Olympic Duo Highlights Strong Performances on Day Two of Invite

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A new school record was set and 13 total top-10 times were recorded by the Vols and Lady Vols on the second day of the Tennessee Invitational at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center on Friday.

The top performances of the night came from 2020 Olympians Mona McSharry and Ellen Walshe, as the Irish duo recorded some of the top performances in Tennessee history across multiple events.

McSharry improved her school-record time in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 57.46 to win the event. The Dublin, Ireland, native's mark was an NCAA A Cut time, qualifying her for the event at this year's championships.

Walshe continued her impressive weekend Friday, recording three individual top-10 performances in school history. The Dublin, Ireland, native posted the second-fastest time in program history in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 50.24 to win the event. The mark, which would be the top time in the country entering the day, made Walshe the second-fastest freshman ever in the event, according to SwimSwam.

In the final event of the night, Walshe swam the leadoff leg of Tennessee's 800 free relay B team, recording a split of 1:44.63, which was tied for sixth all time in the 200 free for the Lady Vols.

After Walshe posted the fifth-fastest time in program history in the 400 IM in the morning, graduate Alexis Yager recorded a personal-best time of 4:05.50 in the finals. That mark ranked third in program history. During prelims, she improved her time in the 100 breast to 59.84, which ranked seventh in UT history.

Smith posted the 10th-fastest time in the Lady Vol record books during the 400 IM, touching the wall in 4:12.18.

In the 100 back, freshman Josephine Fuller moved into sixth place in the Tennessee record books after recording a time of 52.15, which would have qualified for last year's NCAA championships. She finished third in the event.

Freshman Julia Mrozinski dominated the 200 free, winning by more than one second with a time of 1:44.83, which ranked eighth in Lady Vol history. Fellow freshman Brooklyn Douthwright finished fourth in the event with a mark of 1:46.54.

Tennessee opened the night with the 200 medley relay. The Lady Vols earned their third NCAA qualifying time in the relays for the weekend, as the lineup of Fuller, McSharry, Walshe and Anna-Julia Kutsch threw down a mark of 1:35.89. That time ranked 10th in program history.

In the 800 free relay, the Lady Vols finished second and third in the event. The lineup of Mrozinski, Douthwright, Stotler and Rothrock recorded a time of 7:07.02, while the team of Walshe, Summer Smith, McCarville and Yager touched the wall in 7:09.31.

"It was a really good day across the board for us," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "The second day of a multi-day meet always brings its challenges. We had some incredible performances from this morning and tonight. Somebody that I thought that was impressive today was Alexis, who is one of our fifth-year athletes. She swam in the 400 IM this morning, swam it even faster tonight, and also swam a best time in the 100-yard breaststroke this morning and was on the 800 freestyle relay tonight. Kate McCarville and Summer Smith both competed a lot today. Kate had a challenging morning with the 100 fly, 400 IM and 200 freestyle. She did all of them tonight except for the 100 fly, but she continues to get better every time she hits the water. All in all, those are just a couple snapshots of a lot of great things that happened today."

On the men's side, graduate Kayky Mota won the 100 fly for Tennessee, touching the wall in 46.19. The Vols finished second, third and fourth in the 100 breast later in the night. Senior Jarel Dillard posted a personal-best time of 51.68 to rank third in UT history. Michael Houlie (52.34) and Lyubomir Epitropov (52.64) both finished with NCAA B Cut marks. During prelims, Eptiropov posted the sixth-fastest time in the program record books at 52.63.

After notching the No. 6 time in UT history in the 400 IM earlier in the day, freshman Gus Rothrock improved his time in the event during the finals, posting an NCAA B Cut time of 3:48.33 to remain in sixth. He finished third overall in the event during the invite.

The men's 200 medley relay team of Jordan Crooks, Houlie, Mota and Scott Scanlon finished second with an NCAA B Cut time of 1:24.69. The Vols ended the night with a second-place finish in the 800 free relay, as the lineup of Seth Thompson-Bailey, Will Jackson, Crooks and Micah Chambers posted a time of 6:26.25.

"We had some real highlights with Jarel moving up to third all time in the 100 breaststroke," associate head coach Rich Murphy said. "He's an in-state guy. We are impressed with his tools and the way he's living up to the standards internally within our program and the way that he pursues skill. He invests in his process and has become a student of the sport. It's fun to watch him compete and race. He's done an outstanding job, and he's been as invested as any guy in our program in a long time. He's getting the rewards that go hand-in-hand with that commitment.

"Gus Rothrock has done a fantastic job throughout the season and again tonight. He's now No. 6 all time in the 400 IM. His versatility and the competitive fire that he brings to every race is infectious, and it's something I always look forward to watching when he competes. It's always good to see Kayky put himself in a position to win, and he did that again tonight. We are looking for some more performances out of that last relay. That's an area of opportunity for us as we move forward."

In diving, senior Grace Cable finished second on the 3-meter with a score of 323.25, while freshman Madison Reese recorded a personal-best mark of 290.95. On the men's side, sophomores Dillon Richardson (342.65) and Jacob Reasor (321.50) had personal-best scores during the 1-meter finals to finish third and fifth, respectively. Senior Matthew Wade made his season debut, placing fourth on the 1-meter with a mark of 336.50.

"It was great to have Matthew back, although he did a limited list with lower degrees of difficulty just to get him back into the competitive swing," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "I was really excited for that. As far as the other guys go, Dillon really had a strong day. He finished third in a highly-competitive event with some really good dives. Jake just missed the zone qualifying score during the prelims but came back in the final after making a mental adjustment and it paid dividends. We have two zone scores for him out of the way.

"On the women's side, I was happy with Grace's prelims performance. She was a little sharper in the prelims and was actually pretty sharp in the finals, barring one dive that cost her from being in the mix for the win. I'm really excited about where she is. Elle is back in the flow after not diving yesterday due to a tough academic week. She really did some good stuff. Maddie got a personal best in the final. Overall, it was a good, strong day. We are doing things that we have been working on, and it's starting to show in this environment."

Day two of the invitational featured 46 new personal records broken, bringing the two-day total up to 78 for the weekend. Tennessee has posted 22 top-10 performances in program history as well, excluding Fuller's 100 back split from the 400 medley relay Thursday night that was later broken on Friday.

Day three prelims will start at 10 a.m. with the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly events followed by the 1650 free finals at 12 p.m. Men's and women's diving will compete in the finals for the platform at 1:30 p.m. The swimming portion of the finals will begin at 4:30 p.m. with the 400 free relay concluding the invitational.

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Olympic Duo Highlights Strong Performances on Day Two of Invite

Players Mentioned

Grace Cable

Micah Chambers

Jordan Crooks

Jarel Dillard

Brooklyn Douthwright

Lyubomir Epitropov

Josephine Fuller

Michael Houlie

Will Jackson

Anna-Julia Kutsch

Kate McCarville

Mona McSharry

Kayky Mota

Julia Mrozinski

Jacob Reasor

Maddie Reese

Dillon Richardson

Gus Rothrock

Scott Scanlon

Summer Smith

Seth Thompson-Bailey

Matthew Wade

Ellen Walshe

Alexis Yager

University of Tennessee Athletics