TENNESSEE V. KENTUCKY (MEN)
- Friday, January 15
- Knoxville, TN
- Short course yards (SCY)
- Results (Also on Meet Mobile – ‘2021 UT vs Kentucky – Men’)
- Scores
- Tennessee 216, Kentucky 84
Carrying the momentum over from the women’s team taking down Kentucky yesterday, the Vol men stamped out the Wildcats at home this afternoon.
The score was lopsided from the start in favor of UT, as the Kentucky ‘A’ 200 medley relay DQ’d, opening the door for Tennessee to go 1-2-3-4 with their A, B, C and D relays. Their top three relays all broke 1:30, led by their ‘A’ relay at 1:26.30. Freshman Harrison Lierz led off in 22.39, followed by a blazing 23.26 split from junior Michael Houlie on breast, a 21.12 fly leg from senior Kayky Mota and a 19.53 anchor from sophomore Scott Scanlon.
Kentucky’s Jakob Clark, a sophomore, struck back with a win in the 1000 free, going 9:10.20 in one of just two swimming wins for the Wildcats. The other was in the 400 IM, as junior Kyle Barker went 3:56.99.
Mota went on to sweep the fly events, going 46.44 to dominate the 100 and 1:45.22 to take the 200.
Houlie didn’t race individuals today, but the Tennessee breaststroke group still showed up in a big way. In the 100 breast, junior Jarel Dillard popped a 52.76, coming just .04 off of his best time from the UT Invite in November. East Carolina transfer Lyubomir Epitropov was second (53.73) and sophomore Brett Champlin third (54.16). In the 200, Epitropov threw down a 1:56.41, ahead of Dillard (1:58.94) and Champlin (2:00.63).
Tennessee picked up wins in both backstrokes, as senior Ben Blevins-Boor led a 1-2-3 in the 100 with a 48.19. Lierz was second there in 48.52, followed closely by fellow first-year Jordan Tiffany (48.66). In the 200 back, Lierz was again runner-up (1:47.84), this time behind Tiffany (1:46.82).
Scanlon was back in the 50 free, dipping under 20 to win it in 19.87, while UT junior Seth Bailey edged him out in the 100, 44.29 to 44.94. Bailey also picked up the win in the 200 free (1:37.06), followed closely by freshman Will Jackson (1:37.50). In the 500 free, Rafael Ponce de Leon, a freshman, just missed his lifetime best with a win at 4:25.70.
Kentucky’s only other win came in the 3-meter, as Mingli Zhang scored 379.58. UT’s Matt Wade was the 3-meter victor with a score of 338.48.
UT closed out the meet with a 1-2-3 in the 200 free relay (there were no Kentucky DQ’s), their ‘A’ going 1:20.04. Scanlon split 19.46 on the second leg, and Houlie was 19.97 on the third leg.
The mighty manVOLS certainly flexed their bulging muscles by nearly drowning the emaciated UK men. Wow Houlie throwing down a 23.2 50 breast is amazing in a dual meet! Certainly he will be fighting for a win in the 100 breast at NCAAs! These coonskin headed mountain men are looking great to dominate the SEC and finish top 5 at NCAAs in 2021. Amazing!!!!!
Hoping, wishing, praying, & wanting huh?? That’s about as good as it’s gonna get for them . A&M will “kick” those coonskin caps inside out & then “cut” the tails off of them & then hand them back to their rightful owners👍👍.
I will give you that A+M has one epically great man swimmer BUT the TEAM synergy of the barefeeted, coonskinded boys will stomp out that gigem advantage. Our divers are awesome, we have balance, depth and great “Asti-fied” coaching such that SEC has never seen. Trust me – the manly VOLS will shock the SEC next month. Wait til you see the UT-UGA dual meet before saying another word!
Am I seeing that score correctly? Suited, tapered, whatever. I don’t care what the excuse, that is a good old fashion beat down. Especially in the SEC
Lol. But Kentucky. Their mens team is like the vandy or Arkansas of the womens side.
Lmao. That is so far from the truth. LSU or South Carolina is a better comparison
They’ve got divers though so they’ll still beat South Carolina and LSU. They’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do in sprints and breaststroke
They put up a really good fight against bama with only ~15 or so swimmers, they’re not deep but they’re much better than you’re giving them credit for.