University of Tennessee Athletics
Strong Morning Showing Propels Lady Vols into Finals
March 18, 2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 18, 2011
By Todd Mounce, Media Relations Graduate Assistant
AUSTIN, Texas - The Tennessee women's swimming and diving team had numerous exceptional performances on Friday morning, resulting in four Lady Vols qualifying for the finals in four events, along with two relays on day two of NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships held at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Junior Jenny Connolly qualified for two `A' finals on the day, the 100y back and the 100y fly. The West Lafayette, Ind., native recorded the third-best time of 52.23 seconds in the 100y back prelims and her time of 52.47 seconds in the 100y fly qualified her sixth.
Sophomore Kelsey Floyd also had a strong showing in the 100y fly, earning a spot in the event's `B' final. Floyd swam a 10th-place time of 52.60 in the preliminary round.
Lindsay Gendron, a freshman, will see action in the 200y free `B' final after claiming 13th in the prelims with a mark of 1:45.01. Senior Martina Moravcikova touched in at 1:00.09 in the 100y breast to grab a place in the event's `B' final.
The Big Orange 200y medley relay squad of Connolly, Moravcikova, Floyd and freshman Mary Kate McNeilis will look for a consolation victory in tonight's `B' final. The quartet touched in at 1:38.77, placing them 14th.
In addition, three heats of the 800y free relay will be raced tonight. The probable lineup for the Big Orange will be Gendron, McNeilis, senior Aleksa Akerfelds and Floyd. The quartet is seeded 11th entering the event.
Also competing in the morning prelims on Friday were senior Tricia Weaner, junior Kirstyn Colonias, sophomore Brooke Watson and freshmen Alex Frasier, McNeilis and Lauren Solernou.
In the 200y free, Alex Frasier notched a career-best time of 1:47.18, which ranks her fourth on the Lady Vol performers list. She finished 36th in the event and improved on her previous-best mark by over a second.
Solernou, McNeilis and Weaner were all in action in the 100y back. Solernou had the highest Big Orange finish, placing 35th with a time of 53.96 seconds. McNeilis touched in at 54.13 seconds to grab 39th and Weaner nabbed 52nd with a readout of 55.39 seconds.
The 100y breast saw Colonias notch 42nd after a clocking of 1:02.33. Watson registered a time of 54.20 seconds, good for 47th in the event.
The finals will begin at 7 p.m. tonight, with live video being streamed on ESPN3.com. Live stats are also available at http://www.star-meets.org/results/NCAA/2011%20Women/index.htm.
