2022 Tennessee Invite: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2022 TENNESSEE INVITATIONAL

• November 17-19, 2022
• Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, Knoxville, Tenn.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims – 10 am / Finals – 6 pm (ET)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (ESPN)
• Live Results
• Dual Meet Scoring (9-4-3-2-1)
• Day 1 Prelims Recap

The Tennessee Invite is a little different this year in that it’s being scored in dual meet format, but despite that (or maybe because of that), there was no shortage of speed this morning.

The final individual event of the night, the 50 free, should figure to be the marquee event. UVA teammates Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh went 21.17 and 21.21, ranking them #2 and #3 in the nation so far this season. Meanwhile, Tennessee also went 1-2 on the men’s side, with Jordan Crooks crushing a 18.68 and freshman Gui Caribe hitting a lifetime best 19.05.

Women’s 200 Free Relay

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:28.43
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:29.21

Top 3:

1. Virginia ‘A’ — 1:26.96
2. UNC ‘A’ — 1:26.99
3. Virginia ‘B’ — 1:27.30

The Virginia women split their best swimmers into two different relays again, with Gretchen Walsh leading off the ‘B’ relay and Kate Douglass leading off the ‘A’ relay. Walsh led off in  a time of 21.02, which is the sixth-fastest performance of all-time and is less than a tenth off her personal best of 20.95.

Douglass also swam a very respectable time of 21.25 leading off, as her, Maxine Parker (21.59), Lexi Cuomo (21.73), and Kate Morris (22.39) finished first in a time of 1:26.96. Following them was UNC’s Olivia Neil (21.92), Sophie Lindner (22.20), Greer Pattison (21.91), and Grace Countie (20.92). Countie’s anchor leg was particularly fast, as she had the only sub-21 split of the field and overtook the Virginia ‘B’ relay for second.

G. Walsh, Alex Walsh (21.52), Carly Novelline (22.32), and Reilly Tiltmann (22.44) were third in a time of 1:27.30.

Men’s 200 Free Relay

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:16.80
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:17.58

Top 3:

1. Tennessee ‘A’ — 1:15.32
2. Virginia ‘A’ — 1:15.67
3. Michigan ‘A’ — 1:17.41

Jordan Crooks got the Vols off to a dominant start in the 200 free relay, leading off in a time of 18.27 to tie Bjorn Seeliger as the second-fastest performer of all-time in the 50 free. Following him was Gui Caribe (18.65), Scott Scanlon (19.11), and Aleksey Tarasenko (19.29), and together they combined for a time of 1:15.32 which would have finished 8th at NCAAs last year (considerably faster than the team’s 16th place finish).

Close behind was Virginia’s Matt Brownstead, who led off in 19.24 and took 0.05 seconds off his season-best time. He, Matt King (18.56), Jack Aikins (19.02), and August Lamb (18.85) went 1:15.67 to finish just three-tenths behind Tennessee.

Michigan’s relay of Bence Szabados (19.36), Cam Peel (19.28), Gal Cohen Groumi (19.30), and Nikola Akin (19.47) were third.

WOMEN’S 500 FREE

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:35.76
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:47.20
• 2022 Invite Time: 4:43.08

Top 8:

1. Alex Walsh, Virginia — 4:38.34
2. Katie Crom, Michigan — 4:39.28
3. Ella Nelson, Virginia — 4:41.92
4. Aly Breslin, Tennessee — 4:42.78
5. Kate McCarville, Tennessee — 4:43.15
6. Lauren Wetherell, Tennessee — 4:44.95
7. Kathryn Ackerman, Michigan — 4:46.26
8. Riley Francis, Michigan — 4:50.76

Add the 500 free to the giant list of events that Alex Walsh is capable of ‘A’ finaling in at NCAAs. Slowly separating herself from the field as the race went on, she swam her way to a 4:38.34 in her third time racing the event (with one of the times being when she was 12), dropping four seconds off her prelims time of 4:42.35.

Walsh split her race 53.47/56.93/57.08/56.63/54.23, very different from her prelims swim where she opened in 53.69 and held 57s for the rest of her race.

In second behind Walsh was Michigan’s Katie Crom, who went 4:39.28. She saw major improvement in this swim, as entering today, her personal best was a 4:44.39. She outsplit Walsh in her last 50, closing in a 26.10.

Finishing third was Ella Nelson, who at one point mid-race was just 0.06 seconds behind Walsh. However, she faded in her back half well behind Walsh to swim a 4:41.92.

Winning the ‘B’ final was Tennessee freshman Julia Burroughs, who dropped a huge amount of time off her best time of 4:50.29, swimming a 4;44.05.

Virginia’s Sophia Knapp had a strong swim in the ‘C’ final, dropping over two seconds off her best time of 4:47.58 to go 4:45.06.

MEN’S 500 FREE

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:11.40
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:22.35
• 2022 Invite Time: 4:14.96

Top 8:

1. Joaquin Vargas, Tennessee — 4:15.35
2. Joey Tepper, Tennessee — 4:16.13
3. Eduardo Moraes, Michigan — 4:17.81
4. Patrick Hussey, UNC — 4:18.21
5. Rafael Ponce de Leon, Tennessee — 4:19.05
6. Louis Dramm, UNC — 4:20.34
7. Jack Wright, UVA/Connor Hunt, Michigan — 4:23.94

Swimming a massive personal best time of 4:15.35 Tennessee’s Joaquin Vargas won the the men’s 500 free by over a second. He beat out his previous personal best of 4:17.54 from 2022 SECs by a significant margin.

Vargas’ teammate Joey Tepper took second, going 4:16.13. He also dropped a considerable amount of time from his previous PB of 4:21.17.

In third was Michigan’s Eduardo Morae, who went 4:17.81. The freshman from Brazil saw a ten-second improvement from his personal best of 4:28.06 from the Michigan vs. Easter Michigan, Ohio, and Purdue dual meet earlier this month.

WOMEN’S 200 IM

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.66
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:59.56
• 2022 Invite Time: 1:56.85

Top 8:

1. Josephine Fuller, Tennessee — 1:55.90
2. Abby Harter, Virginia — 1:56.55
3. Sara Stotler, Tennessee — 1:56.96
4. Ellie Vannote, UNC — 1:57.07
5. Letitia Sim, Michigan — 1:57.10
6. Ella Bathurst, Virginia — 1:57.97
7. Brooklyn Douthwright — 1:58.17
8. Devon Kitchel, Michigan — 1:58.52

After setting a massive personal best of 1:55.54 in prelims, Josephine Fuller was slightly slower in finals, swimming a 1:55.90. That being said, her time was still fast enough to take the win by a significant margin. She dominated on her marquee stroke of backstroke, splitting 28.59—the only sub 29 back split in the field.

Letitia Sim made up a lot of ground on breaststroke, splitting 33.72 (second-fastest split in the field) and being second at the 150-yard mark. However, she was overtaken by Abby Harter, Sara Stotler, and Ellie Vannote, and finished fifth in 1:57.10.

Harter charged her way to second on freestyle, closing in a 27.58 final 50 that was the fastest in the field. She ended up swimming a time of 1:56.55, her quickest-ever outside of an NCAAs or conference meet. Her personal best time is a 1:55.08 from 2022 NCAAs.

Swimming exhibition, Tennessee pro swimmer Tessa Cieplucha went a 1:55.86 to take first in the ‘C’ final in a time that would have won the ‘A’ final.

MEN’S 200 IM

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.22
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 1:46.52
• 2022 Invite Time: 1:43.36

Top 8:

1. Gal Cohen Groumi, Michigan — 1:43.67
2. Noah Nichols, Virginia — 1:44.72
3. Jared Daigle, Michigan — 1:45.14
4. Kamal Muhammad, Virginia — 1:45.28
5. Ansel Froass, Michigan — 1:45.82
6. Noah Rutberg, UNC — 1:45.92
7. Max Iida, Virginia — 1:47.35
8. Nick Simons, Tennessee — 1:47.56

Gal Cohen Groumi took out his race strong, flipping in first at the halfway mark of the race by over a second. He had a dominant backstroke leg, splitting a 25.71 and being the only swimmer sub-26 in the stroke.

On the contrary, Noah Nichols was in last place at the halfway mark, but made up a ton of ground with his breaststroke leg, splitting a 27.79 that was the fastest in the field by over a second. He could not catch Groumi though, who ended up touching in first by over a second with a time of 1:43.67. Nichols was second in 1;44.72, dropping 0.09 seconds from his personal best from prelims.

In a distant third was Michigan’s Jared Daigle, who went 1:45.14. Top seed Kammal Muhammad, who had the fastest fly split of the field (21.97), ended up in fourth with a time of 1:45.28. He was a few tenths off his prelims time of 1;44.49.

WOMEN’S 50 FREE

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 21.66
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 22.71
• 2022 Invite Time: 22.16

Top 8:

1. Gretchen Walsh, Virginia — 20.94
2. Kate Douglass, Virginia — 21.46
3. Grace Countie, UNC — 21.68
4. Maxine Parker, Virginia — 21.86
5. Olivia Neil, UNC — 22.03
6. Mona McSharry, Tennessee — 22.15
7. Greer Pattison, UNC — 22.22
8. Lindsay Flynn, Michigan — 22.28

Just an hour after going 21.02, Gretchen Walsh soared to a best time in the individual race, going 20.94 to record the #4 swim in history and the fifth-ever sub-21 women’s 50 free. She takes 0.01 seconds off her personal best of 20.95 from 2022 NCAAs. This win came despite having the slowest reaction time in the field, a +0.76.

Walsh was absolutely dominant in this race, beating her teammate Kate Douglass by 0.52 seconds. Douglass swam a 21.46 for second. She was faster on two other occasions today though, swimming a 21.17 in prelims and leading off in a 21.25 in the 200 free relay.

In third was UNC’s Grace Countie, who nearly matched her prelims time of 21.63 to go 21.68. Maxine Parker finished fourth with a 21.86 to dip under 22 seconds for the first time this season. She set a new best time, beating out the mark of 21.93 that she swam at SECs in 2021.

MEN’S 50 FREE

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.88
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 19.82
• 2022 Invite Time: 19.28

Top 8:

1. Jordan Crooks, Tennessee — 18.60
2. Gui Caribe, Tennessee — 18.91
3. Matt King, Virginia — 19.15
4. Matt Brownstead, Virginia — 19.20
5. Bence Szabados, Michigan — 19.43
6. Jack Aikins, Virginia — 19.60
7. Aleksey Tarasenko, Tennessee — 19.64
8. Cam Peel, Michigan — 19.88

Tennessee now has two sub-19 freestylers on their team.

The first one is Jordan Crooks, who backed up his mind-boggling 18.27 leadoff swim with a 18.60 in the individual 50 free, which matches his NCAAs time from last year. The second one is freshman Gui Caribe, who dropped a massive PB of 19.05 in prelims, and then proceeded to go 18.91 in finals for his first swim under 19. No other team can claim two sub-19 swimmers to their name so far this season.

In third and fourth were Matt King and Matt Brownstead, who went 19.15 and 19.20 respectively and beat out their season-bests of 19.25 and 19.24 from prelims.

WOMEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:31.38
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:33.54

Top 3:

1. Virginia ‘B’ — 3:29.15
2. Tennessee ‘A’ — 3:30.55
3. UNC ‘A’ — 3:30.84

Virginia once again split their best swimmers into two seperate relays, as Gretchen Walsh was put on the ‘A’ relay when Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass were on the ‘B’ relay. There, she split 49.03 on fly, which would have been the fastest split in history had her relay not been DQed (Emma Weber had a -0.08 reaction time). Notably, Douglass and Zoe Skirboll also got 400 medley relays DQed for early takeoff times swimming breast at the UVA-Texas dual meet.

Douglass led off the ‘B’ relay in a time of 51.85, just 0.01 of a second off her 100 back personal best of 51.84. Her, Alex Walsh (57.56), Abby Harter (51.96), and Maxine Parker (47.78) won in a time of 3:29.15.

Finishing in second was Tennessee’s Josephine Fuller (52.16), Mona McSharry (57.96), Sara Stotler (52.27), and Brooklyn Douthwright (48.16), who combined for a (48.16). They just beat out UNC’s Sophie Lindner (52.03), Skyler Smith (59.74), Ellie Vannote (50.99), and Grace Countie (48.08), who placed third.

MEN’S 400 MEDLEY RELAY

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 3:04.95
• NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 3:06.84

Top 3:

1. Tennessee ‘A’ — 3:03.77
2. Virginia ‘A’ — 3:04.51
3. Tennessee ‘B’ — 3:06.39

Tennessee won the 400 medley relay by nearly a second, as Harrison Lierz (46.76), Jarel Dillard (51.35), Jordan Crooks (44.75), and Gui Caribe (40.91) combined for a time of 3:03.77. Crooks’ fly split was particularly dominant, as it brought his relay ahead of Virginia and Tennessee’s ‘B’ team and put them in the lead. Caribe then anchored, and was fast enough to hold off Virginia’s Matt King.

Virginia’s Jack Aikins (46.60), Noah Nichols (51.09), Josh Fong (46.04), and Matt King (40.78) were second in 3:04.51, with Nichols and King having the fastest splits in the field for breast and free respectivley. In third was the Tennessee ‘B’ relay team of Nick Simons (45.71), Michael Houlie (51.35), Luke Brice (46.75), and Aleksey Tarasenko (42.58). Simons, a freshman, might make a case for himself to be on the ‘A’ relay in the future with his back time, as he took a considerable amount off his personal best of 46.39.

UNC’s Boyd Poelke and Michigan’s Gal Cohen Groumi had sub-46 fly splits of 45.10 and 45.91 respectivley. Wyatt Davis, Michigan’s leadoff, went 46.11 and had the fastest back time of the field.

Scores After Day One:

Women:

UVA 63, Tennessee 28

UVA 66, Michigan 25

UVA 70, UNC 21

UNC 51, Michigan 40

UNC 39, Tennessee 52

Michigan 40, Tennessee 51

Carson-Newman 13, UVA 78

Carson-Newman 13, Tennessee 78

Carson-Newman 13, Michigan 78

Carson-Newman 13, Michigan 78

Men:

UVA 35, Tennessee 75

UVA 54.5, Michigan 54.5

UVA 64, UNC 45

UNC 45, Michigan 64

UNC 36, Tennessee 73

Michigan 41, Tennessee 69

Carson-Newman 13, UVA 94

Carson-Newman 13, Tennessee 94

Carson-Newman 13, Michigan 90

Carson-Newman 13, Michigan 90