University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
North Carolina
Vols Sweep UNC in Dual Meet Opener
October 22, 2016 | Swimming & Diving
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Behind 11 individual victories and four relay wins Saturday, the Tennessee swimming and diving team outpaced North Carolina on the second day of the meet for a sweep in the season opener.
The Tennessee men collected eight more wins on the second day of the meet to finish with 14 first-place finishes in a 216-156 victory over the Tarheels. The UT women won seven events Saturday to end with 12 overall in the 205-167 win.
"I was most impressed across the board with our team's level of preparation for this session," Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich said. "They didn't show any signs of fatigue from either yesterday or having an early morning."
Junior Sam McHugh led the way with four total individual victories with two of them coming on Saturday. He won the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9 minutes, 5.54 seconds, and then took first in the 400 individual medley in an NCAA B-cut time of 3:51.69.
"Sam made a pretty definitive statement in the 1,000," Kredich said. "I thought our team took a lot of confidence in that. We had some really inspiring performances from people like Matthew Dunphy, Ryan Coetzee and Kyle DeCoursey. When a team sees their teammates racing with a lot of heart, all through a race, not just at the finish, it inspires everybody."
On the women's side, senior Colleen Callahan was a three-race winner for Tennessee. After winning the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke Friday, she added a win in the 200 breaststroke in 2:18.15.
In addition to McHugh, Saturday's individual event winners for the UT men included: Kyle DeCoursey (50 freestyle, 20.02), Ryan Dunphy (200 breaststroke, 2:02.14), Ryan Coetzee (100 butterfly, 48.24) and Michael Howell on (platform diving, 320.78). The Vols also won the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.
Callahan joined four individual winners in the women's meet for UT: Madeline Tegner (500 freestyle, 10:08.00), Micah Bohon (200 freestyle 1:49.48), Tess Cieplucha (400 IM, 4:17.12) and Rachel Rubadue (platform, 318.60). After finishing second in two relays Friday, the Vols won both of them Saturday.
"We've had a lot of injuries and sicknesses in the last two weeks to people that are among our best swimmers, we really had some people rise to the occasion like Tess Cieplucha, Alex Cleveland and Colleen Callahan," Kredich said. "I am really pleased with the breadth of high-level performances across the team."
INSIDE DIVING: Rachel Rubadue, reigning SEC Freshman Diver of the Year, added to her second win of the weekend with a victory on platform in 318.60. Emily Pelletier took third in a career-best 255.15.
Senior Michael Howell earned his first career dual meet victory with a personal best score on platform (320.78).
"For us to compete on the platform at this time of the year against quality competition is just invaluable in our preparation for the championship season down the road," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "This is the earliest we've ever had a quality platform meet, it showed a lot of what we need to work on."
MULTI-EVENT INDIVIDUAL WINNERS: For the men, Sam McHugh won four events (200 IM, 400 IM, 200 butterfly, 1,000 freestyle) and Kyle DeCoursey won the 50 and 100 freestyle. Colleen Callahan was a three-race winner (200 IM, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke) for the women. Madeline Tegner won the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events, and Rachel Rubadue was first on the 1-meter springboard and platform.
UP NEXT: The Vols have a busy week ahead with a home meet against Louisville on Oct. 27 and a double-dual meet the next day against Kentucky and Indiana in Lexington, Ky.
