Isabel Ivey, Jake Mitchell Shine as Florida Sweeps Tennessee, Kentucky; Crooks Edges Liendo in Rematch
The University of Florida took care of business against a pair of SEC rivals Friday in Knoxville, Tenn., with the Gators sweeping both the Tennessee Volunteers and Kentucky Wildcats. The Florida women, led by Isabel Ivey, took down Tennessee 193-107, and they crushed Kentucky 241-59. Tennessee won a 228-72 victory over Kentucky.
On the men’s side, Florida won a 169-131 meet against Tennessee, with Olympian Jake Mitchell among the Gators’ standouts, but it was Tennessee winning two of the three high-profile sprint showdowns on the day thanks to the efforts of NCAA champion Jordan Crooks. Meanwhile, Florida’s men beat Kentucky 241-59 and the Tennessee men won 228-72 over the Wildcats.
Florida’s women came from behind to beat Tennessee in the 200 medley relay. The Gators trailed the Lady Vols after Bella Sims, Molly Mayne and Olivia Peoples swam their legs, but Micayla Cronk closed in 22.13 to secure a win in 1:37.37, with Tennessee’s top group coming in at 1:37.63.
Ivey, a senior transfer, notched three individual wins. She topped the 100 backstroke in 52.26, the 100 freestyle in 48.77 and 100 butterfly in 52.52. In that last effort, Ivey overtook teammate Peoples down the stretch, with Peoples finishing seven hundredths behind (52.59) for a Gators 1-2.
Sims also won twice for Florida, first topping the 200 butterfly (1:54.05) and then 200 backstroke (1:52.93). The two Florida standouts then combined to help the Gators dominate the 400 free relay. Ivey led off in 48.59, quicker than her time from the individual 100 free, and Ekaterina Nikonova, Cronk and Sims finished off a 3:15.48 triumph.
The Gators went 1-2 in the 1000 free as Caroline Pennington won in 9:48.14 with teammate Anna Auld second (9:52.05). Cronk won the 50 free in 222.53, touching out the Tennessee duo of Camille Spink (22.58) and Mona McSharry (22.60). Emma Weyant led a Florida sweep in the 500 free as she won in 4:45.81 while Auld and Jo Jo Ramey tied for second in 4:51.70. Camyla Monroy won 1-meter diving (291.55).
Spink, fresh off a Pan American Games appearance for Team USA, held off Weyant to win the 200 free for Tennessee, clocking 1:46.65 to Weyant’s 1:47.01. McSharry went under the 1:00-barrier in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.65. McSharry won again in the 200 breast in 2:12.68, and Josephine Fuller broke 2:00 for a 200 IM win (1:59.29). Tennessee’s Tanesha Lucoe won 3-meter diving (303.80).
The men’s meet opened with a high-flying sprint showdown in the 200 medley relay. The Gators and Volunteers are likely to be among the country’s top groups by the end of the season, and the finish here came down to eight hundredths. This matchup went to Florida, with the team of Adam Chaney, Aleksas Savickas, Josh Liendo and Macguire McDuff clocking 1:25.91 and Tennessee’s Harrison Lierz, Flynn Crisci, Crooks and Gui Caribe going 1:25.99. Caribe flew home in 19.11, but McDuff did enough to hold him off with a 19.25 effort.
In another high-profile sprint showdown, two of the top-three swimmers ever in the 50 freestyle faced off. Last season, Crooks joined former Gators legend Caeleb Dressel as the only swimmers ever under 18 before he edged out Liendo for the NCAA title. Liendo owns a best time of 18.22 in the splash-and-dash. As the two raced for the first but certainly not last time this season, Crooks got the job done in 19.02 while Liendo came in second at 19.28. Later on, Crooks would make it a sprint double as he went 42.57 to win the 100 free, with Caribe going 43.14 for second place and a Tennessee 1-2.
Finally, with the meet’s outcome already secured the two schools squared off in the 400 free relay. This time, Florida led by three-quarters of a second at the final exchange before Caribe powered home with a 42.01 split to bring Tennessee a tenth ahead, 2:54.04 to 2:54.14. Crooks, Micah Chambers, Bjoern Kammann and Caribe swam for Tennessee while Liendo, Chaney, McDuff and Julian Smith raced for the Gators.
For Florida, Mitchell kicked off his day with a win in the 200 free, clocking 1:35.92. He later led the way in the 500 free in 4:23.56, with Andrew Taylor taking second for the Gators (4:24.87). Savickas hit the pad first in the 100 breast (54.35) and 200 breast (1:58.11). Savickas won a showdown with teammate Peter Bretzmann in the longer race, with Bretzmann going 1:58.35 for second and Raphael Rached Windmuller making it a Florida 1-2-3 (2:00.48).
Jonny Marshall was a third individual double-winner for Florida as he topped the both the 100 back (46.80) and 200 back (1:44.44). Florida’s Taylor grabbed the win in the 1000 free in 9:03.97, and Liendo claimed his only individual win with a 46.55 performance in the 100 fly, with teammate Smith second (47.97). Peyton Donald won 1-meter diving (356.35).
Martin Espernberger took the win for Tennessee in the 200 fly with a time of 1:44.46, and Landon Driggers got to the wall first in the 200 IM (1:48.48). Bryden Hattie won 3-meter diving (414.35).