Vols and Lady Vols Open Busy Weekend With Sweep Of Purdue

Friday, November 8

Knoxville, TN

11 AM

University of Tennessee

Purdue

Vols and Lady Vols Open Busy Weekend With Sweep Of Purdue

November 08, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

Results

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee swimming and diving program opened up its busy weekend with a sweep of Purdue Friday at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

Powered by a dominate performance from the swimmers, the 10th-ranked men's team defeated Purdue 193-105. The third-ranked Lady Vols took down the Boilermakers 185-113, with both squads combining to win 26 of 32 events.

Senior Braga Verhage had a strong performance against Purdue, winning two individual events and helping to lead the 200 freestyle relay to victory to close out the meet.

"Braga's whole year has been different," associate head coach Lance Asti said. "He has been a real spark plug in training and he has really come alive over the last two months and is now seeing the results in competition. He's always been a great competitor but now he is starting to put a really nice training background behind that competitive edge and he is coming along very well."

The Perth, Australia native touched the wall first in the 50 free (20.25) and 100 butterfly (48.63) while swimming second in the 200 free relay, putting down a 19.81 split, helping to lead the relay team to a first place finish.

Verhage was a part of the 200 medley relay to begin the day, swimming leadoff and posting a split of 21.88.

"He has been more consistent, he is showing up to train day in and day out and that brings a snowball effect. He continues to get better in training," Asti said. "He has a clear vision for himself and what he is looking for in practice and in race execution. I am really proud of him."

Senior Nathan Murray and junior Josh Walsh stood out Friday, winning the 200 backstroke and 200 freestyle, respectively. Murray took the win in the 200 back, hitting the wall in 1:49.21 while Walsh earned his 200 free win with a time of 1:37.80.

"We swam well and competed exceptionally well," Asti said. "We won the close races, that's something we look for. Tennessee finishes are something we take pride in, no one beats us to the finish and I felt like we executed that really well today."

On the women's side, junior Bailey Grinter and senior Stanzi Moseley led the women as Grinter won two individual races while swimming with Moseley on the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. The duo combined to bring home four wins for the Lady Vols.

Grinter turned in two strong swims in the 100 backstroke (54.25) and 100 free (50.29) and swam the leadoff leg on the 200 medley relay and was second into the water on the 200 free relay. The Edwardsville, Ill., native posted a split of 25.72 on the 200 medley and 22.34 in the 200 free.

"Bailey had a great day today," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "She continues to get better and better in practice, making little changes that she takes into the race and I am really happy with what she did today in both the relays and her individual events."

In practice, Grinter has focused on where she can find speed, building up her tempo off of that.

"Bailey is a beautiful swimmer," Jahn said. "She hangs onto a ton of water and I think finding that balance between hanging onto that water and finding a little bit more tempo, she is doing a great job."

Moseley brought home both the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay, swimming anchor and posting splits of 22.87 and 23.26, respectively. The Bakersfield, Calif., native finished second in her two individual events, the 100 back (54.54) and 100 fly (54.42), placing behind teammates Grinter and Erika Brown.

"Stanzi had a great day today as well," Jahn said. "I loved seeing her in the 100 back and 100 fly and then on the relays. One of the things we want from all of the swimmers is to be comfortable in any position and so, Stanzi loves anchoring. We have put her in some different positions so this is one of the first times she has anchored more recently and it was a good pace to have her today."

The diving team faced its toughest competition of the season, going up against a talented Purdue squad. Sophomore Grace Cable placed second on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard with scores of 292.20 and 317.33.

"Grace was in a very close competition on the 1-meter, I believe Purdue's diver knocked her off on her final dive," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "It would have been nice to have gotten that win but she set a personal best on 1-meter which is always great to see."

Will Hallam and Keegan Richardson turned in strong performances Friday as well with Hallam finishing second on the 1-meter (311.85) and third on 3-meter (360.15). Richardson came back from an ankle injury to place third and fourth on the one and three meter boards.

Richardson scored 300.15 on 1-meter, finishing third, and posted a score of 291.53 on 3-meter for a fourth place finish, while battling back from an ankle injury.

"It is difficult to come back so quickly, to stand on the end of the board and jump when you have an ankle injury is not easy," Parrington said. "I have to say, he probably surprised me a little bit today. On 3-meter, one of the dives he just got off this morning before the meet. He showed his toughness and that's what we want, Tennessee Tough. I am proud of him."

UP NEXT
Tennessee returns to the pool Saturday for split squad meets as the Vols battle Georgia Tech at 11 a.m. before the Lady Vols square off against in-state rival Vanderbilt at 3 p.m.

Women's Results
200 Medley Relay – Tennessee (Grinter, Pintar, Rothrock, Moseley) – 1:41.12

1,000 Freestyle – Alexis Yager, TENN – 10:03.53

200 Freestyle – Erika Brown, TENN – 1:47.23

100 Backstroke – Bailey Grinter, TENN – 54.25

100 Breaststroke – Jing En Phee, PUR – 1:01.63

200 Butterfly – Mallory Beil, TENN – 1:59.88

50 Freestyle – Megan Sichterman, TENN – 23.52

3-Meter Springboard – Emily Bretscher, PUR – 345.38

100 Freestyle – Bailey Grinter, TENN – 50.29

200 Backstroke – Kaitlin Harty, TENN – 1:58.79

200 Breaststroke – Sylvia Kobylak, PUR – 2:15.22

500 Freestyle – Amanda Nunan, TENN – 4:56.03

100 Butterfly – Erika Brown, TENN – 52.85

1-Meter Springboard – Emily Bretscher, PUR – 295.65

200 IM – Trude Rothrock, TENN – 2:02.18

200 Free Relay – Tennessee (Small, Grinter, Brown, Moseley) – 1:31.00

Men's Results
200 Medley Relay – Tennessee (Garcia, Houlie, McGee, Connolly) – 1:27.77

1,000 Freestyle – Taylor Abbott, TENN – 9:05.67

200 Freestyle – Josh Walsh, TENN – 1:37.80

100 Backstroke – Matthew Garcia, TENN – 48.12

100 Breaststroke – Michael Houlie, TENN – 53.31

200 Butterfly – Taylor Abbott, TENN – 1:50.70

50 Freestyle – Braga Verhage, TENN – 20.25

1-Meter Springboard – Gregory Duncan, PUR – 365.85

100 Freestyle – Alec Connolly, TENN – 43.52

200 Backstroke – Nathan Murray, TENN – 1:49.21

200 Breaststroke – Michael Houlie, TENN – 1:59.94

500 Freestyle – Taylor Abbott, TENN – 4:26.32

100 Butterfly – Braga Verhage, TENN – 48.63

3-Meter Springboard – Gregory Duncan, PUR – 369.98

200 IM – Alec Connolly, TENN – 1:49.14

200 Free Relay – Tennessee (Gleb, Braga, Wash, Briggs), 1:21.28