Jordan Crooks, Mona McSharry Tally Season-Best Times in Tennessee’s Sweep of LSU

Tennessee vs. LSU

• Jan. 27, 2024
• Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center
  • Knoxville, Tennessee
• SCY (25 yards)
• PDF results
• Team scores
  • Men: No. 6 Tennessee 196, LSU 104
  • Women: No. 10 Tennessee 204, No. 23 LSU 94

Jordan Crooks continues to make remarkable times seem routine.

The Tennessee junior clocked a blazing 18.80 in the 50-yard freestyle, a season-best 45.18 in the 100 butterfly, and two impressive relay splits to lead the No. 6 Volunteer men past SEC foe LSU, 196-104, on Saturday.

Only Florida sophomore Josh Liendo (18.61) has been faster in the 50 free this season than Crooks’ 18.80 this weekend. Crooks, the defending NCAA champion, leads the nation with a season-best 18.40.

Crooks’ 45.18 in the 100 fly knocked just over a tenth of a second off his season-best mark (45.30), moving him up to 11th in the NCAA. He also split 19.92 on the fly leg of Tennessee’s 200 medley relay (1:24.34) — not far off his 19.27 split from NCAAs last season — and 41.87 leading off the Vols’ 400 free relay (2:51.54).

Crooks’ season-best 41.03 in the 100 free ranks 2nd in the NCAA behind Liendo (40.90). Only 11 swimmers have been under the 42-second barrier so far this season.

The most exciting race of “Senior Day” came in the 1000 free, where Tennessee senior Rafael Ponce de Leon Castilla erased a half-second deficit over the last 50 yards with a blistering 24.41 split to overtake LSU freshman Silas Beth (8:57.49). Castilla ended up reaching the wall in a lifetime best of 8:57.18, the fourth-fastest time in program history and the third-fastest in the SEC this season.

Tennessee sophomore Gui Caribe also dazzled with a 19.03 free anchor on the Vols’ 200 medley relay, a 100 free victory in 42.60, and a 42.53 split on their 400 free relay (2:51.54) that posted the 10th-fastest time in program history. He ranks 8th nationally in the 100 free this season with a 41.66.

Vols sophomore Martin Espernberger dominated the 200 fly (1:43.64) by nearly three seconds. He has been almost two seconds faster this season with a 1:41.78 that ranks 10th in the NCAA.

Tennessee freshman Nikoli Blackman earned the first individual win of his collegiate career in the 200 free (1:36.10). Vols junior Landon Driggers had a busy day with wins in the 200 back (1:45.37) and 200 IM (1:47.41) along with a 4th-place finish in the 100 back (47.72). Senior diver Bryden Hattie swept the 1-meter (366.15) and 3-meter (400.35) springboard events.

“I think Rafael (Ponce de Leon Castilla) had a tough opponent who had a good swim last week,” Tennessee associate head coach Rich Murphy said of Beth. “We knew that coming into this meet it was going to be a big task to come out with a win. I think coming out of that medley relay having success there, Rafael set himself up and he cares a ton about the team. It was really cool to see him get the win, and I also think that propelled into the efforts that we saw from Nikoli (Blackman) in the 200 free. That really got us going, and I think it was really cool to see the first half of the meet how we asserted ourselves into the competitive aspect of the day.”

The Tigers were led by senior Mitch Mason, who picked up 1st-place finishes in the 100 breast (53.20) and 200 breast (1:58.65) along with a 4th-place showing in the 200 IM (1:51.23). LSU also got an individual victory out of junior Griffin Curtis, who captured the 100 back crown in 47.72. Croatian freshman Jere Hribar threw down a pair of impressive performances in the 50 free (19.39) and 100 free (43.11), but both took 2nd place behind some tough competition in Crooks and Caribe, respectively.

Women’s Recap

Tennessee senior Mona McSharry and junior Josephine Fuller showed off their versatility with two individual wins apiece to power the No. 10 Vols past LSU, 204-94.

McSharry began her afternoon with a win in the 50 free (22.12) before going on to dominate the 200 breast in a new season-best time of 2:06.63. The 23-year-old Irish Olympian ranks 5th in the NCAA this season in the 200 breast and 13th nationally in the 50 free (22.01).

Fuller triumphed in the 200 IM (1:57.11) and 200 back (1:53.97), slightly off her season bests that rank 9th (1:55.37) and 23rd (1:53.97) in the NCAA this season, respectively.

Tennessee freshman Camille Spink also had a big day, taking the 100 free title in 48.03 before ripping a personal-best 1:44.63 in the 200 free en route to 2nd place behind junior teammate Brooklyn Douthwright (1:44.04). Spink’s previous-best 200 free time stood at 1:43.82 from December of 2022. Fellow freshman Emelie Fast also impressed with a 2nd-place showing in the 200 breast (2:09.28, seventh-fastest time in school history) and 3rd-place effort in the 200 IM (2:00.69).

Similar to the men’s side, the 1000 free came down to the wire with Vols junior Kate McCarville (9:50.38) edging junior teammate Lauren Wetherell (9:51.99) by less than two seconds. Tennessee also got individual victories out of senior Elle Caldow in the 100 back (52.75), junior Julie Mrozinski in the 500 free (4:42.77), and fifth-year Kailee Morgan in the 100 breast (1:00.69).

“I thought our women’s team and our whole combined team did a great job with their performances today,” Tennessee associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. “So proud of our seniors in how they have led this team and how they swam at the meet today. I’m really proud of how everybody else honored the seniors with their performances as well.

“(Camille Spink and Emelie Fast) had great performances,” Jahn added. “They’ve both been getting better at a lot of things this year, and it was nice to see them take a couple of elements that they wanted to execute, get a little more confident in their race plans and execute those today in a competitive environment.”

The Tigers got multiple 1st-place finishes from senior diver Montserrat Lavenant on the 1-meter (302.48) and 3-meter (327.28) springboard events. In the pool, LSU was led by runner-up finishes from sophomore Sofia Sartori in the 200 fly (1:57.74) and 200 back (1:56.01), Michaela de Villiers in the 50 free (22.47), and freshman Sabrina Lyn in the 100 fly (55.00).