Tennessee Dominates Double Dual Against Duke and Queens

Tennessee's Mona McSharry -- Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media

Tennessee Dominates Double Dual Against Duke and Queens

The University of Tennessee Volunteers made the five-hour trip east on I-40 to Durham Saturday to face off against host Duke and Division II powerhouse Queens, and Tennessee was victorious in all four of its competitions. Tennessee’s women beat Duke 167-94, and they beat Queens 211-48. On the men’s side, Tennessee won 175-87 over Duke and 144-115 over Queens. Between Duke and Queens, the Blue Devil women won 192-62, while the Queens men won 151-110.

The top performers of the day for the Tennessee women included Anna-Julia Kutsch, who won the 50 (22.64) and 100 freestyle (50.32) and keyed Tennessee wins in the 200 medley and 200 free relays, and Josephine Fuller, who won the 100 (53.99) and 200 back (1:57.71) after leading off that victorious medley relay. Mona McSharry continued her impressive sophomore campaign with a win in the 100 breast (1:00.95), and fellow Ireland-native Ellen Walshe won the 200 IM in 1:59.59.

Tennessee’s men dominated the meet despite having no double-event winners. Jordan Crooks won the 100 free (43.66), while Seth Thompson-Bailey took first in the 200 (1:38.36) and Joey Tepper finished ahead of the field in the 500 (4:29.49). Jarel Dillard and Lyubomir Epitropov finished first and second in both breaststroke events, with Dillard winning the 100 and Epitropov the 200. Harrison Lierz won the 200 back (1:48.33), and Kayky Mota won the 100 fly (47.81).

The meet was a very familiar affair for the head coaches at Tennessee and Duke. Vols head coach Matt Kredich is a Duke alum, and his son Coleman is currently a junior captain for the Blue Devils. Kredich finished sixth in the 100 and 200 free and seventh in the 50 free against his father’s squad. Meanwhile, Duke head coach Dan Colella was the Tennessee women’s coach before he came to Durham.

Read the full press release from Tennessee below:

Tennessee swimming opened the new year by sweeping Duke and Queens University in a double dual at Taishoff Aquatic Center on Saturday.

The sixth-ranked Lady Vols bested the Blue Devils, who received votes in the latest top-25 rankings, 167-94. UT cruised past Queens, which has won six-straight NCAA titles in Division II on both the men’s and women’s side, 211-48. On the men’s side, the No. 15 Volunteers edged the Royals, 144-115, and topped Duke, 175-87.

The Lady Vols opened the competition with a win in the 200 medley relay, as Josephine Fuller, Mona McSharry, Trude Rothrock and Anna-Julia Kutsch posted a time of 1:39.46. UT also took third and fourth in the event. Tennessee’s squad of McSharry, Kutsch, Megan Sichterman and Jasmine Rumley capped the meet with a victory in the 200 free relay behind a time of 1:31.60.

Fuller’s impressive day continued as the freshman swept the backstroke events, posting a time of 53.99 in the 100 and a 1:57.71 mark in the 200. Bayley Stewart came in third in the 200 back, touching the wall in 1:58.52.

In the freestyle, Kutsch swept the 50 and 100 sprints, recording times of 22.64 and 50.32. Rumley placed second in the 50 free with a mark of 23.04. Rothrock (50.90) and Ellen Walshe (50.92) came in third and fourth in the 100. Walshe won the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.59.

Julia Mrozinski posted the top finish in the 200 free, touching the wall in 1:48.52. Kristen Stege dominated the 1000 free, besting the second-fastest time on the day by 13 seconds with a mark of 9:58.81. Claire Nguyen finished third after touching the wall in 10:13.66. Stege finished second in the 500 free with a time of 4:54.57 and was followed by Kate McCarville (4:54.69) and Alyssa Breslin (5:00.91).

McSharry won the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.95 and placed second in the 200 breast after touching the wall in 2:14.50. Sichterman posted the second-fastest time in the 100 butterfly at 55.12, while Mallory Beil was UT’s top finisher in the 200 fly, checking in at third with a time of 2:02.62.

“We are very appreciative of the opportunity to travel and compete against these two great teams and are thankful for Duke hosting this meet,” associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. “It was great to race again, and as the need arises to cancel or postpone competitions, every opportunity to race and enjoy competing is a treasured opportunity.

“Danika Katzer raced with a lot of energy today and was an inspiration to her teammates. Kate McCarville continued to show her range and ability in events and always competing with great professionalism. Fifth-year senior Megan Sichterman was highlighted by her teammates as having great leadership today. Two other fifth-year seniors, Tjasa Pintar and Alexis Yager, raced some new and evolving skills with great confidence. These are certainly not all of the great moments but some of the ones that stuck out to me today.

“Next week, we will compete in a long course meet at home. We will travel to Georgia the following week and close the month of January with our senior meet against Carson Newman.”

On the men’s side, Tennessee took second in the 200 medley relay, as the lineup of Jordan Crooks, Jarel Dillard, Kayky Mota and Scott Scanlon posted a time of 1:27.94. The Vols narrowly missed claiming the top spot in the 200 free relay, touching the wall in 1:19.93 with a lineup of Crooks, Aleksey Tarasenko, Micah Chambers and Scanlon.

In the freestyle, Crooks finished first in the 100 free, touching the wall in 43.66, and came in second in the 50 free with a time of 19.94. The Vols swept the 200 free with Seth Thompson-Bailey taking the top time of 1:38.36 and Will Jackson finishing in second (1:38.95). Making his Tennessee debut, midyear enrollee Tarasenko placed third in the 100 (44.97) and 200 freestyles (1:39.41).

Joey Tepper recorded the fastest mark in the 500 free with a time of 4:29.49 and took second in the 1000 free (9:21.63). Jake Narvid finished third in both events, touching the wall in 4:34.26 in the 500 and 9:25.69 in the 1000.

The Vols dominated the breaststroke events. Dillard won the 100 breast with a time of 54.55 followed by Lyubomir Epitropov in second, finishing in 54.89. Epitropov took the top spot in 200 breast with a 2:00.55 mark, while Dillard came in second at 2:03.06.

Harrison Lierz led UT in the backstroke, finishing first in the 200 back with a mark of 1:48.33 and then placing second in the 100 back with a 49.28 time. Mota threw down the fastest time in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 47.81. Luke Brice came in third with a 48.85 time.

“We appreciated the opportunity to race two strong programs this afternoon in Durham,” associate head coach Rich Murphy said. “The meet had a great competitive energy, and we built a really strong racing presence as the meet developed. We have a number of guys who took on three individual events, and a person who embraced that challenge is our newest Vol, Aleksey Tarasenko. He, Micah Chambers, Harrison Lierz, Joey Tepper and Joel Giraudeau competed in a compelled manner for their teammates and themselves; we love that.

“There were some pivotal wins today across a range of events. We had some racing rust at the start of the meet and were tired from twp weeks of good training after the holidays. Jordan Crooks, Lyubomir Epitropov, Harrison Lierz, Kayky Mota and Joey Tepper all raced assertively, to win, out of the break after the 50 free and were so fun to watch. This is an important group of seniors, and we want to help them leave a strong legacy for their brothers on the team.”

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