University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Queens (N.C.)
Tennessee Reigns Supreme in Queen City
October 15, 2014 | Swimming & Diving
Oct. 9, 2014
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tennessee swimming and diving entered North Carolina for the second time already this season and started off its second road trip on a high note, defeating Queens University and competing against pro squad Team Elite of SwimMAC at the Levine Center in Charlotte Thursday.
The men and the women jumped out to early leads over the Royals and sailed to convincing victories, swimming the fastest times in 15 events against QU to earn another road sweep. The men defeated QU, 139-65, while the Lady Vols earned a 157-45 victory to improve both records to 2-0 on the young season.
"I'm really happy with the progress we've made," said Head Coach Matt Kredich. "There are a bunch of signs that they've taken to what we're focusing on and it's really good that they're able to apply some of concepts under some pressure. Competition was really good and we got beat in some places that we needed to see, so we'll definitely learn a lot from that."
Junior Faith Johnson led the way for the Lady Vols, coming back to her home state to win the 50-yard freestyle and swim the fastest time out of all college students in the 100-yard freestyle, as well swimming a quick first leg of the 200-yard medley relay.
In other Lady Vol action, Morgan Dickson once again swam another dominant 1000-yard freestyle. She and teammate Camryne Morris swept the top two spots, beating out the first Queens competitor by 35 seconds. Patricia Forrester, Micah Bohon, Lauren Driscoll and Caroline Finkbeiner swept the top four spots of the 200-yard freestyle, while Mary Griffith, Heather Lundstrom, Morris and Heather Kiger swam the top four times in the 200-yard butterfly.
"I love coming back and seeing all my friends," said Johnson. "My heart rate was increasing as I was on the bus, I was so excited. It was really great to perform like I hoped and having my parents here and all my friends was really exciting. I was mainly thinking about having fun and doing what I know how to do and trusting the training that I have done so far."
Meanwhile, the men's team sprinted out to a fast start from the first races. Evan Pinion and David Heron, two of the nation's top distance freestylers early this season, finished 1-2 in the 1000-yard freestyle. Sam McHugh earned a pair of key victories, taking both the 200-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle. Another multi-race winner was junior Sean Lehane, who utilized a pair of solid comebacks in the final 100-yards to win both the 200-yard freestyle and backstroke.
"We won all our finishes and that was the main focus of the meet and the whole season," said Lehane. "I've swam that race so many times that I've learned how develop a plan for each 200. I used to be nervous as a freshman, but now that I'm a junior, it's a lot easier to execute because I know where I should be and what I should be doing."
"Sean's confidence is something that this team is going to end up really feeding on," said Kredich. "He showed a tremendous amount of maturity in both of those races. He didn't have the best start, but he really asserted himself. It's fun to watch him take control of races in the back half. For him to be taking charge of those races means good things for this team."
The Big Orange will shuttle north out of Charlotte overnight before arriving in Chapel Hill for a Friday afternoon dual meet against the Tar Heels of North Carolina at the Koury Natatorium.
