NCAA Div. I Women: Tennessee Defeats Arkansas

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 26. THE University of Tennessee women's swimming and diving team returned to Knoxville for its first home meet since Oct. 19, 2001, and the home pool advantage paid off as the Lady Vols defeated the University of Arkansas, 163-137, on Saturday at the UT Student Aquatic Center.

The Tennessee effort was paced by a trio of seniors, Monica Shannahan, Valerie Conte and Bianca Jones, who combined for all six of Tennessee's individual event wins.

"I am really proud of the way the team performed today," Tennessee head coach Dan Colella said. "Going into the meet, we knew that we had several people under the weather and we knew that we would be spread thin. That was evident in some events, but overall we swam with 10 times the attitude and aggression that we swam with in our last dual meets. That is what we really want to see going into the stretch before the SEC Championships.

"Between now and facing eighth-ranked Florida next week, we will fine-tune our performance, but we are going to be ready and give them the best meet we can. I am also really pleased with the performances by Monica, Valerie and Bianca because they led the charge and gave us a tremendous push to the win."

Shannahan had the strongest individual day as she again led the Lady Vols with three event victories. The San Diego, Calif., native won the 200y butterfly with a time of 2:03.00, which is an NCAA provisional mark. She came back and won the 200y breaststroke with a time of 2:19.04 and capped her day with a victory in the 100y butterfly in 57.43.

Shannahan and Jones combined on the 200y medley relay team that won its race in a time of 1:46.85, leaving Shannahan undefeated on the day.

Individually, Jones and Conte also got into the winning action. Jones, a native of Palm Beach, Australia, won the 100y backstroke in a season-best time of 57.04 while Conte came in second in 57.58. Conte then came away victorious in the 200y backstroke with a mark of 2:02.63 and she ended her day with a victory in the 200y individual medley with a time of 2:07.13.

The Lady Vols were equally successful in the diving well as junior Jaime Sanger and freshman Lauryn McCalley split the victories on the boards. Sanger won the one-meter with a score of 295.57 while McCalley was second with a tally of 281.10. McCalley (302.25) then edged Sanger (299.17) for the victory on the three-meter springboard.

On the day, the Tennessee cause was helped with a number of strong finishes that gave the team valuable points. Freshman Livia Trevisan finished second in the 200y freestyle with a time of 1:55.47 while junior Nicole Brannock was second in the 100y breaststroke in 1:07.01. Junior Lindsey Brock was second in both of the distance freestyle events as she took runner-up honors in the 1000y freestyle in a time of 10:19.04 and in the 500y freestyle in 5:05.33.

The Lady Vols, now 3-3 on the season and 3-2 in SEC action, will wrap up the 2001-02 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 2, with a dual meet at the Student Aquatic Center against the No. 8 Florida Lady Gators. The start time is set for 1 p.m. and Comcast will televise the meet on a tape delay basis.

Tennessee vs. Arkansas
January 26, 2002
Student Aquatic Center; Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee 163
Arkansas 137

200y Medley Relay
1. Tennessee A 1:46.85
Jones, Fenter,
Shannahan, Wingfield
3. Tennessee B 1:49.69
Conte, Brannock,
Hancock, Naparlo

1000y Freestyle
2. Lindsey Brock 10:19.04
3. Cortney Piper 10:21.47
4. Raellen Arnold 10:30.38

200y Freestyle
2. Livia Trevisan 1:55.47
4. Elizabeth Philp 1:56.90
6. Kristin Souppa 1:58.49

100y Backstroke
1. Bianca Jones :57.04
2. Valerie Conte :57.58
5. Jessica Blevins 1:01.32

100y Breaststroke
2. Nicole Brannock 1:07.01
3. Valerie Fenter 1:07.04
5. Courtney Naparlo 1:09.53
— Kristin Souppa 1:12.82 *

200y Butterfly
1. Monica Shannahan 2:03.00 #
2. Elizabeth Wueste 2:11.10
3. Livia Trevisan 2:12.87
— Cortney Piper 2:11.19 *

50y Freestyle
4. Sara Wingfield :24.99
5. Jessica Blevins :25.07
6. Laura Hancock :26.23
— Amy Danchik :26.16 *

One-Meter Diving
1. Jaime Sanger 295.57
2. Lauryn McCalley 281.10
5. Stacy Binyon 222.59

100y Freestyle
3. Bianca Jones :53.76
4. Sara Wingfield :53.80
6. Amy Danchik :56.87

200y Backstroke
1. Valerie Conte 2:02.63
5. Elizabeth Philp 2:15.38
6. Jessica Blevins 2:16.39

200y Breaststroke
1. Monica Shannahan 2:19.04
3. Nicole Brannock 2:23.71
4. Valerie Fenter 2:26.84
— Kristin Souppa 2:30.86 *

500y Freestyle
2. Lindsey Brock 5:05.33
5. Raellen Arnold 5:10.35
6. Cortney Piper 5:11.87

100y Butterfly
1. Monica Shannahan :57.43
3. Livia Trevisan :59.04
4. Elizabeth Wueste 1:01.36
— Elizabeth Philp 1:01.43 *

Three-Meter Springboard
1. Lauryn McCalley 302.25
2. Jaime Sanger 299.17
5. Kylee Wells 223.35

200y Individual Medley
1. Valerie Conte 2:07.13
3. Nicole Brannock 2:12.41
4. Valerie Fenter 2:12.59

200y Freestyle Relay
2. Tennessee A 1:38.05
Blevins, Naparlo,
Jones, Wingfield
4. Tennessee B 1:43.05
Trevisan, Hancock,
Souppa, Danchik

#- NCAA Provisional Qualifying Time
*- Exhibition Race

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x