SEC Weekly Recap: Tennessee Splits With Florida; A&M Wins

Maxime Rooney. Photo Courtesy: Singapore Swimming Federation

By Dan D’Addona.

The No. 10 Florida men defeated No. 20 Tennessee 183-111, while the women’s meet came down to the final event, the 400 free relay. No. 15 Tennessee won that last relay, sneaking by the 20th-ranked Gators 151-149.

Tennessee’s Kira Toussaint, Madeline Banic, Erika Brown and Micah Bohon touched the wall first for a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay in in 3:19.64, well ahead of the Gators’ 3:21.25.

Freshman Meghan Small won three individual events — the 200-yard freestyle, the 500 freestyle and the 200 IM — to lead Tennessee. Toussaint won the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke, while Banic won the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

Toussaint put together her third two-win meet of the season, taking first in the 100 backstroke (53.62) and the 200 backstroke (1:56.82).

Banic led a 1-2 Tennessee finish in the 50 freestyle, winning in 23.00. Banic also won the 100 butterfly by nearly two seconds (53.11). Other individual winners included Erika Brown in the 100 freestyle (49.84) and Meg Wiggins in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.62).

For the Florida men, Jack Blyzinskyj collected two wins in the 100 and 200 back with season-bests of 47.53 and 1:45.82 respectively.

Caeleb Dressel took three events — the 50 free in an A-cut 19.08, the 200 free in 1:35.29 and the 200 IM in 1:46.12.

Chandler Bray, who took care of the breaststroke in the 200 medley relay, also handled the 200 breast, touching first in 1:59.18. Maxime Rooney‘s 44.05 time in the 100 free earned him a win in that event.

On the women’s side, Florida freshman Brooke Madden earned two career-bests on the 1-meter (308.85) and 3-meter (326.55).

Freshman Kelly Fertel also posted a team-best 2:14.43 in the 200 breast.

Seniors Taylor Katz and Autumn Finke added two last wins to cap their careers at their home pool. Distance freestyle specialist Finke won the 1000 free in 9:50.90, and Katz the 200 fly in 1:59.70.

For the Tennessee men, junior Liam Stone led the Vols with one of his best all-around diving performances in a dual meet. He recorded over 400 in both events in one meet for the first time in his career. He won the 1-meter with a score of 402.67 and the 3-meter with a score of 417.90.

Georgia tops Emory on senior day

Following a ceremony recognizing the senior swimmers, divers and managers, Georgia’s teams swept Division III power Emory to conclude the dual meet portion of their season on Saturday.

The No. 3-ranked Lady Bulldogs (8-1, 4-0) outscored the Lady Eagles 194-99 while the No. 4 Bulldogs (7-1, 3-0) beat the Eagles 175-107.

Senior Rachel Zilinskas won the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle in 4:56.63 and 9:58.49, respectively, while Caitlin Casazza won both the 200-yard butterfly (2:00.62) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.92). Chelsea Britt also took home wins in the 100-yard backstroke (54.71) and the 100-yard butterfly (54.08).

Senior Chantal Van Landeghem won the 100-yard freestyle in 51.15. Sandra Scott finished first in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:49.80 and Katherine Aikins took the 50-yard freestyle in 23.50. Meryn McCann took the 200-yard backstroke in 1:58.73. Meaghan Raab won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:03.48. Olivia Ball won the 3-meter springboard with a score of 326.33. Megan Kingsley placed first in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:01.45. Allison Greene won the 1-meter springboard with a score of 285.83.

In the men’s meet, senior Taylor Dale earned two individual wins, taking the 50-yard freestyle in 20.16 and the 200-yard backstroke in 1:45.89. Kevin Miller also posted two wins, finishing first in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:29.00 and the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9:12.13. James Guest won the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:00.23 and the 200-yard individual medley in 1:52.83.

Senior Chase Kalisz won the 100-yard backstroke in 48.83. Kevin Litherland took the 200-yard freestyle in 1:38.93. Alex BeMiller posted a time of 44.93 to win the 100-yard freestyle and Mick Litherland claimed first in the 100-yard butterfly in 49.33 and the 200-yard butterfly in 1:47.96. Charlie Clifton posted a score of 389.40 to win the 1-meter springboard and Ian Forlini posted the top score on the 3-meter springboard (372.38).

Texas A&M men beat SMU

The Texas A&M men’s swimming and diving team closed out the regular-season portion of its 2016-17 season with a hard-fought 133-95 win over longtime rival SMU on Friday.

Anthony Kim won the 200 backstroke (1:47.39). Junior diver Tyler Henschel was the lone Aggie with multiple individual victories as he swept the one- and three-meter springboard dives. Henschel won the one-meter with a score of 375.52 and the three-meter with a 323.77 point total.

Other Aggies with wins Cory Bolleter in the 50 freestyle (19.98), freshman Adam Koster in the 100 free (44.90) and junior Mauro Castillo in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.63).

LSU sweeps Houston, Rice and Tulane

On the final day of the annual quad meet, the LSU women’s swimming team (7-2, 2-2) collected three wins over Houston, Rice and Tulane to wrap up the regular season on Saturday.

The Lady Tigers defeated Houston 242-111, Rice 218-129 and Tulane 254-97 in dominating fashion to close out the home slate for the team.

Four pool records were also broken by the Lady Tigers over two days of competition in the 200 free relay (1:30.37) and 400 free relay (3:19.56), as well as the 100 breaststroke (1:00.27) by Colleen O’Neil and 200 free (1:47.45) by Kara Kopcso in the individual events.

Arkansas tops Kansas

Behind 12 first-place finishes, the Arkansas swimming and diving team defeated Kansas 181.50-106.50 on Saturday’s senior day.

Senior Mary-Margaret Soderberg swam to a first-place finish (2:16.34) in the 200 breaststroke.

Junior Nicole Gillis dominated on the boards once again. Notching two NCAA Zone scores on the 1m and 3-meter boards. Gillis also broke her lifetime best on the 3m with a score of 347.93, the second best score in school history. Molly Harvie recorded a zone score on the 1m for the third time this season with a second place finish and season best score of 280.88. For the first time this season, freshman Caroline Welch qualified for zones on the 3m with a lifetime best score of 287.70.

Kentucky sweeps Cincinnati

The Kentucky swimming and diving team closed its dual schedule with a pair of impressive wins against Cincinnati on Friday night. The women’s team tallied a 184-116 victory, while the men won 216-84.

Sophomore Seb Masterton earned the first top finish for the men with a 309.80 on the 1-meter. Senior Noah Richter followed that performance with a first-place score of 316.20 on the 3-meter.

On the women’s side, freshman Ali Galyer posted a pool record in the 200 back with a time of 1:58.51, and senior Bridgette Alexander came in first in the 100 back with a 55.72 finish. The men swept both the 100 and 200 backstroke events, led by Josh Swart in the 100 (50.01) and Jack Gunning in the 200 (1:51.33).

Seniors Danielle Galyer and Kendra Crew each picked up an individual win as Galyer touched in 4:58.55 in the 500 free and Crew recorded a 2:18.19 in the 200 breaststroke.

South Carolina wins invite

The University of South Carolina swimming and diving program wrapped up a successful weekend at the SC College Invitational to defeat UNCW, East Carolina, Wingate and Queens on Saturday at the Carolina Natatorium in Columbia, S.C.

On the women’s side, Emma Barksdale led the squad with two event victories including the 1000-yard freestyle and 400-yard IM. Julia Vincent remained undefeated on the weekend as she claimed first place in the 1-meter dive. Katie Shannahan took first place in the 100-yard butterfly, McKenna Keith won the 50-yard freestyle and Mairyn Branaman finished first in the 100-yard backstroke.

For the men, Jordan Gotro won the 3-meter dive, Tom Peribonio captured first place in the 1000-yard freestyle and Cody Bekemeyer won the 400-yard IM.

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