Tennessee Opens Season with Wins Against UNCW

Saturday, October 1

Wilmington, NC

11:00 AM

University of Tennessee

UNC Wilmington

October 01, 2022 | Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving, Men's Swimming & Diving

Results

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Tennessee swimming & diving kicked off its 2022-23 campaign with a pair of victories against UNC Wilmington on Saturday afternoon at David B. Allen Natatorium.

The Vols dominated the meet, posting the top time/score in every event on the day to get the 216-78 win. The Lady Vols also looked impressive in their first meet of the season, defeating the Seahawks 190-105.

Picking up where he left off from last season, Jordan Crooks crushed the 50 free, recording a time of 19.36, which was .33 seconds faster than the top time in the country entering the day. Gui Caribe took second in the 50 free with a 20.22 mark. Caribe posted the best time in the 100 free behind a 43.86 mark.

UT swept the 200 free with Joaquin Vargas (1:38.88), Aleksey Tarasenko (1:39.65) and Will Jackson (1:40.96). Vargas picked up his second victory of the day when he finished first in the 500 free with a 4:30.51 time. He was followed by Rafael Ponce de Leon Castilla (4:36.74), Jack Little (4:39.73) and Jack Stelter (4:40.31). Joey Tepper led the way in the 1000, notching a time of 9:27.84, while Little (9:32.91) came in second.

Crooks dominated the 100 fly behind a 46.81 mark to earn his second win of the day. Björn Kammann posted the second-best time in the event (49.10) followed by Luke Brice (49.67). In the 200 fly, Martin Espernberger notched the best time after touching the wall in 1:49.10, with Gus Rothrock taking second in a 1:51.49 time.

The Vols swept both breaststroke races. Michael Houlie posted the best time in the 100, finishing in 53.87, with Jarel Dillard (55.15) and Lyubomir Epitropov (56.30) taking second and third. In the 200, Dillard (2:00.65) and Epitropov (2:00.77) battled for the top spot, while Brett Champlin completed the sweep with a 2:03.91 mark to finish third.

The Vols posted the four best times the 100 back, as Harrison Lierz led the way with a 48.47 mark. Nick Simons finished second in the event (49.01) followed by Griffin Hadley (50.24) and Ryan Williams (50.92). Making his collegiate debut, Simons got the win in 200 back after touching the wall in 1:47.79. Landon Driggers came in second behind a 1:49.03 mark.

Exhibitioning its races in the 200 IM, Tennessee recorded the top three times in the event, as Lierz touched the wall first (1:50.44) followed by Driggers (1:51.80) and Rothrock (1:52.20).

Kicking off the meet with the 200 medley relay, Tennessee finished first and second in the event for both the men and women. The Vols' top team, which consisted of Lierz, Dillard, Crooks and Scott Scanlon, touched the wall in 1:28.35, while the lineup of Simons, Houlie, Brice and Caribe finished just behind them with a 1:28.51 mark.

The Vols closed out the day with the top three times in the 200 free relay. The lineup of Tarasenko, Scanlon, Caribe and Crooks touched the wall in 1:20.27. The team of Simons, Vargas, Ponce de Leon and Jack Flanagan posted a time of 1:23.40, while the squad of Kammann, Micah Chambers, Jackson and Lierz finished with a 1:23.41 mark.

"First off, we'd like to send our thoughts to all those affected by Hurricane Ian," associate head coach Rich Murphy said. "Our seniors and 5th years were the leaders today. Really pleased with a thorough team effort in a challenging set of circumstances with a meet delay and with being in the hotel all day yesterday. Our men were very adaptable to the adjustments we asked of them and engaged with every swim and dive of every Vol. That was awesome.

"Very impressed with all the new Vols and their contributions today. From the new guys, Gui Caribe was electric and Nick Simons showed considerable poise. Michael Houlie, Jordan Crooks, Joaquin Vargas, Harrison Lierz and Joey Tepper had a big impact on the meet. We are excited to get back to work."

In diving, the Vols and Lady Vols enjoyed strong efforts on both springboards. Bryden Hattie picked up a pair of victories on the day, posting the top scores on the 1-meter (324.65) and 3-meter (412.30). His score on the 3-meter was less than two points off his top mark in the event.

Matt Wade and Owen Redfearn finished second and third, respectively, in both events to complete the sweep for the Vols. Wade posted a 315.95 mark on the 1-meter and a 386.50 on the 3-meter, while Redfearn recorded a 285.90 on the 1-meter before scoring a 318.20 on 3-meter. Jacob Reasor had the fourth-best score on 1-meter, finishing with a 277.90 mark. Nick Stone notched the fourth-best score on 3-meter at 316.60.

On the women's side, Tanesha Lucoe picked up her first victory as a Lady Vol on the 1-meter with a 284.20 score. Tennessee recorded the top six scores in the event, as Madison Reese (270.70) and Bailey Davenport (260.20) finished second and third, respectively, followed by Elle Renner (259.90), Grace Cable (257.25) and Emily Ann Wolfson (244.00). Callie Borda posted a score of 210.15.

On the 3-meter, Cable earned the win with a 303.55 score, while Reese finished second thanks to a 285.75 mark. Emily Ann Wolfson placed fourth with a score of 272.65. Renner had a 268.35, followed by Lucoe (262.75), Davenport (246.50) and Borda (221.35).

"I was very happy with both squads' performances," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "The environment here was extremely hostile, not meaning anything against UNCW. Just the setting for diving, we had swimming going at the same time, the diving well is smaller than we are accustomed to and there was a whole lot of noise. That was definitely an adverse situation, but we like to compete and train in those situations in the early season to toughen our skin. I saw some really good, aggressive and positive diving from everybody. We did make our share of errors, but in not a single case was there a tentative mistake. That was really encouraging to see. We had an excellent attitude.

"Kudos to Bryden for picking up a pair of really good wins. He dove pretty darn well. Matt Wade had two good performances. Our young guys stepped up and really learned what it takes to compete at this level. On the women's side, great win by Grace on the 3-meter, and a nice win on the 1-meter by Tanesha for her first victory as a Lady Vol. Bailey stepped up to take third on the 1-meter after a rough start with the 3-meter. Maddie Reese had a really nice day with a pair of seconds and showed some really nice stuff.

"Something we talk about is supporting each other, both among the divers and as a whole team. The support for one and other during this meet was exceptional. It was really good to see. We also got support from the swimmers when they had opportunities to do it. It was really exhilarating."

Making her Tennessee debut, Kailee Morgan swept the breaststroke races, touching the wall in 1:03.77 in the 100 and 2:19.82 in the 200. Jordan Aurnou-Rhees took third (1:06.28) in the 100 breast. In an exhibition of the race, Josephine Fuller and Regan Rathwell tied with a mark of 1:04.36, which would have finished second in the main race.

Kristen Stege swept the distance freestyle races, posting times of 4:59.63 in the 500 and 10:08.34 in the 1000. Julia Burroughs placed second with her 5:03.30 performance in the 500 free, while Claire Nguyen rounded out the sweep with a 5:04.72. To finish out the 1000, Alyssa Breslin (10:17.62) and Lauren Wetherell (10:29.70) completed the sweep for the Lady Vols.

Natalie Ungaretti won the 50 free (23.91), while Emma Carlton (24.26) and Libby Russum (24.36) placed third and fourth, respectively. In an exhibition of the event, Mona McSharry (23.43) and Olivia Harper (23.78) posted times that would have finished first and second.

Sara Stotler and Burroughs were neck and neck in the 200 free, as Stotler pulled out the win with a 1:51.49 time followed closely by Burroughs with a 1:51.56 mark. Stotler also posted a second-place finish in the 100 free (52.15), while Abby Samansky took third in the event (52.46).

Tennessee posted the top four times in the 100 back, with Harper (55.76) getting the win followed by Elle Caldow (56.22), Amber Myers (56.84), Brooklyn Douthwright (56.85). Rathwell earned the first victory of her collegiate career after posting the top time in the 200 back of 1:59.17, while Bayley Stewart took second with a 2:02.80 mark.

In the butterfly, Kate McCarville crushed the 200 with a 2:02.49 time to win the event by more than four seconds. Nguyen finished second in the event behind a 2:07.02 mark. In the 100, Carlton placed second to lead UT with a 56.91 time.

In the 200 IM, UT exhibitioned its three entries but recorded the top times in the event. Fuller led the way with a 2:01.35 mark followed by McCarville (2:03.32) and Douthwright (2:05.38).

During the first event of the day, the Lady Vols set the tone for the meet by taking the top two spots in the 200 medley relay. The lineup of Rathwell, Morgan, McSharry and Fuller posted the best time of 1:42.20, while the team of Harper, Aurnou-Rhees, Carlton and Russum finished second behind a 1:44.14 mark.

Tennessee rounded out the meet with the top two times in the 200 free relay. The group of McSharry, Burroughs, Myers and Douthwright notched the best mark at 1:33.68, while the lineup of Harper, Rathwell, Russum and Fuller touched the wall in 1:34.98.

"I was looking for the women's team to come together as a collective squad and do a great job of not only competing but supporting each other and executing the elements we've been working on in practice," associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. "They have been practicing evaluating their performances when they come up and talk to us. Overall, the newest freshmen and members of our team did a phenomenal job of that.

"I was really impressed with what our freshman and sophomore classes did today. They did a really nice job of competing together. The freshmen are absorbing a lot of information, and for the sophomores, this is the second time they have seen this meet and format. They did a great job helping lead the freshmen. I'm really impressed by the two underclasses. The upperclasses also did a great job of being great role models, giving the two underclasses a great example to model themselves after."

Up next, Tennessee will take on a pair of tough opponents from the ACC in NC State (Oct. 14-15) and Louisville (Oct. 20). The meet against NC State will be UT's home opener for the season.

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