonald won the one-meter event Thursday with a score of 374.55. Freshman-sensation Ryan Helms finished second with a mark of 347.40 followed in second place by junior Michael Muscari and Knoxville-native Brent Sterling in third. The men will dive again Friday beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
