Abby McCulloh Sets Pool Record, but Georgia Falls to Tennessee in Split
Abby McCulloh set an Athens pool record in the 1,000 freestyle, but that didn’t stop Georgia from being upended by Tennessee in an SEC meet Saturday.
No. 15 Tennessee downed the 12th-ranked Bulldogs, 168-132. On the men’s side, seventh-ranked Georgia rolled, 183-115, over No. 11 Tennessee.
McCulloh went 9:27.08 in the 1,000 free to seize the pool record. It’s her second mark in as many weeks. It also led a 1-2-3 finish with Dune Coetzee and Jillian Barczyk, but that momentum wasn’t enough to carry through the meet.
Mona McSharry was a massive reason why. Her split of 26.29 seconds in breaststroke in the 200 medley relay accounted for .41 seconds of the Vols’ .49-second edge. The Irish Olympian powered the team of Josephine Fuller, Camille Spink and Katie Mack to a win in 1:36.10. McSharry led off Tennessee’s 400 free relay, keeping Georgia’s top sprinter, Helena Jones, within a half-second with a 49.04 lead-off leg. That allowed Spink, Abby Samansky and Brooklyn Douthwright to rally and win in 3:13.90.
McSharry won the 100 breast in 58.09 seconds. She was second to Zoie Hartman, whom she beat in the 100, in the longer breaststroke swim.
Tennessee got the better of a number of those close battles. Tanesha Lucoe won 3-meter diving by nine-tenths of a point over Georgia’s Meghan Wenzel, the winning tally 310.50 points. (Wenzel won 1-meter in 288.15.) Douthwright won the 100 butterfly in 53.35, .13 up on Georgia’s Olivia Dellatorre. Elle Caldow rallied past Millie Sansome by .07 seconds for second in the 200 back behind Fuller.
Spink swept the 50 free and 100 free, both times with Jones second. Douthwright won the 200 free and was third in the 100 free. Fuller was second in the 100 back. Sara Stotler won the 200 fly and was third in the 100 fly.
McCulloh won the 500 free in 4:40.64, ahead of Sloane Reinstein, who was also second in the 200 free. Eboni McCarty won the 100 back in 51.14. Hartman bounced back from her runner-up finish in the 100 breast to capture the 200 breast (2:07.12) and the 200 IM (1:56.41).
Georgia’s domination on the men’s side included a sweep of every event 200 yards or longer. The Bulldogs posted 1-2-3 sweeps in the 200 back (Ian Grum in 1:40.04) and 200 IM (Zach Hils in 1:43.82, with Grum third).
Jake Magahey was the standard-bearer. He prevailed in the 1,000 free in 8:58.51, just a half-second up on mate Sam Powe. His 200 fly win was similarly tight, his 1:42.18 holding off a charge from UT’s Martin Espernberger by .15 ticks. (Grum was again third). Magahey finally got a comfortable win in the 500 free in 4:17.08, a margin of more than three seconds.
Georgia went 1-2 in each of the first three individual events. Tomas Koski won the 200 free in 1:32.86 with Hils second. The 100 back went to Ruard van Renen (45.48), followed by Bradley Dunham (45.60). Reese Branzell went 42.45 to win the 100 free, and Connor Haigh turned in a time of 1:57.90 to dominate the 200 breast after having been second in the 100. Georgia won both men’s relays, though five teams were disqualified in the process, including both schools’ A 200 medley squads.
Jordan Crooks unsurprisingly fueled Tennessee. He clocked in at 19.00 to win the 50 free ahead of Gui Caribe (second to Branzell in the 100). Crooks won the 100 fly in 46.43. The latter was a podium sweep, with Bjoern Kammann and Micah Chambers, but it was too little, too late.
Flynn Crisci won the 100 breast in 53.67. Bryden Hattie swept both diving events, topping 400 points (400.28) on 1-meter.
