Tennessee Wins Nailbiter on Women’s Side in Dual With South Carolina

TENNESSEE VS. SOUTH CAROLINA

• Results
• Hosted by University of South Carolina
• Saturday, January 7th
• 25 yards
• Dual meet format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

• Women- Tennessee 155, South Carolina 143
• Men- Tennessee 189, South Carolina 111

The Tennessee men and women each picked up a dual meet victory against South Carolina today, with the women’s meet coming down to the wire. It came down to the final event, as the Vols went 1-2 in the women’s 200 free relay to win the meet by 13 points.

Sam McHugh, a Tennessee junior, won 3 events to help the men to victory, marking his 3rd meet of the season with triple individual wins. His performance in the 1650 free was arguably his most impressive of the day, as he won the event with a blistering 14:56.27. McHugh then went on to win the 200 fly (1:47.99) and 200 IM (1:48.68).

All-American Kira Toussaint was one of the key players for the Volunteer women. In the 50 free, she led a 1-2-3 sweep for the team, winning in 23.09 ahead of teammates Alex Cleveland (23.30) and Emily Allen (23.68). Toussaint then took on the 100 back, winning in 55.87 to outpace South Carolina’s Christina Lappin (56.55).

South Carolina’s Emma Barksdale was one of the Gamecocks’ biggest contributors, winning 3 individual races. Her most dominant win came in the 200 fly, where she clocked a 2:00.64 to win by nearly 4 seconds. Barksdale also won the 200 breast (2:15.91) and 200 IM (2:01.14) for her team.

PRESS RELEASE – TENNESSEE:

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Tennessee men cruised and the women rallied in the final event to sweep South Carolina on Friday to open the spring swimming and diving schedule at Carolina Natatorium.

The Tennessee men (2-4, 1-3 SEC) won 13 of 16 events for a 189-111 victory over the Gamecocks, led by junior Sam McHugh, who took first in the 1,650-yard freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 200 IM.

The women’s meet came down to the final event. Trailing by a point heading into the 200 freestyle relay to end the meet, the UT team of Madeline Banic, Alex Cleveland, Kira Toussaint and Erika Brown won the race in 1 minute, 32.21 seconds to deliver a 155-143 Tennessee victory.

“We wanted to put people in different events to practice racing, and South Carolina was really tough today,” Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich said. “They made us race. We’ve been out of competition for seven weeks now, so it was a good wakeup from hibernation.”

McHugh recorded his third three-win meet of the season. He opened the meet with a victory in the 1650 in 14:56.27 and followed four events later by winning the 200 butterfly in 1:47.99. He took first in the 200 IM late in the meet (1:48.68).

Junior Ryan Coetzee and sophomore Kyle DeCoursey posted two wins each for the Vols. Coetzee took first in the 50 freestyle (20.56) and 100 butterfly (49.48). DeCoursey was a winner in the 100 freestyle (44.99) and 200 freestyle (1:38.31).

Additional Tennessee winners included: sophomore Joey Reilman in the 200 backstroke (1:48.87) and junior Peter John Stevens in the 100 breaststroke (53.27). The Vols won both relays.

The men also benefitted from a springboard sweep by junior Liam Stone; diving preliminary scores on 1-meter and 3-meter carried over to scoring against South Carolina.

In the women’s meet, seniors Kira Toussaint and Madeline Tegner and freshman Meghan Small won two events each.

Toussaint led a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle (23.09) and later won the 100 butterfly (55.87). Tegner swept the distance events, taking first in the 500 freestyle (4:56.62) and 1,650 freestyle by more than 20 seconds (16:40.01). Small won the 200 freestyle (1:48.71) and the 200 backstroke (1:57.77).

Junior Alex Cleveland won the 100 freestyle (51.15) and took second in the 50 freestyle.

The Vols’ next meet with be the home regular-season finale against Georgia at Jan. 21, beginning at noon at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

Comments from Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich: “Sam McHugh had a great meet. His freestyle’s been good this year, so we put him in the mile and he swam a great race. He and Taylor Abbott had the 200 fly not long after that, and they did really well in a difficult double. Kyle DeCoursey’s 200 free gave the team a big lift. All three of our men’s backstrokers — Joey Reilman, Nathan Murray and Matthew Garcia — each put together at least one good race today. Peter John Stevens continues to progress in the 100 breaststroke and tonight was one of the best tactical races he’s put together.

“For the women, it was a really exciting meet. We put together a lineup that would be competitive with South Carolina. Colleen Callahan was in some different races today. Meghan Small continued to make some progress. With her twin brother [Jeremiah] swimming for South Carolina, it was a little bit of a homecoming for Micah Bohon, and she put together a good meet. Some people stepped into leadership positions, like Christina Paspalas. Meg Wiggins is evolving into one of our go-to swimmers. Same with Alex Cleveland, who touched the wall in some close races.”

PRESS RELEASE – SOUTH CAROLINA:

LUMBIA, S.C. — The University of South Carolina Swimming & Diving team dropped its spring season opener Friday evening to Tennessee. The Carolina men fell 160-102, while the women dropped a 147-115 decision at the Carolina Natatorium.

Despite the setbacks, Carolina had several student-athletes win multiple events. On the women’s side, Julia Vincent won the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, Emma Barksdale took the 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM, Emily Cornell notched a victory in the 100-yard backstroke and Kersten Dirrane finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke.

For the men, Jonathan Boland picked up a win in the 100-yard backstroke, Nils Wich-Glasen finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke and Fynn Minuth earned a victory in the 500-yard freestyle.

With the losses, Carolina’s men’s team is 0-3 on the season and the women are 1-3. Tennessee’s women are now 5-2 overall, while their men are 2-4 this year.

Jordan Gotro earned two podium finishes on the boards, taking third in the 1-meter with a score of 288.80 and second on the 3-meter after posting a mark of 319.65.

The Gamecock men finished second in the 400-yard medley relay, followed by a third-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle by Akram Mahmoud with a time of 15:17.29 to earn a B cut.

Fynn Minuth placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:38.73. He also took first in the 500-yard freestyle after swimming the race in 4:23.01.

Jonathan Boland finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 49.64. Nils Wich-Glasen swam into second in the 100-yard breaststroke and earned a B cut with a time of 54.16.

In the 200-yard butterfly, Caleb Tosh lead Carolina with a second place finish after swimming a time of 1:48.81, followed by Will Riggs with a time of 1:50.34.

Newcomer Itay Goldfaden placed the highest for the Gamecocks in the 50-yard freestyle when he finished second after a time of 21.02.

Jonathan Boland led Carolina in the 100-yard freestyle as he placed second with a time of 45.88, followed by Patrick McCrillis in fourth after swimming a time of 47.23.

Kevin Liu took third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:51.05. Nils Wich-Glasen was the top Gamecock in the 200-yard breaststroke, taking first place with a time of 2:01.38. Jeremiah Bohon came in third with a time of 2:03.96

Boland picked up a second place finished in the 100-yard butterfly after swimming a time of 49.51, followed by Caleb Tosh in third with a time of 49.90.

South Carolina took second, third and fourth in the 200-yard IM with Wich-Glasen in the lead after finishing in 1:50.82. Bohon was next with a time of 1:54.02 and Bryce Kananowicz finished in 1:57.48.

The last race of the day was the 200-yard freestyle relay. Kentucky took the top spot, while Carolina’s top team placed second.

Julia Vincent got the Gamecocks off on the right foot, taking first in the 1-meter dive with a score of 299.45 and first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 337.65. Mikaela Lujan finished third in the 1-meter after scoring 269.00 and Marissa Roth placed third in the 3-meter with a mark of 268.50.

After taking the third spot in the 400-yard medley relay, the Gamecocks took second in the 1650-yard freestyle after Sarah Smith swam the race in 17:03.95. Elizabeth Maltby placed third with a time of 17:13.35 and Megan Carlson took fourth after finishing in 17:19.64.

Heather Merritt led the Gamecocks in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing second in a time of 1:50.62, while Edith Lingmann took fourth following a time of 1:51.67.

Newcomer Emily Cornell was the highest finishing Gamecock in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.44 to take first. Kersten Dirrane took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.28, while Ana Menendez Nava earned a third place finish with a time of 1:05.65.

Emma Barksdale swam into first place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:00.64, and Marissa DelGado followed in second with a time of 2:04.22.

Edith Lingmann posted the highest finish for the Gamecocks in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.25, good for third place.

Emily Cornell swam into second place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:01.24, and Heather Merritt came in third after swimming a time of 2:02.97.

Carolina swept the 200-yard breaststroke with Barksdale in the lead, with a time of 2:15.91 to earn first place and a B cut. Dirrane took second with a time of 2:18.07 and Brittany Oxley came in third after finishing in 2:19.77.

Smith led Carolina in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing second with a time of 5:02.68. Christina Lappin was the highest-finishing Gamecock in the 100-yard butterfly, coming in at second with a time of 56.55.

Barksdale earned her third victory of the meet when she took first in the 200-yard IM and earned a second B cut with a time of 2:01.14. Dirrane finished third with a time of 2:04.81.

South Carolina finished third and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay to round out the evening.