Jordan Crooks Shines Again as Tennessee Men Win Against Louisville; Cardinal Women Beat Volunteers
In an SEC-ACC showdown Thursday afternoon in Louisville, the Tennessee men got the better of the Cardinals by a 176-to-124 margin while the home team emerged victorious on the women’s side, 163 to 137. The headliner for the Tennessee men was sophomore Jordan Crooks, who won a pair of individual events and helped the Volunteers to a pair of relay wins.
Crooks, who tied for third at the NCAA Championships in the 50 freestyle last year as part of a huge freshman campaign, won the splash-and-dash in 19.35, one hundredth quicker than his previous season-best mark (achieved twice already this month). Nationally, Crooks sits behind only Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger (19.29). Right behind was Tennessee freshman Gui Caribe, whose mark of 19.40 made him third-best in the nation. Later, Crooks won the 100 butterfly in 46.04, quicker than any other time in a non-intrasquad meet this year.
The Tennessee men’s team of Harrison Lierz, Michael Houlie, Crooks and Caribe won the 200 medley relay in 1:25.66, with Crooks splitting 20.76 on fly and Caribe coming home in 18.87. And at the end of the meet, with a Volunteers win already secured, Crooks entered the water to anchor his team’s 400 free relay more than a second-and-a-half behind Louisville, but he annihilated a 41.62 anchor split to vault ahead of Louisville anchor Michael Eastman and win by more than a second. Aleksey Tarasenko, Bjoern Kammann, Joaquin Vargas and Crooks combined for a time of 2:54.64.
Additionally for Tennessee, Caribe was the winner of the 100 free by more than a second-and-a-half in 42.81, and Jarel Dillard out-touched Louisville’s Denis Petrashov in the 100 breaststroke, 53.62 to 53.70. Lierz led a Volunteers 1-2-3 finish in the 200 back with his mark of 1:46.07, and Epitropov, Lyubomir went 1:58.85 for the win in the 200 breast. Vargas was an individual winner in the 500 free (4:24.55), and Gus Rothrock touched out Lierz for the 200 IM win, 1:49.68 to 1:49.73.
Louisville saw Ilia Sibirtsev take the win in the 1000 free (9:06.57), and immediately after, Murilo Sartori won the 200 free (1:36.28) and Dalton Lowe took the 100 back (47.53). Gustavo Saldo would later win the 200 fly (1:47.21), but despite Adam Sneden contributing to the Cardinals’ cause with wins in diving on both the 1-meter (349.65) and 3-meter (349.80) boards, Louisville would not win another men’s swimming event as Tennessee pulled away.
In the women’s competition, juniors Gabi Albiero and Tristen Ulett were the stars for Louisville. Albiero won the 50 free (22.55) and 100 free (49.37), with Christina Regenauer taking second in both races for the Cardinals. Ulett comfortably won the 200 fly in 1:58.33 before adding another win in the 100 fly in 53.07, touching first by almost two seconds.
Louisville’s only other win in an individual swimming event outside of Albiero or Ulett did not come until the 500 free, where Paige Kuwata went 4:51.40 for a three-second win. In diving, Lindsay Gizzi won 1-meter (282.15) while Jiselle Miller took first on 3-meter (303.38), and the Cardinals were dominant in the relays. Abby Hay, Cecilia Viberg, Regenauer and Albiero won the 200 medley relay in 1:38.65, and at the end of the meet, Albiero, Regenauer, Julia Dennis and Ulett dominated the 400 free relay in 3:17.88.
Tennessee kept the meet close thanks a huge effort from Josephine Fuller, who captured three events on her own: the 100 back (53.35), 200 back (1:56.45) and 200 IM (2:01.28). Mona McSharry cruised to first in the 100 breast in 1:00.79, and she later won the 200 breast in 2:12.94. In the 1000 free, Kristen Stege beat Kuwata by almost two seconds with a time of 9:53.58, and Vols teammates Julia Burroughs and Brooklyn Douthwright tied for the win in the 200 free in 1:48.79.