Indiana Quad Meet Topped by Tennessee

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, January 10. INDIVIDUAL event victories by sophomore Aleksa Akerfelds and junior Michele King as well as a first-place finish by the 400y free relay team led the No. 13-ranked Tennessee women's swimming and diving team past No. 11 Indiana, No. 19 Michigan and Illinois on Saturday at Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.

The Lady Vols won the quad meet with 1,454 points. Indiana was second with 1,294.5, Michigan third (714) and Illinois fourth (186.5).

By going 3-0 in the meet, UT improved its record to 8-0 on the season.

The 400y free relay team of King, freshman Abbie Alton and seniors Carly Mathes and Brittany Nauta combined to win the sprint relay in a season-best 3:22.85 and complete the sweep of all five relays in the two-day meet.

UT captured the 200y free, 200y medley, 400y medley and 800y free relays on Friday.

"It was nice to win all the relays, including the 400y free relay to end the meet," Lady Vol head swimming coach Matt Kredich said. "I think we did a great job of focusing on one performance at a time. It can be tough to come back the day after swimming eight or so events, but I think we did a great job today.

"This team values preparation and doing the extra things in warm-ups, recovery and in mental training. Our swimmers are starting to understand how to be a complete athlete."

Akerfelds won the 1,650y free in 16:39.92, while King led a dominant Lady Vol performance in the 100y free as UT snagged five of the top six spots in the sprint race. King won in 50.03, while Nauta (51.30), Alton (51.40), Mathes (51.63) and freshman Caitlin Perks (51.69) placed 3-4-5-6.

UT also dominated the 200y breast with freshman Samara Gelb placing second in 2:17.83, while sophomore Martina Moravcikova (2:19.16) and juniors Bryttany Curran (2:19.44) and Alex Barsanti (2:19.55) finished 4-5-6.

In the 200y fly, freshman Jenny Connolly placed third in 2:02.75, while Mathes finished fifth in 2:04.24 and freshman Tori Richmond touched sixth in 2:05.00.

Sophomore Tricia Weaner finished second in the 200y back in 1:59.18, while Connolly was fifth in 2:02.60.

"Tricia Weaner had a really good swim in the 200y back," Kredich said. "She's making a comeback from surgery only a month and a half ago, and she did really well today. I was impressed with her and I was impressed with our seniors. I think our seniors performed well all weekend long. They were consistent and I liked their intensity."

Special thanks to Tennessee for contributing this report.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use