Tennessee vs. South Carolina

COLUMBIA, South Carolina, November 5. THE University of Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team continued its winning ways on Friday afternoon, downing South Carolina, 174-124, at the Carolina Natatorium in Columbia, S.C.

"I was really pleased with what we got from the meet," Lady Vol head coach Matt Kredich said. "There were quite a few swims that were the fastest of the year. We had a few other swims that had some parts and elements that were good. As a whole, we are really doing well in the back half of our races and that is a sign that our conditioning right now is really good."

The Big Orange managed 10 wins against the Gamecocks, as many swimmers competed in different events for the first time this season.

"This was the last meet before our Invitational and I wanted to make sure we got a little bit of experience before we swum the events at the Invite." Kredich said. "We also feel like if people swim the same events three or four times in a row, they can start to get stale on it. We like to have people swim the same distance, but a different event."

Tennessee (5-0, 2-0) was led by Lindsay Gendron, who won three individual races versus USC. The sophomore swam a season-best and NCAA B-cut time of 1:47.12 to win the 200y free, notched first in the 100y free after swimming a career-best time of 50.22 seconds and touched in at 56.43 seconds to earn the victory in the 100y fly.

Competing in the 400y medley relay for the first time this season, the UT quartet of seniors Jenny Connolly and Samara Gelb, along with sophomores Kate McNeilis and Alex Frasier won the event after clocking a time of 3:46.76.

In the closing relay, the 200y free relay, juniors Kelsey Floyd and Caroline Simmons, Gendron and McNeilis combined for the top spot in event after touching in at 1:33.43. The readout was a season-best for the Big Orange this season and merely missed registering a B-cut time by just over a half a second.

Along with their victories in relay events, Connolly and Floyd also won individual events.

Connolly claimed first in the 50y free, an event she hasn't competed in this season, with a UT season-best time of 23.52 seconds. In the 200y back, Floyd registered a mark of 2:00.75 to pick up the victory.

Molly Hannis, a freshman, won the 100y breast event for the third consecutive meet, this time placing first after touching in at 1:02.71, which is a B-cut clocking.

Junior Brooke Watson and sophomore Lauren Solernou also notched wins for the Orange and White. Watson won the 200y fly with a time of 2:04.07, while Solernou's season-best readout of 55.81 seconds was good for the top spot in the 100y back and her second win of the young season.

Watson was also the top finisher for the Lady Vols in the 1,000y free, as she swam a career-best time of 10:21.53 in the event.

Behind Gendron in the 200y free, Floyd (1:50.19) and Connolly (1:51.71) finished second and third, respectively. Sophomore Erin Gaeckle shaved .11 seconds off her season-best time in the 100y back, as she claimed third with a time of 58.29 seconds. Sophomore Courtney Ciesielski was right behind her in fourth with a readout of 58.73 seconds.

UT took four of the top five spots in the 50y free, as in addition to Connolly, Simmons took second (23.63), Frasier was fourth (2430) and Abbie Alton finished fifth (24.38).

Senior Kirstyn Colonias swam the fastest time for UT in the 200y breast, as she touched in with a season-best clocking of 2:18.93. She also finished third in the 100y breast with a time of 1:05.69.

In the diving wells, the trio of senior Gabrielle Trudeau , junior Jodie McGroarty and sophomore Tori Lamp, took spots two through four on both the 1- and 3-meter boards.

Trudeau notched a zone score on the 1-meter, as her score of 295.20 was a team best. McGroarty also tallied a zone score of 287.33 to claim third, while Lamp finished fourth with a score of 255.55. On the 3-meter, Lamp registered a career-best score of 331.35 to finish runner-up. All three divers notched zone scores on the 3-meter, as McGroarty and Trudeau finished third and fourth with scores of 329.40 and 300.38, respectively.

"I was very pleased with our team effort today," Tennessee head diving coach Dave Parrington said. "Our Lady Vol divers are kind of pushing and shoving each other to get better each week. While we didn't win the events, we dove against an extremely quality opponent in South Carolina, who dove really well today in their home pool. The 1-meter was especially close and on the 3-meter, Tori had a career-high, which was great."

For South Carolina, Courtney Forcucci won on both diving boards, while Jordan Gibbs (1000y free), Amanda Rutqvist (200y breast), Lindsey Olson (5:05.07) and Rachel Schaffer (400y IM) had victories for the Gamecocks in the pool.

The squad will return to the pool in two weeks, as it is set to host the Tennessee Invitational over Nov. 16-18 at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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