Tennessee Swimming Upends Queens University in Royal Open

KNOXVILLE, TN - December 5, 2013 - Faith Johnson competes in the 4x100 Yard Medley Relay during the USA Swimming AT&T Winter National Championships at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee

Photo Courtesy: Tia Patron/Tennessee Athletics

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, October 10. Tennessee continued its strong start to the 2014-15 season with a dominant effort at the Royal Open hosted by Queens University. After downing UNC-Wilmington a week ago, the Volunteers were back with some fast times in Charlotte.

Tennessee Press Release

Tennessee swimming and diving entered North Carolina for the second time this season and started off its second road trip on a high note Thursday, defeating Queens University at the Levine Center.

Tennessee jumped out to early leads over the Royals and sailed to convincing victories, swimming the fastest times in 15 events against QU to earn another road sweep. The UT men defeated QU, 139-65, while the women earned a 157-45 victory to improve both records to 2-0 on the young season.

“I’m really happy with the progress we’ve made,” said Head Coach Matt Kredich. “There are a bunch of signs that they’ve taken to what we’re focusing on and it’s really good that they’re able to apply some of concepts under some pressure. Competition was really good and we got beat in some places that we needed to see, so we’ll definitely learn a lot from that.”

Junior Faith Johnson led the way for the Tennessee women, coming back to her home state to win the 50-yard freestyle and swim the fastest time out of all students in the 100-yard freestyle, as well swimming a quick first leg of the 200-yard medley relay.

In other women’s events, Morgan Dickson once again swam another dominant 1000-yard freestyle. She and teammate Camryne Morris swept the top two spots, beating out the first Queens competitor by 35 seconds.

Patricia Forrester, Micah Bohon, Lauren Driscoll and Caroline Finkbeiner swept the top four spots of the 200-yard freestyle, while Mary Griffith, Heather Lundstrom, Morris and Heather Kiger swam the top four times in the 200-yard butterfly.

“I love coming back and seeing all my friends,” said Johnson. “My heart rate was increasing as I was on the bus, I was so excited. It was really great to perform like I hoped and having my parents here and all my friends was really exciting. I was mainly thinking about having fun and doing what I know how to do and trusting the training that I have done so far.”

Meanwhile, the men’s team sprinted out to a fast start from the first races. Evan Pinion and David Heron, two of the nation’s top distance freestylers early this season, finished 1-2 in the 1000-yard freestyle. Sam McHugh earned a pair of key victories, taking both the 200-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle.

Another multi-race winner was junior Sean Lehane, who utilized a pair of solid comebacks in the final 100-yards to win both the 200-yard freestyle and backstroke.

“We won all our finishes and that was the main focus of the meet and the whole season,” said Lehane. “I’ve swam that race so many times that I’ve learned how develop a plan for each 200. I used to be nervous as a freshman, but now that I’m a junior, it’s a lot easier to execute because I know where I should be and what I should be doing.”

“Sean’s confidence is something that this team is going to end up really feeding on,” said Kredich. “He showed a tremendous amount of maturity in both of those races. He didn’t have the best start, but he really asserted himself. It’s fun to watch him take control of races in the back half. For him to be taking charge of those races means good things for this team.”

The Big Orange will shuttle north out of Charlotte overnight before arriving in Chapel Hill for a Friday afternoon dual meet against the Tar Heels of North Carolina at the Koury Natatorium.

Queens Press Release

Queens University of Charlotte took to the lanes in their first home meet of the season, competing against the University of Tennessee and Team Elite (a competitive swim program located in Charlotte, N.C. area) on Thursday, October 9, 2014. Matthew Josa and Niclas Eriksson both had top level performances to add to a great night for the Royals, who saw four different swims qualify under the NCAA ‘B’ Standard mark.

The University of Tennessee would take first in the meet with a 157 points, but Queens (who had 65 points) would have several spectacular races as they saw personal bests and new records across the board.

The Royals had a strong performance in their dual meet, opening with a second place finish in the 200 Yard Individual Medley Relay. Josa, Eriksson, Evante Gibson, and Hayden Kosater, respectfully, flew down the lane clocking a 1:31.02 for the event and falling under the NCAA ‘B’ Standard time.

Nick Arakelian would provide an exceptional Royals representation in the 1000 Yard Freestyle as he out touched Ben Miller of Tennessee for a third place finish. Arakelian would finish with a 9:23.17 for an NCAA ‘B’ Standard performance.

In the 200 Yard Individual Medley, Josa would soar off the blocks to give Queens a first place finish. He would gain over three seconds of separation to take the race with a time of 1:47.59. His swim would also qualify him for another NCAA ‘B’ performance.

Kosater would touch for a second place finish in the 100 Yard Freestyle clocking a time of 46.67. This would trump his of 47.23 the week prior in the All-N.C. Meet in Greensboro, N.C.

Josa would have another top tier race, going 1:48.30 in the 200 Yard Backstroke for a second place finish.

Arakelian would grab his third NCAA ‘B’ Standard swim for the night with a lightning performance in the 500 Yard Freestyle, touching with a 4:36.73.

Eriksson would help conclude the Royals night as he took-off in the 200 Yard Breaststroke. He would set a new pool record with a 2:02.83 finish and a first place performance. He would drop over four seconds off his time from the All-N.C Meet in Greensboro, N.C. on October 4, 2014.

“It makes me, as a coach, feel good because we have three main goals for this year: be the fastest off the starts, be the fastest in and out of the turns, and to be the fastest underwater,” said Head Swim Coach Jeff Dugdale on his team’s performance for the night. “So, I think we are moving and progressing in that way. It was really good to watch Caroline (Arakelian) and Matthew (Josa) move up and to see Ben Taylor have very close races, and Nic Arakelian as well. I do think that the important thing to take away from this meet is, we were better than last Saturday and we continue to learn and get better and never take our focus off the NCAA Championships.”

The Royals will take to the blocks again in a dual matchup against Gardner-Webb University on Friday, October 24, at the Levine Aquatic Center.

Queens University of Charlotte rose to the challenge on Thursday, October 9, 2014, as they raced against the Volunteers from the University of Tennessee and Team Elite, an elite swim program located in the Charlotte, N.C. area. Caroline Arakelian would have a pool shattering race, taking first in the 200 Yard Backstroke. The Royals would also have three swims fall under the NCAA ‘B’ qualifying mark.

The University of Tennessee would take the meet 139 to 45 but Queens would have several top performances on the night and improvement in almost every event.

Lillian Gordy would start the Royals off, swooping in under the NCAA ‘B’ Standard for the 200 Yard Freestyle and a fifth place finish in her 1:53.30 race. She would drop over three seconds from her previous week’s performance of 1:56.25 at the All-N.C. Meet in Greensboro, N.C., on October 4.

Arakelian would come just shy of a first place finish as she flew through the pool for a 2:03.03 time and a second place finish in the 200 Yard Individual Medley. Her swim for the 200 Yard Individual Medley would land her a NCAA ‘B’ Standard qualification.

Arakelian would follow that performance with a first place finish and a new pool record in her next event up, the 200 Yard Backstroke. Her 1:58.66 time launched out ahead of the competition and placed her well under the NCAA ‘B’ mark for the event.

“It makes me, as a coach, feel good because we have three main goals for this year: be the fastest off the starts, be the fastest in and out of the turns, and to be the fastest underwater,” said Head Swim Coach Jeff Dugdale on this team’s performance for the night. “So, I think we are moving and progressing in that way. It was really good to watch Caroline (Arakelian) and Matthew (Josa) move up and to see Ben Taylor have very close races, and Nic Arakelian as well. I do think that the important thing to take away from this meet is, we were better than last Saturday and we continue learn and get better and never taking our focus off the NCAA Championships.”

The Royals will take to the blocks again in a dual matchup against Gardner-Webb University on Friday, October 24, at the Levine Aquatic Center.

Results: Royal Open

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