Another Record Night at the Tennessee Invitational

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It was another record setting night at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center as the Tennessee swimming and diving team set 50 combined personal bests Friday in day two of the Tennessee Invitational.

The Vols and Lady Vols continued to rewrite the Tennessee record books as 12 new top 10 times were set. As well as the new school records, Erika Brown and Tess Cieplucha each set nation leading times in the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 400 IM, respectively.

Brown set the nation's fastest time in the 200 freestyle during the morning's prelims at 1:41.66. Brown's time in the 200 free makes her the ninth-fastest performer in history.

The senior wasn't done yet however, Brown returned for the night cap and dropped a 49.79 in the 100 butterfly which is the fastest time nationally in the event this season. She is now the fourth-fastest performer in the history of the 100 fly.

"Erika continues to put together awesome races and is among the elite," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "What she is doing is extremely impressive and it starts in practice. She is practicing better than she ever has and it is showing up in each and every performance."

Brown already owned the program record in each event entering the day and left in the evening having lowered her school record times.

Cieplucha joined her teammate in setting a nation leading time as she threw down a monster 4:03.06 in the 400 IM Friday night. The Toronto, Canada native blitzed the field in finals, finishing ahead of teammate Meghan Small who posted a new personal best at 4:04.83 in the event, which was good for second all-time in program history behind Cieplucha's 4:03.06.

"Tess is executing her races so well," Jahn said. "Like Erika, she is practicing at an extremely high level and takes what we work on in practice and puts it to use in a competition setting and in turn we get nights like tonight. It is a lot of fun to be a part of as a coach and I know she is only getting better."

On the men's side, Josh Walsh had a special night in the 200 freestyle as he set the program's ninth-fastest time in history with a swim of 1:34.94.

"I was excited that Josh took a risk and took his race out fast," associate head coach Lance Asti said. "He had the courage to go out hard and trust his training to come home. That's what we're trying to teach this whole team how to do and it does take courage to do that but he trusted it. To me, it's a symbol of buying into the mission that this team is on."

Alec Connolly and Seth Thompson-Bailey had strong days for the Vols as Connolly set two personal bests in the 100 fly (47.50) and 200 freestyle (1:35.41) while Bailey likewise turned in two new PRs in the 200 free (1:36.24) and 100 backstroke (48.85).

"Alec has really increased his versatility," Asti said. "He started his career here as basically a 50 freestyler and now he's racing 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly and 100 back. It's fantastic, it shows his growth as a swimmer over his time here. Seth has been in a lot of events over the last couple of days and is swimming very strongly. He set a couple of personal bests tonight and that's a testament to the work he has put in."

The diving squad received another solid performance from sophomore Grace Cable as she took home the win on the 3-meter board in a tough competition, finishing with a score of 310.20. Cable just edged Georgia diver McKensi Austin who scored 310.15.

"A great night for Grace and another close competition," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "It started out a little slow, missing her second dive and she played catch up the rest of the night. McKensi is a talented diver and her and Grace had a nice little battle. It was a nice prelude of what's to come as we'll see them again in January and at SECs and hopefully at NCAAs."

Cable was able to gain an advantage on her third to final dive and held off Austin to close out the event. Cable has now won on the one and three meter boards at the Tennessee Invitational.

Keegan Richardson brought home a second place finish on Friday in the 1-meter board, scoring a personal best 336.45. Richardson is still coming off an ankle injury, but Parrington is encouraged by his performances.

"What we're seeing is the benefit from some of the stuff he has been working on prior to his ankle," Parrington said. "He is really embracing some of the changes and this weekend I've been seeing a lot more of the tweaks we've been making. The trick is to bring it back and is he going to continue to build on this or go back to some of his old habits. The right thing to do is to keep building on it and that's his challenge right now."

The divers will get up on the platform for the first time this season Saturday as they look to close out a solid Tennessee Invitational.

UP NEXT
The Vols and Lady Vols are back at it again Saturday as they wrap up the Tennessee Invitational. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. with finals starting at 5 p.m. There will be only one round of platform diving which will begin at 1 p.m.

Tennessee Invitational PRs and Records (Friday)
Brown: 49.79 – PR – Fastest time in school history – 100 Fly
Rothrock: 52.29 – PR – Eighth all-time in school history – 100 Fly
Sichterman: 52.38 – PR – 10th all-time in school history – 100 Fly
Beil: 52.45 – PR – 100 Fly
Connolly: 47.50 – PR – 100 Fly
Kaye: 49.68 – PR – 100 Fly
Briggs: 49.06 – PR – 100 Fly
Weir: 50.77 – PR – 100 Fly
Townsend: 48.83 – PR – 100 Fly
Scanlon: 49.24 – PR – 100 Fly
Houlie: 49.74 – PR – 100 Fly
McGee: 48.17 – PR – 100 Fly
Blevins-Boor: 48.14 – PR – Fly
Hoff: 47.40 – PR – 100 Fly
Giraudeau: 48.59 – PR – 100 Fly
Brice: 48.37 – PR – 100 Fly
Mills: 48.77 – PR – 100 Fly
Cieplucha: 4:03.06 – PR – Fastest time in school history – 400 IM
Small: 4:04.83 – PR – Second all-time in school history – 400 IM
Sykes: 4:17.30 – PR – 400 IM
Sanders: 3:55.46 – PR – 400 IM
Giraudeau: 3:54.58 – PR – 400 IM
Brown: 1:41.66 – PR – Fastest time in school history – 200 Freestyle
Pintar: 1:45.23 – PR – Sixth all-time in school history – 200 Freestyle
Samansky: 1:46.78 – PR – Ninth all-time in school history – 200 Freestyle
Morello: 1:49.87 – PR – 200 Freestyle
Weir: 1:42.57 – PR – 200 Freestyle
Connolly: 1:35.41 – PR – 200 Freestyle
Bailey: 1:36.24 – PR – 200 Freestyle
Walsh: 1:34.94 – PR – Ninth all-time in school history – 200 Freestyle
Huizenga: 1:07.09 – PR – 100 Breaststroke
Champlin: 53.51 – PR – 100 Breaststroke
Sykes: 57.82 – PR – 100 Backstroke
Ungaretti: 56.65 – PR – 100 Backstroke
Grinter: 52.97 – PR – Seventh all-time in school history – 100 Backstroke
Sichterman: 55.48 – PR – 100 Backstroke
Graham: 55.23 – PR – 100 Backstroke
Bailey: 48.85 – PR – 100 Backstroke
Scanlon: 49.92 – PR – 100 Backstroke
200 Medley Relay – 1:35.61 – Small, Popov, Moseley, Brown – Eighth all-time in school history
800 Free Relay – 7:01.54 – Small, Brown, Cieplucha, Pintar – Third all-time in school history

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Erika Brown

Grace Cable

Tess Cieplucha

Alec Connolly

Keegan Richardson

Meghan Small

Seth Thompson-Bailey

Josh Walsh

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