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Tennessee Swimming and Diving Tops UNCW in Opening Dual Meet
The Lady Vols won 14 events against the Seahawks
By Todd Mounce
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The
Tennessee Lady Vol swimming and diving team got its season off on the
right foot, winning 14 out of 16 events to defeat UNC-Wilmington
194.5-105.5 on Friday afternoon at Seahawk Natatorium in Wilmington,
N.C.
“It was great to get the season started,” Lady Vol head
coach Matt Kredich said. “This was the earliest that we have competed
since I have been here and I really like swimming a meet this early. It
really gave us a chance to focus on some specific things that are
difficult to focus on until you get into a meet.”
As a team, the
Big Orange shattered four pool records. Leading the way for Tennessee
were senior Jenny Connolly and sophomore Lindsay Gendron, both of whom
won multiple events for UT on the day.
Connolly’s summer success
carried over into her senior campaign, as she won the 200y back after
touching in at 2:04.22 and added another victory in the 200y fly with a
time of 2:03.74. Gendron, who won multiple events in every regular
season dual meet she competed in last season, grabbed first in the 100y
free (51.00), 100y fly (56.20) and 200y IM (2:05.08). B
The Lady
Vols grabbed spots one through three in the 1,000 free, as junior
Kelsey Floyd won the event in 10:10.68. Sophomore Alexandria Frasier
finished runner-up after clocking a time of 10:32.57, while fellow
sophomore Kennedy Higdon took third in 10:37.10.
Three freshmen
earned their first win in an Orange and White swim cap against
UNC-Wilmington. Jennifer Darby notched the top spot in the 200y free
with a readout of 1:54.75, Molly Hannis won the 200y breast by touching
in at 2:21.72 and Caroline Simmons registered a time of 24.12 seconds
to place first in the 50y free.
“We got good contributions from
some of our newcomers,” Kredich said. “I thought Caroline Simmons had a
great meet. Jenny Darby also showed she is a really tough swimmer.”
Following
a redshirt season last year, sophomore Sloane Pitman returned to action
in a big way, earning first in the 500y free with a mark of 5:06.76.
Senior Kirstyn Colonias and sophomore Kate McNeilis had Tennessee’s two
other swimming wins. Colonias grabbed first in the 100y breast
(1:05.78), while McNeilis earned the victory in the 100y back (56.57).
In
the diving wells, the Orange and White made it a clean sweep. Senior
Gabrielle Trudeau notched first on the 1-meter boards with a score of
297.75. In second was redshirt sophomore Tori Lamp, who registered a
tally of 276.60 in the event.
The duo switched places on the
3-meter boards, as Lamp grabbed the top spot, followed by Trudeau in
second. Lamp was dominant in the event, winning with a score of 309.00,
while Trudeau had the next best score of 266.47.
“In all, it was
a productive meet and a good way to start,” Kredich explained. “It was
good to be able to swim against a high quality team against
UNC-Wilmington.”
The Seahawks won both the 200y medley relay and the 200y free relay.
The
Lady Vols will remain in Wilmington, as the team is slated to compete
in the UNCW Open Water Swim tomorrow at 8 a.m. at Seahawk Natatorium.
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