KNOXVILLE \u2013 In a meet that was not decided until the final relay, the Tennessee and Auburn women\u2019s teams settled for a tie in the tri-meet that also featured Louisville. The Auburn men, meanwhile, managed a seven-point victory over Tennessee thanks to a disqualification by the Volunteers in the first event.<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, Tennessee and Auburn were gridlocked, 150-150, while both teams managed to defeat Louisville. Tennessee beat the Cardinals 166-134 with Auburn taking a 185-114 victory over Louisville. Louisville will return to Kentucky with two meet wins on the men\u2019s side, defeating Tennessee 167.5-130.5 and Auburn 171-129. Auburn and Tennessee had a closer team battle, with Auburn winning 157-143.<\/p>\n
The disqualification that hurt Tennessee\u2019s chances to beat Auburn came in the men\u2019s 200 medley relay, where Tennessee appeared to have beaten Auburn and Louisville by more than two seconds. But judges ruled that breaststroker Peter Stevens left the blocks too early, losing out on the crucial 11 points that would later cost them the team victory over the Tigers. Louisville won the relay officially, 1:28.28 to Auburn\u2019s 1:28.72.<\/p>\n
Outside of the relay disqualification, the talk of the meet was the backstroke battle between Louisville\u2019s Grigory Tarasevich and Auburn\u2019s Joe Patching. The two met in the 200 back, where Tarasevich won with a 1:43.77 to Patching\u2019s 1:44.02. Tarasevich\u2019s time moves him to the top of the collegiate national rankings, bumping reigning NCAA champion Ryan Murphy and his 1:43.98 off the top of the mountain. Tarasevich needed that time to beat Patching, who posted a 25.83 final 50 yards to close in on Tarasevich. That\u2019s Patching\u2019s fastest time of the season by 1.3 seconds and moves him from ninth to third nationally.<\/p>\n
Tarasevich also won the 100 back with a 47.87 that is tied for third nationally. Had Patching won the 200 back, he would have been a triple event winner. He took the win in the 200 free with a 1:37.16 that puts him 10th in the collegiate standings and returned to post a 1:46.60 in the 200 IM that puts him second in the nation behind Texas\u2019 Will Licon\u2019s 1:46.04.<\/p>\n
Besides Tarasevich and Patching, xx other athletes scored multiple event wins. For host Tennessee, that was Molly Hannis, who swept the breaststroke events with times of 1:00.31 in the 100 and 2:10.28 in the 200.<\/p>\n
Louisville\u2019s Tanja Kylliainen scored three wins in individual events, which is becoming customary for the senior. She started with a 1:56.70 in the 200 fly, followed by a 1:56.95 in the 200 back in a close battle with Tennessee\u2019s Madison Hahn who was second with a 1:57.57. Kylliainen wrapped up her meet with a 1:59.46 in the 200 IM.<\/p>\n
Winning two events for the Louisville women was junior Kelsi Worrell, who sprinted to wins in the 100 free (49.15) and 100 fly (52.99). Her 100 fly time isn\u2019t as fast as the 52.12 she swam at the SMU Classic to lead the collegiate rankings, but shows consistency at this point in the season as she looks for an NCAA title. <\/p>\n
Ashley Neidigh continued to impress in distance freestyle, setting a lifetime best 9:44.82 in winning the 1000 free and a 4:48.22 to take the 500 free title.<\/p>\n
Tennessee freshman Sam McHugh had a banner day, obliterating the field in his two wins. He posted a 1:45.82 in the 200 fly, good for fifth in the nation, as well as a 4:26.73 in the 500 free. McHugh won both events by a combined five seconds.<\/p>\n
Caryle Blondell continues to lead Louisville\u2019s sprint corps, taking both sprint freestyles today. He won the 50 free in 20.23 in a field where first through fourth was separated by two tenths of a second, and took the 100 free with a 43.85. That 100 free time moves him into the top 10 nationally so far this season.<\/p>\n
Faith Johnson of Tennessee also had a close win in the 50 free, posting a 22.73 in a heat that saw first through fourth also separated by two tenths of a second.<\/p>\n
Peter Stevens rebounded from his DQ in the medley relay to win the 100 breast with a 54.22, tying him for fifth nationally. Evan Pinion scored the other win for the Tennessee men, holding off teammate David Heron to take the 1000 free, 9:12.52 to 9:13.01.<\/p>\n
Louisville\u2019s Thomas Dahila put up a 29.99 final 50 yards to overtake Auburn\u2019s Michael Duderstadt and win the men\u2019s 200 breast, 1:58.63 to 1:58.72. Josh Quallen of Louisville also had a close battle with an Auburn Tiger, posting a 47.89 in the 100 fly over Alex Hancock\u2019s 47.92.<\/p>\n
Had Auburn won the final event, the women\u2019s 200 free relay, the Tigers would have won the meet. Auburn led Tennessee after 100 yards but the Volunteers rallied to win the event and produce the 150-150 tie score thanks to a 21.75 split from Johnson. Tennessee won the relay, 1:30.02 to Auburn\u2019s 1:30.86.<\/p>\n
Louisville had the lead from the start of the men\u2019s 200 free relay to close out the competition, and never relinquished it as the Cardinals took the win with a 1:19.90 to Auburn\u2019s 1:20.02 and Tennessee\u2019s 1:20.23. Louisville ranks second in the nation with that swim behind Michigan\u2019s 1:18.98 while Auburn is second. Tennessee sits sixth.<\/p>\n