One day after taking down the Missouri Tigers men’s and women’s swimming teams, the Tennessee Volunteers traveled to Virginia for more racing, this time against Virginia. The Tennessee men continued their winning streak with a very decisive 210-90 win over Virginia, while the Tennessee women lost with a score of 174-121.
Virginia vs. Tennessee Women’s Dual Meet
Virginia’s women’s team was able to take the overall victory with three 1-2-3 finishes that Tennessee couldn’t counteract. One of those sweeps came in the 200 freestyle, where Cece Williams led the way in 1:48.54, just a tenth ahead of teammate Eryn Eddy (1:48.65) and two tenths ahead of Megan Moroney (1:48.75). Virginia actually took the top four spots in the race, with Hanne Borgerson posting a 1:49.21. But a team can only score three swimmers in one event, leaving the 1:50.01 from Micah Bohon as the official fourth-place finisher.
The Cavaliers really showed their strength in the breaststroke events, where Laura Simon led the way to a 1-2-3 sweep for Virginia in the 100 breast with a 1:01.26. Comfortably in second was Vivian Tafuto with a 1:02.55 and third place went to Natalie Martin with a 1:04.93. Those three took the same placings in the 200 breast, where Simon posted a 2:12.75 for the win, followed by Tafuto (2:17.24) and Martin (2:18.09). Sara Stranick was fourth for Virginia with a 2:02.56, but could not score points. Colleen Callahan was the top swimmer for Tennessee in the 200 breast with a 2:21.21.
Though Tennessee was strong in the women’s 500 free against Missouri with a 1-2-3 finish, they couldn’t replicate that against Virginia. Even with reigning NCAA champion Leah Smith sitting out the event, Virginia had no problem scoring big points. Williams scored her second win with a 4:51.59, followed right behind with a 4:51.91 from Borgerson and a 4:55.38 from Eddy. Maddy Tegner wasn’t able to get to the finish ahead of Eddy, taking fourth with a 4:55.52.
Tennessee did manage to score the top three spots in the women’s 400 IM, but only because Virginia put its swimmers in as non-scorers. Lauren Driscoll won the race outright for the Volunteers with a 4:15.91, followed by the 4:21.46 from Amanda Carner. Callahan took the third-place points with a 4:22.66, while the 4:21.49 from Virginia’s Haley Durmer was third unofficially.
The two superstars for Virginia — Leah Smith and Courtney Bartholomew — each won individual events. Smith, the reigning NCAA champion in the 500 and 1650 freestyles, won the 1000 with a 9:55.89, staying comfortably ahead of Williams, who was second in 9:56.80 mere minutes before stepping up for her 200 free victory.
Bartholomew had no problem winning both backstroke events, as she looks to secure an NCAA win in her senior year. Her 52.86 in the 100 backstroke just misses out on leading the collegiate rankings, falling short of the 52.77 from North Carolina’s Helen Moffitt. Bartholomew’s 200 back also was just shy of a nation-leading time, as her 1:54.42 just fell short of the 1:54.24 from Georgia’s Hali Flickinger.
Other wins for Virginia’s women’s team:
– A 1:58.27 from Jenn Marrkand in the 200 butterfly;
– A 50.00 from Ellen Thomas in the 100 free, passing Tennessee’s Faith Johnson in the final strokes. Johnson was second in 50.17 ahead of the 50.24 by teammate Harper Bruens;
– A 3:35.50 in the meet-opening 400 medley relay.
Besides the win from Driscoll in the 400 IM, Tennessee scored a win from Bruens in the 50 free with a 22.96. The Volunteers also won the 200 free relay in 1:31.51.
Virginia vs. Tennessee Men’s Dual Meet
The men’s meet between Virginia and Tennessee was very one-sided, as the host team was only able to win the 200 breaststroke as Tennessee improved on a few swims from yesterday’s meet against Missouri.
In that 200 breast, Yannick Kaeser posted a 1:59.96 to win easily over the 2:02.92 from Tennessee’s Ethan Browne. Earlier in the meet, Kaeser fought to win the 100 breast, charging hard in the final strokes but couldn’t get to the wall ahead of Tennessee’s Peter Stevens, who won with a 54.68 to Kaeser’s 54.71.
Sam McHugh added three more wins to his collection to go along with the three he claimed yesterday against Missouri. McHugh handily won the 200 fly by 2.5 seconds with a 1:47.26, but the 500 free victory was not as easy. He was in a tough battle with teammate Evan Pinion from the beginning of the race, and got to the finish two tenths of a second faster with a 4:27.20 to Pinion’s 4:27.47. McHugh went back to winning by a large margin in the 400 IM with a 3:52.39, eight seconds ahead of runner-up Zach Fong of Virginia.
After posting a 1:43.41 in the 200 back yesterday against Missouri to lead the collegiate rankings, Sean Lehane won today with a 1:43.69 to post the third-fastest swim of the college season so far. Earlier in the meet, he won the 200 free with a solid 1:38.44, about a second ahead of Virginia’s Austin Quinn.
Joey Reilman was able to win the 100 back for Tennessee in Lehane’s absence, but he had to do it in come-from-behind fashion over Virginia’s Gust Kouvaris. Reilman stopped the clock with a 50.20 to Kouvaris’ 50.24.
The 50 and 100 freestyles were also close wins for Tennessee. In the 50 free, Chris Sadsad got the win by a hundredth of a second over Matt Lockman of Virginia, 20.74 to 20.75. In the 100 free, Tennessee’s Ryan Coetzee held on to defeat Virginia’s Nick Magana, 45.46 to 45.79.
Also winning for Tennessee was Tyler Mills, who won the 100 fly with a 48.68. Tennessee also dominated in the relays, taking the 400 medley relay with a 3:15.04 and the 200 free relay in 1:21.67.
2015 Virginia vs. Tennessee Dual Meet – Results
