University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
South Carolina
Vols Sweep South Carolina in Road Waters
January 06, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Tennessee men cruised and the women rallied in the final event to sweep South Carolina on Friday to open the spring swimming and diving schedule at Carolina Natatorium.
The Tennessee men (2-4, 1-3 SEC) won 13 of 16 events for a 189-111 victory over the Gamecocks, led by junior Sam McHugh, who took first in the 1,650-yard freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 200 IM.
The women’s meet came down to the final event. Trailing by a point heading into the 200 freestyle relay to end the meet, the UT team of Madeline Banic, Alex Cleveland, Kira Toussaint and Erika Brown won the race in 1 minute, 32.21 seconds to deliver a 155-143 Tennessee victory.
“We wanted to put people in different events to practice racing, and South Carolina was really tough today,” Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich said. “They made us race. We’ve been out of competition for seven weeks now, so it was a good wakeup from hibernation.”
McHugh recorded his third three-win meet of the season. He opened the meet with a victory in the 1650 in 14:56.27 and followed four events later by winning the 200 butterfly in 1:47.99. He took first in the 200 IM late in the meet (1:48.68).
Junior Ryan Coetzee and sophomore Kyle DeCoursey posted two wins each for the Vols. Coetzee took first in the 50 freestyle (20.56) and 100 butterfly (49.48). DeCoursey was a winner in the 100 freestyle (44.99) and 200 freestyle (1:38.31).
Additional Tennessee winners included: sophomore Joey Reilman in the 200 backstroke (1:48.87) and junior Peter John Stevens in the 100 breaststroke (53.27). The Vols won both relays.
The men also benefitted from a springboard sweep by junior Liam Stone; diving preliminary scores on 1-meter and 3-meter carried over to scoring against South Carolina.
In the women’s meet, seniors Kira Toussaint and Madeline Tegner and freshman Meghan Small won two events each.
Toussaint led a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle (23.09) and later won the 100 butterfly (55.87). Tegner swept the distance events, taking first in the 500 freestyle (4:56.62) and 1,650 freestyle by more than 20 seconds (16:40.01). Small won the 200 freestyle (1:48.71) and the 200 backstroke (1:57.77).
Junior Alex Cleveland won the 100 freestyle (51.15) and took second in the 50 freestyle.
The Vols’ next meet with be the home regular-season finale against Georgia at Jan. 21, beginning at noon at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
Comments from Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich: “Sam McHugh had a great meet. His freestyle’s been good this year, so we put him in the mile and he swam a great race. He and Taylor Abbott had the 200 fly not long after that, and they did really well in a difficult double. Kyle DeCoursey’s 200 free gave the team a big lift. All three of our men’s backstrokers — Joey Reilman, Nathan Murray and Matthew Garcia — each put together at least one good race today. Peter John Stevens continues to progress in the 100 breaststroke and tonight was one of the best tactical races he’s put together.
“For the women, it was a really exciting meet. We put together a lineup that would be competitive with South Carolina. Colleen Callahan was in some different races today. Meghan Small continued to make some progress. With her twin brother [Jeremiah] swimming for South Carolina, it was a little bit of a homecoming for Micah Bohon, and she put together a good meet. Some people stepped into leadership positions, like Christina Paspalas. Meg Wiggins is evolving into one of our go-to swimmers. Same with Alex Cleveland, who touched the wall in some close races.”
