University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Squeeze Past Cavaliers by 12 Points
November 15, 2007 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Complete Results
The Tennessee men???s swimming and diving team pulled out a victory Thursday against Virginia, outscoring the Cavaliers 156-144 at the Virginia Fitness and Aquatic Center in Charlottesville, Va.
???As expected, we met a very competitive and determined opponent in UVA,??? said UT head coach John Trembley. ???They swam very strong at several points and we???re just happy to leave Charlottesville with a win.???
The Vols kicked off the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay. Michael Wolfe, Brad Craig, Octavio Alesi and Jonas Persson topped the Virginia relay with a time of 1:29.25. Freshman Geoff Sanders followed with a second-place finish in the 1000 freestyle (9:16.71).
Nolan Morrell and Stephen Fortney placed second and sixth, respectively, in the 200 freestyle. Morrell and Fortney both swam season bests in the event as Morrell splashed in with a time of 1:38.45 and Fortney clocked in at 1:43.03.
In the 100 breaststroke, Barry Murphy and Craig captured the top two places. Murphy finished in 55.85 and Craig???s time of 56.05 was his season best. Alesi and Persson also took the top two stops in the 50 freestyle. Alesi swam a 20.40 and Persson closely finished in 20.47. Additionally, Persson won the 100 freestyle (44.14) just in front of his second-place teammate Murphy (45.43). In the 200 backstroke, Wolfe and Morrell took first- and second-place finishes with times of 1:46.21 and 1:49.33, respectively.
Wolfe triumphed in the 200 butterfly (1:46.22) while teammate Patrick Beasley placed sixth with a time of 1:53.41. Craig tapped the wall first in the 200 breaststroke with an official time of 2:01.87. The freshman quintet of Sanders, Craig, Michael Christy, Chris Winchell and Patrick Beasley dominated the 400 I.M. Sanders won the medley (3:57.34), Craig placed third (4:03.34) and Christy finished fourth (4:05.12). Winchell and Beasley had unscored times of 4:04.31 and 4:07.21, respectively. Junior teammate Fortney also had an exhibition time, as he clocked in at 4:10.49.
In the diving portion of the contest, Michael Muscari won both the one- and three-meter events (303.90 and 353.40, respectively). Senior Ryan Rincon placed third in the one-meter (273.60) while Chris Davis finished fifth in both dives.
???The coaches were very pleased with our medley relays,??? Trembley said. ???We started the meet on a nice tone. The 1000 freestylers did a good job, and Murphy, Craig and Kahlin were all great in the 100 breaststroke. In the 200 butterfly, Wolfe and Beasley swam great. Alesi and Persson both had nice 50 freestyles. And we were very pleased with Muscari who dove very consistently. It was a good win for Persson in the 100 freestyle. Craig was great in the 200 breaststroke. Jones swam a nice 500 freestyle, and Alesi was brilliant in the 100 butterfly. In the 400 I.M. Craig, Sanders, Christy, Winchell and Beasley, who are all freshman, swam very competitively.???
Next, the Vols travel to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Invitational. The meet lasts from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 and will include premier collegiate swimming programs such as No. 1 Texas, No. 3 Stanford and No. 4 Arizona.
