SEC Friday Recap: Florida, Tennessee Split Rivalry Showdown

KNOXVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 01, 2017 - Erika Brown of the Tennessee Volunteers during the Day 2 finals session during the Tennessee Invitational at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, TN. Photo By John Golliher/Tennessee Athletics

Erika Brown. Photo Courtesy: John Golliher/Tennessee Athletics

The No. 4/16 Florida Gators split their final dual meet of the season against the no. 9/12 Tennessee Volunteers on Friday at the Jones Aquatics Center.

Florida’s fourth-ranked men’s squad played spoiler to Tennessee on its Senior Day, defeating the Volunteers 178-122. The 16th-ranked Florida women fell to no. seven Tennessee 184-116 during the meet.

The Gators’ hold the all-time series advantage over Tennessee, with the men moving to 25-20 and the women falling to 27-5 in dual meet competition.

Senior Caeleb Dressel and sophomore Khader Baqlah led the men’s team with three wins apiece during the meet. Dressel notched B-cut times in all three of his event victories against the Volunteers: 50 free (19.41), 100 breast (53.23) and 200 IM (1:44.94).

Balqah recorded two B-cuts as well, swimming a 1:35.88 in the 200 free and registering a time of 4:22.20 in the 500 free. The sophomore’s final victory came in the last event of the meet, the 400 free relay, in which the team recorded a time of 2:56.01.

Jan Switkowski, Mark Szaranek and Michael Taylor each contributed two wins apiece for the Gators.

Switkowski and Szaranek swept the butterfly events with B-cut times, with Switkowski swimming a 47.08 in the 100 fly and Szaranek recording a time of 1:45.53 in the 200 fly. Both men were also on the winning 400 free relay team that recorded a time of 2:56.01.

Taylor’s victories came from a sweep of the backstroke events, where he swam B-cut times of 47.71 (100 back) and 1:44.83 (200 back).

The divers led the way for the Vols in the men’s meet. Colin Zeng won the 1-meter springboard (397.88), followed by Liam Stone. The two Vols reversed order on the 3-meter. Stone won on his own senior day with a score of 387.75, just 0.75 points ahead of Zeng.

The Lady Vols (7-3) won 12 of 16 events en route to a 184-116 victory over No. 16 Florida.

Sophomores Erika Brown and Meghan Small led the way with another two-victory meet for Tennessee. Brown won the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.74) and sparked a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 butterfly (52.31). Small took first the 200 butterfly (1:59.44) and the 200 individual medley (1:59.94).

Junior Madeline Banic picked up her first victory in her second meet of the season. She led a 1-2-3 Tennessee finish in the 50 freestyle, which she won in 22.77.

Additional victories for the women included: Tjasa Pintar in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.30), Stanzi Moseley in the 100 freestyle (49.11), Micah Bohon in the 200 backstroke (1:56.19), Tess Cieplucha in the 200 breaststroke (2:13.98) and Rachel Rubadue on 3-meter springboard.

On the women’s side, freshman Taylor Ault led the way for Florida with two wins against the Volunteers. She swam a 9:52.83 in the 1000 free and notched a B-cut in the 500 free with a time of 4:47.04 to nab her second victory of the meet.

Sophomore Emma Ball grabbed a win for the Gator women, swimming a B-cut time of 53.50 in the 100 back to clinch the victory.

Brooke Madden rounded out the wins for Florida, finishing first on the 1-meter board with a Zone qualifying score of 304.80.

South Carolina in front at home invite

South Carolina got off to a strong start at the South Carolina Collegiate Invitational on Friday night with both the men’s and women’s teams leading the four-team competition after day one. Facing Queens, East Carolina and UNCW, the Gamecocks collected a combined 12 first-place finishes in the 18 events contested on the opening night of the meet.

The South Carolina women were strong right off the blocks, recording the team’s second-fastest time of the season in the 200 freestyle relay as they out-touched Queens for the victory.
Freshman Lionel Khoo earned his first event win as a Gamecock in the 100 breaststroke, swimming a 54.18. South Carolina also won the women’s 100 breaststroke, with Emma Barksdale taking first with a time of 1:02.21.

The Gamecocks also swept the men’s and women’s 200 backstroke with Cody Bekemeyer and Emily Cornell taking first in their respective events.

Six more South Carolina individuals took home first place finishes in the first day of the invitational: Julia Vincent in 1-meter diving, Grant Summers in 3-meter diving, Albury Higgs in the 200 IM, Fynn Minuth in the 500 freestyle, Christina Lappin in the 100 freestyle and Marissa DelGado in the 200 butterfly.

Arkansas swims past Kansas

Winning nine of the last 10 events of Friday night’s meet against Kansas, the Arkansas swimming and diving team defeated the Jayhawks 180-120 to extend its winning streak over Kansas to 10 straight meetings.

On the boards, junior Nicole Gillis claimed both titles on the one-meter and three-meter, including setting a personal-best on the 3m with a score of 353.93, outscoring her competition by 85.58 points. On the one-meter, she scored a 312.23, outscoring the field by 42.98 points.

Ayumi Macias claimed the 1000 freestyle title, touching in 10:09.27. Kiera Michailoff-Russell won the 50 free in 24.1.

Kentucky sweeps Cincinnati on senior day

The Kentucky swimming and diving program ended its regular season on a high note, posting impressive wins over Cincinnati for senior day. The men’s team defeated the Bearcats, 207-91, while the women’s team won, 201-89.

On the women’s side, senior Bridgette Alexander turned in two top finishes for UK. Alexander touched the wall in 54.66 to win the 100-yard backstroke before winning the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.09.

Fellow senior Morgan Belli had a pair of wins of her own, sweeping the women’s breaststroke events. Belli recorded a time of 1:03.05 to win the 100 breaststroke, while she posted a 2:16.82 to take the 200 breast title.

Kentucky swept both the men’s and women’s diving events, as sophomores Emma Dellmore and Kevin Frebel won both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events.

Senior Isaac Jones picked up a duo of victories for the men’s team. Jones won the 200 free in 1:37.53, leading Jason Head, Peter Wetzlar and John Mitchell in a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Wildcats. Jones also led Kentucky in a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 400 individual medley.

Junior Matthew Beach swept the butterfly events for the men’s team, winning the 200 fly with a time of 1:48.78 before taking the 100 fly in 49.35.

Texas A&M tops SMU

The Texas A&M men defeated SMU 135-90.

Jose Martinez won the 200 freestyle (1:39.78) and 200 butterfly (1:46.81) in a ‘B’ cut. Adam Koster won the 50 free (20.15), an NCAA ‘B’ cut, and the 100 free (44.38). Brock Bonetti won the 200 IM (1:50.03). Anthony Kim won the 200 back (1:45.01) in a ‘B’ cut. Felipe Rizzo won the 500 (4:29.04). Skylar Lake won 1-meter diving (340.95).

LSU ahead at invite

After winning nine of ten events, the LSU women’s swimming and diving team jumped out to first place in the team standings after Day One of a two-day quad meet with Houston, Rice, and Tulane. The Tigers are currently beating the Cougars 120-66 the Owls 136-47, and the Green Wave 142-44.

The Tigers got more than just a win in the 1000 freestyle. Not only did the Tigers take both first and second place through Jane MacDougall and Lexi Daniels, but both also set personal-best times. MacDougall broke the 10-minute barrier for the first time, racing to a time of 9:59.94 and the fourth fastest time in program history. Daniels took silver after touching the wall at 10:03.38.

Katie Smith soon followed MacDougall’s lead with a win and personal-best, this time in the 100 backstroke. Smith was able to get the win with a time of 55.32 seconds.

Junior Summer Spradley won her second 200 breaststroke event in three weeks, as she took home the victory courtesy of a time of 2:15.87.

Missouri sweeps Drury

The No. 15/10 Mizzou men’s women’s swimming and diving teams closed out the dual portion of their schedule with a sweep over Drury on Thursday afternoon at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. The women earned a 118-64 victory, while the men defeated the Panthers 130-91.

Fourteen different Tigers took home event wins against Drury, including a pair of victories from junior Kyle Goodwin in the diving well. Five other Tigers notched the top times in six total events but swam in exhibition.

Goodwin posted 346.50 points to claim the 1-meter crown and totaled 368.40 on 3-meter to compete the springboard sweep.

Two Tigers, junior Aurore Jacolin and freshman Carter Grimes earned their first-career event wins against the Panthers. Jacolin placed first in the women’s 200 free in 1:52.14 and Grimes took the win in the men’s 200 IM after a swim of 1:51.84.

Also in the diving well, senior Kendra Kieser won the women’s 3-meter competition with a season-best score of 326.03.

Additionally, sophomore Giovanny Lima took top honors in the men’s 200 free in 1:37.42 to nab his team-high 12th event win of the season.

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