ACC Meet of the Week: Mallory Comerford Triples as Louisville Sweeps Tennessee

Photo Courtesy: Stephanie Juncker

The Louisville Cardinals went on the road to Knoxville and came away with a pair of hard-fought dual meet wins against the Volunteers. The Cardinal women were led by sophomore Mallory Comerford, a three-event winner on the day, while Grigory Tarasevich and Carlos Claverie were the workhorses for the Louisville men.

Louisville opened up the meet with a pair of tight wins in the 200 medley relays. Alina Kendzior, Andrea Cottrell, Grace Oglesby and Casey Fanz won the women’s relay in 1:39.53, just ahead of Tennessee’s Kira Toussaint, Colleen Callahan, Maddy Banic and Alex Cleveland, who touched in 1:39.75.

On the men’s side, Tarasevich, Claverie, Josh Quallen and Andrej Barna came in at 1:27.54, while Tennessee’s Alec Connolly, Peter Stevens, Ryan Coetzee and Kyle Decoursey finished just behind at 1:28.05. Decoursey made things interesting on the end with a 19.15 anchor split, but Barna had enough of a cushion to hang on.

Louisville picked up big points in the 1000 free as senior Marah Pugh won in 10:03.03, and freshman Maggie Jahns was second in 10:09.61. Tennessee’s Spence Atkins finished just behind in third in 10:11.90. Two more freshmen went head-to-head in the men’s 100 free as Tennessee’s Taylor Abbott overcame the early lead of Louisville’s Jarrett Jones. Abbott came in at 9:11.34, to Jones’ 9:14.35.

Comerford, off to an impressive start this season with times that rank in the top three nationally in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 free, dominated the women’s 200 free with a final time of 1:47.64. Tennessee’s Micah Bohon (1:49.35) and Meghan Small (1:49.67) finished second and third, respectively. The Cardinals finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 200 free as Matthias Lindenbauer won in 1:37.93, ahead of teammates Trevor Carroll (1:38.81) and Sam Steele (1:39.86).

Toussaint crushed the heat in the women’s 100 back, notching a 51.79 that ranks tops in the country so far this year. Kendzior finished second in 54.26, and fellow Cardinal Sofie Underdahl touched third in 55.98. Tarasevich edged teammate Aaron Greene to win the men’s 100 back, 49.02 to 49.58. Tennessee’s Joey Reilman finished third in 49.74.

Cottrell finished well ahead of the field in the women’s 100 breast, touching in 1:00.40. Cottrell is the only swimmer that has cracked the 1:00-barrier so far this year with a 59.58 to her credit from the SMU Classic two weeks ago. Callahan touched second in 1:02.93, one one-hundredth ahead of Louisville’s Silvia Guerra (1:02.94).

A pair of NCAA finalists from last season squared off in the men’s 100 breast. Claverie ended up touching out Stevens, 54.66 to 54.70, with Tennessee’s Matthew Dunphy touching third in 55.98.

Louisville’s Abbie Houck won the women’s 200 fly in 1:58.78, with Tennessee’s Heather Lundstrom joining her under 2:00 with a second-place time of 1:59.38. Pugh was third in 2:01.43. Tennessee’s Sam McHugh used a strong finish to edge out Louisville’s Zach Harting in the men’s 200 fly. McHugh touched in 1:46.07, while Harting came in at 1:46.53. Quallen finished third in 1:48.75.

Comerford won her second race of the day when she touched out Fanz to win the women’s 50 free, 22.87 to 22.97. Tennessee’s Erika Brown picked up third-place points in 23.04. Decoursey was the only man to break 20 seconds in the men’s 50 free, touching in 19.96. Coetzee, Barna and Carroll finished in a three-way tie for second in 20.37.

After the first break, Comerford won a third event as she beat out a trio of Volunteers for the top spot in the 100 free. She touched in 49.83, just ahead of Brown (50.04), Toussaint (50.05) and Bohon (50.25). Decoursey then held off Carroll to win the men’s 100 free, 44.29 to 44.48, with Lindenbauer coming in third at 44.79.

Small picked up her first-ever collegiate victory in the women’s 200 back. One of the top-ranked recruits in the class of 2016, she touched in 1:56.86, just a fingertip ahead of Kendzior (1:56.90). Underdahl came in third at 1:59.57. Tarasevich and Greene again finished 1-2 in the men’s 200 back, but this one was a blowout for Tarasevich, who touched in 1:43.82. Greene came in at 1:47.50, and Reilman grabbed third in 1:49.11.

Cottrell again won big in the women’s 200 breast, where she came in at 2:11.96. Louisville’s Rachael Bradford-Feldman finished second in 2:15.43, just ahead of Callahan (2:15.52). Claverie comfortably won the men’s 200 breast in 1:58.77, with Dunphy (2:01.30) and Louisville’s Todd Owen (2:02.20) completing the top three.

Houck picked up her second win of the day in the women’s 500 free. She touched in 4:53.61, just ahead of Pugh (4:54.45). Tennessee’s Maddie Tegner came in third at 4:57.22. In the men’s 500 free, McHugh became a double winner as he clocked a top time of 4:25.05. Jones finished second in 4:27.54, and Abbott was third in 4:30.20.

The Lady Vols swept the top two spots in the women’s 100 fly, with Heather Lundstrom (54.81) coming in just ahead of Banic (54.94). Louisville’s Hannah Magnuson touched third in 55.23. Quallen won the men’s 100 fly in 48.18, and Louisville’s David Boland touched out Coetzee for second, 48.42 to 48.43.

Small won a second event when she cruised to first in the women’s 200 IM. She checked in at 2:00.63, ahead of teammate Callahan (2:02.22) and Louisville’s Bradford-Feldman (2:03.78). McHugh won his third of the day in the men’s 200 IM as his 1:48.21 was plenty quick enough to hold off Claverie (1:49.87). Quallen came in third (1:51.05).

In diving, Tennessee’s Rachel Rubadue won the women’s three-meter event with 343.95 points, ahead of Louisville’s Molly Fears and Andrea Acquista. Rubadue later won the one-meter with a score or 291.75, edging out Acquista, who scored 287.40 in total. Louisville’s Michaela Sliney was third. Tennessee’s Liam Stone swept both the three-meter (440.18) and one-meter boards (379.50). Teammate Nick Rusek finished second in both events and Louisville’s Daniel Fecteau third.

With the meet already clinched for Louisville, Tennessee made one last statement in the women’s 400 free relay. Brown, Bohon, Small and Toussaint took first in 3:20.22, less than three tenths ahead of Louisville’s Fanz, Comerford, Rachel Grooms and Houck. Comerford gave Louisville the lead with a 49.41 second leg, but Toussaint posted a blistering 49.19 anchor split to go by Houck, who finished in 49.70.

On the men’s side, Carroll, Lindenbauer, Boland and Tarasevich blasted a 2:58.40 to give the Cardinals the event victory. Coetzee, Alec Connelly, Austin Hirstein and Decoursey finished in 2:59.64.

Louisville ended up sweeping the meet by scores of 167-133 on the women’s side and 164.5 to 135.5 for the men.

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7 years ago

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