Tennessee Knocks Off Georgia Behind Jordan Crooks, Gui Caribe, Abby Samansky
Tennessee’s women and men earned home dual meet victories over Georgia. Sprinters Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe continuing their strong seasons in pacing the Volunteer men to a 183-117 win while Abby Samansky won two races in Tennessee’s 180-120 victory.
Crooks led the way in the 100 backstroke (46.32) and 100 butterfly (45.71), and Caribe swam a strong time of 19.30 in winning the 50 freestyle and then 42.80 in the 100 free. Bjoern Kammann, Michael Houlie, Santos and Caribe dominated the 200 medley relay in 1:24.40, and at the end of the day, Caribe, Kammann, Aleksey Tarasenko and Crooks won the 400 free relay in 2:52.57 with Crooks splitting an insane time of 41.87 coming home.
Rafael Ponce de Leon won their first men’s individual event of the day with a six-second victory over Georgia star Jake Magahey in the 1000 free, touching in 8:59.69. Jarel Dillard beat Houlie by three hundredths in the 100 breaststroke, 52.91 to 52.94, for a Tennessee 1-2 finish, and the Vols repeated the result in the 200 breast as Lyubomir Epitropov won in 1:57.49 while Dillard placed second (1:57.71). Bryden Hattie claimed two diving wins, on 1-meter (385.73) and 3-meter (403.80).
The Bulldogs did pick up plenty of individual wins, led by Magahey’s efforts in the 200 free (1:36.17) and 500 free (4:22.76). Andrew Abruzzo topped the 200 fly (1:45.31), and Bradley Dunham captured the 200 fly (1:42.64). Finally, Zack Hils won the 200 IM in 1:47.11.
The Tennessee women saw Samansky win the 200 free (1:47.03) and 100 free (49.61), with Brooklyn Douthwright taking second in both races. Veteran Kristen Stege pulled away to win the 1000 free in 9:46.49, and in the backstroke races, Olivia Harper won the 100 (52.86) and Josephine Fuller took the 200 (1:54.62). Mona McSharry was victorious in the 100 breast (59.74) in a tight affair with Georgia’s Zoie Hartman (59.95). Emma Carlton came in at 53.51 to win the 100 fly, and Tanesha Lucoe won 1-meter diving (329.78).
Fuller, McSharry, Carlton and Jasmine Rumley won the 200 medley relay in 1:37.68, and the Tennessee team of Amber Myers, Annie Rimmer, Carlton and Natalie Ungaretti finished off the meet with a tight win over Georgia’s top squad in the 400 free relay, 3:20.18 to 3:20.30.
For Georgia, Callie Dickinson took the 200 fly (1:58.84), and Eboni McCarty went 22.75 to win the 50 free. Hartman won by three tenths over McSharry in the 200 breast, 2:10.75 to 2:11.05, and she later captured the 200 IM in1:59.16. Dune Coetzee led a 1-2-3 finish for the Bulldogs in the 500 free, winning in 4:45.48.
