University of Tennessee Athletics
No. 12 Lady Vols Win 2008 Tennessee Swimming Invitational
November 22, 2008 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 22, 2008
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Led by victories from sophomore Aleksa Akerfelds and Alex Barsanti on Saturday, the Lady Vol swimming team finished the 2008 Tennessee Swimming Invitational in first-place at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
Tennessee won with 963 points, while Virginia Tech was second with 907 points. Kentucky finished third with 605.
Akerfelds won the 1650y free in an NCAA B qualifying effort of 16:30.16. An All-American in the mile last season, Akerfelds holds the Lady Vol record of 16:00.11 in the event. Senior Sarah McCall was fourth in 17:07.43.
Barsanti shattered her previous career-best en route to winning the 200y breast in a Lady Vol season-best 2:16.97. Barsanti just edged freshman Samara Gelb, who finished runner-up in 2:17.01.
"Alex Barsanti is really on a tear and Aleksa Akerfelds had a really good meet," head swimming coach Matt Kredich said. "I thought we were really tough today and that's what we were looking to do in this meet - to swim many events and not let fatigue change our attitude. I think we were really successful in doing that. I was really proud how we finished the meet."
Seniors Carly Mathes and Brittany Nauta placed 4-5 in the 100y free with times of 51.14 and 51.74, respectively. Virginia Tech's Sara Smith won the event in 49.98.
Freshman Jenny Connolly took third in the 200y back with a time of 2:01.02. Kelly deMarrais of Virginia Tech won the event in 1:58.46.
Freshman Tori Richmond placed third in a season-best time of 2:03.48 in the 200y fly, while Connolly and classmate Maddie Garrett finished 5-6 in 2:03.67 and 2:05.03, respectively.
Nauta, Mathes and Connolly combined with freshman Abbie Alton to finish second in the 400y free relay in a season-best time of 3:23.98. The Hokies won the relay in 3:20.94.
At the Allan Jones Diving Invitational, senior Staley McCartney, sophomore Jill Pierce and freshman Gabrielle Trudeau finished 3-4-5 in the platform competition.
McCartney's score of 225.70 is an NCAA Zone cut. Pierce scored 223.40, while Trudeau earned 222.40. Trudeau received a zone-qualifying mark of 264.00 in the prelim. Kentucky's Jessica Snowden won the platform with a score of 280.35. She swept all three diving events at the invitational.
"I was very pleased with the performance of all three of our divers on the platform," Diving coach Dave Parrington said. "Staley McCartney did a great job of coming back after missing on her second dive to score her second zone qualifying mark of the season. Gabbie did a great job in the afternoon, but one dive cost her at night. This was Jill's first platform competition using dives on the 10-meter and she had a good performance."
The divers will be back in action from Jan. 3-5 when they host the Tennessee Diving Invitational at the AJIAC.
The swimmers and divers will both be back in action on Jan. 9-10 when they travel to Bloomington, Ind., for a tri-meet with Indiana and Michigan.
