UT Posts Five Top-10 Times During Senior Day Sweep

Saturday, January 29

Knoxville

12:00 PM

University of Tennessee

Carson-Newman (Senior Day)

January 29, 2022 | Swimming & Diving

Results Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee swimming & diving concluded its dual meet season with a Senior Day sweep against Carson-Newman on Saturday at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

The sixth-ranked Lady Vols and No. 16 Vols combined to post five top-10 times in program history and 29 new personal records during the meet.

"This was a great meet today, and on Senior Day, we always want to honor our seniors and their effort," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "One way the team is always able to do that is by their own preparation and competing. Everybody did a great job of preparing for their swims but not losing touch with competing for the seniors. We set ourselves up for an SEC championship team that will compete in our home pool in a few weeks. That effort is going to be a whole team effort, whether someone is on the scoring roster for SECs or if they are in a supporting role. It's going to be a team effort to win an SEC Championship, and we took a big step forward today."

During the freestyles, Kate McCarville posted a time of 16:31.42 in a 1650 free exhibition. She recorded a 1000 free split of 9:49.72, which ranked ninth in Lady Vol history. Elle Caldow posted the No. 10 time for the 200 free in the program record books, touching the wall in 1:45.70 to finish first. In the 400 IM, Summer Smith's mark of 4:10.64 moved her up one spot to No. 9 in the records.

In the 50 free, Jasmine Rumley paced a Tennessee sweep with a time of 22.15. Anna-Julia Kutsch came in second (22.23) followed by Mona McSharry (22.70) and Natalie Ungaretti (22.75). In the 100, Tjasa Pintar finished first with a time of 48.37 followed by Kutsch in second (48.99). Brooklyn Douthwright took third with a 49.71 mark, while Emma Carlton came in fourth at 50.46. Behind Caldow in the 200 free was Pintar (1:45.77), Sara Stotler (1:46.06) and Alyssa Breslin (1:51.02).

Ellen Walshe won the 500 free with a mark of 4:49.45, swimming the event for the first time in her career. In the 1000 free, Kristen Stege threw down the top time of 9:48.96.

Tennessee posted the top three times in the 100 fly, as Mallory Beil finished with a 52.49 followed by Carlton (53.80) and Megan Sichterman (54.30). In the 200 fly, Walshe came in first (1:56.58) followed by Trude Rothrock (1:58.77), Claire Nguyen (1:59.35) and Danika Katzer (2:03.15).

In the 100 breast, Alexis Yager finished first with a time of 1:00.88 followed by Emily Sykes in second (1:01.56). Alexandra Gebel tied for third with a time of 1:01.57. Gebel then finished first in the 200 breast behind a 2:12.03 mark.

In the 100 back, Olivia Harper and Josephine Fuller both tied for first with a time of 52.90. Carlton came in third (53.65), while Sichterman finished fourth (54.40). Caldow picked up her second win of the day after touching the wall in 1:55.79 during the 200 back. Fuller finished second with 1:57.25 followed by Harper (1.59.38) and Amber Myers (2:01.49).

Rothrock (1:58.99) and Douthwright (2:02.52) paced the Lady Vols with the top two times in the 200 IM.

Tennessee had the three fastest times in the 200 medley relay to open the meet. The lineup of Harper, Pintar, Rothrock and Rumley finished first with a time of 1:36.88. The team of Sichterman, Gebel, Beil and Kutsch took second with a 1:37.38 mark. Caldow, Jordan Aurnou-Rhees, Carlton and Ungaretti placed third behind a time of 1:39.60.

Tennessee posted the four fastest times in the 200 free relay to finish the meet. The lineup of Kutsch, McSharry, Sichterman and Rumley had the top time at 1:29.56.

"We had a great performance throughout the meet, and our team really brought the emotional and physical energy while honoring the seniors and their efforts," associate head coach Rich Murphy said. "Kayky Mota was very strong in the 100 butterfly, winning and exceeding his time from the invitational. It was great to see his competitive energy today. Michael Houlie was outstanding in the 100 breaststroke, and I thought Luke Brice was very good in his 100 fly. Nolan Briggs solid throughout, winning the 50 and 100 free. Jarel Dillard and Seth Thompson-Bailey did some off events today to shake things up. I appreciated their effort. Across the board, we competed with the kind of competitive swagger that we want to have at SECs.

"From our younger guys, Joey Tepper was outstanding. He continued his meteoric rise. He moved into the record books today. He is a guy who really puts in the work, and it's really rewarding to see him succeed. Jordan Crooks was very strong. He was knocking on the door of top-10 times in the 200 free and 100 fly, which are events he doesn't typically do in dual meets."

In the men's freestyles, Tepper got things started by shattering his personal record in the mile by more than 30 seconds, posting the top time of 15:00.33. That mark ranked ninth in program history, and his 1000 free split of 9:04.16 also ranked ninth in the UT record books. He also finished with the fastest times in the 500 free (4:24.18) and the 400 IM (3:57.61).

Jacob Narvid finished second in the event with a mark of 15:31.49. In the 500, Tepper was followed by Rafael Ponce de Leon (4:27.69), Narvid (4:30.39) and Thompson-Bailey (4:30.73).

During the 50 free, Briggs finished first with a time of 19.99. Aleksey Tarasenko took second with a 20.11 mark. Scott Scanlon (20.24) and Luke Brice (20.34) finished third and fourth, respectively. Briggs (44.10) also led a Tennessee sweep in the 100, placing first followed by Joe Jordan (44.86) and Harrison Lierz (45.02) in second and third.

Tennessee threw down the top four times in the 200 free. Crooks (1:35.04) finished first, Tarasenko (1:36.60) placed second, Gus Rothrock (1:37.76) came in third and Ponce de Leon (1:38.12) was fourth.

In the 100 back, Tennessee finished with the best three times. Björn Kammann touched the wall first with a time of 48.03 followed by Griffin Hadley (49.14) and Thompson-Bailey (49.89). Hadley placed first in the 200 back with a time of 1:46.83.

The Vols took the top two times in the 100 breast. Houlie placed first with a time of 52.90, while Joe Jordan came in second with a time of 55.69. In the 200 breast, Brett Champlin finished first with a time of 1:58.56.

Tennessee placed first and second in the 200 fly. Mota came in first with a time of 1:45.95. Joel Giraudeau placed second with a time of 1:46.88. In the 100 fly, Mota posted the top time at 46.16. He was followed by Crooks (47.06) and Kammann (47.51).

In the 200 IM, Champlin was the first to finish with a time of 1:49.69. Dillard followed with a mark of 1:56.05.

The team of Harrison Lierz, Michael Houlie, Mota and Nolan Briggs finished first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:25.66. The lineup of Micah Chambers, Dillard, Brice and Scanlon came in second with a mark of 1:26.44. Tennessee had the top two times in the 200 free relay. The team of Crooks, Chambers, Briggs and Tarasenko had the top time of 1:19.13.

"With our seniors and their leadership and experience, we are in a good place heading into SECs," Murphy said. "Having it at home has some real conveniences that we can lean on, but we still need to have our business-trip mentality that we would have on the road. It's a balance of the distinct advantages of swimming at your home pool along with being in a mission mentality that is easy to access on the road. We will lean on our seniors. It's everyone's responsibilities to have a great team performance at SECs. It's going to be a collective team effort, and we really want to operate with the 'Triple A, Bar None' mentality throughout the competition."

In diving, Bryden Hattie posted a season-high mark on the platform with a score of 440.10. Jacob Reasor had a score of 343.25, while Dillon Richardson finished with a mark of 316.85. During the 3-meter, Hattie posted a score of 398.40. Reasor threw down a 339.10 mark, and Richardson had a score of 333.50.

On the women's platform, Kara Holt recorded a season-best score of 266.10. Grace Cable notched a score of 252.45, while Madison Reese posted a new career high at 229.60. On the 3-meter, Cable had the top store of 302.25. Reese came in second with a 287.75 mark. Holt (272.85) and Emily Ann Wolfson (272.35) rounded things out.

"For us, it was a bit of a challenge because we didn't have anyone diving against us from Carson-Newman, and it would have been really easy for us to go up and not compete as hard," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "What really impressed me was the intensity that our divers brought. In the manner of which they got up and competed, I would have thought they were going up against another really good team. They brought the competitiveness. We didn't dive great in every area, but we had some really good stuff going on. I was really pleased by what they showed us today."

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