Pieroni Posts 19.65/43.07 as Indiana Men Sweep Tennessee and Kentucky

Tennessee vs Indiana vs Kentucky

• Friday, October 27th
• Knoxville, TN
• Short course yards
• Results

Team Scores

Men

• Indiana: 165, Tennessee: 135
• Indiana: 223, Kentucky: 84
• Tennessee: 216, Kentucky 84

Women

• Tennessee: 159, Indiana: 141
• Tennessee: 170, Kentucky: 130
• Indiana: 157, Kentucky: 143

Blake Pieroni continued his fast start to the season with 3 individual wins against Tennessee and Kentucky. Pieroni won the 50, 100, and 200 free in 19.65 (season best), 43.01 (season best), and 1:36.75. The IU men have now extended their dual meet win streak to 17.

Lilly King took the breaststroke events, going 59.44 in the 100, which is the fastest time in the nation this season. King also went 2:10.13 in the 200 breast, good for 7th in the nation this season.

The Tennessee men had their distance squad on display, with Taylor Abbott taking the 1000 free and 500 free, posting season best times of 9:07.14 and 4:25.63. Tennessee went 1-2 in the 1000 and got 1st and 3rd in the 500.

Tennessee’s Erika Brown put up fast times to win the women’s 100 fly (52.61) and 50 free (22.65).

Press Release – Indiana:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 1/7-ranked Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned three wins in a double-dual meet against No. 15/12 Tennessee and No. –/15 Kentucky on Friday afternoon at the Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn.

The No. 1-ranked Hoosier men (4-0) extended the team’s dual-meet win-streak to 17-straight, beating No. 15 Tennessee, 165-135, and Kentucky, 223-84.

The No. 7-ranked Indiana women took down No. 15 Kentucky, 157-143, but were edged by No. 12 Tennessee, 159-141. The Hoosier women move to 2-2 on the dual meet season.

Overall, the men’s and women’s squads combined to win 14 events on the afternoon. The Hoosiers continued to swim fast early in the season, posting seven times in the top-10 across the country, including two best times in the nation.

Blake Pieroni and Vini Lanza led the way for the Hoosiers, with each notching three individual wins apiece. Pieroni won the 50 free (19.65), 100 free (43.07) and 200 free (1:36.75) with NCAA B cut times. His times in the 50 and 100 are the third-fastest times in the country this year.

Lanza touched first in the 100 fly (46.90), 200 fly (1:44.18) and 200 IM (1:47.18) for Indiana with NCAA B cut marks. Lanza posted the fourth-best times in the country with his time in the 200 fly.

Mohamed Samy swept the backstroke events for IU, winning the 100 (47.99) and 200 (1:45.65) with NCAA B cut times. Ian Finnerty had a great showing for the Hoosiers in the 100 breast, winning with the top-time in the nation – 53.19.

Lilly King touched first in both breaststroke events for the Indiana women’s team, winning the 100 breast (59.44) with the fastest-time in the nation. The Evansville, Ind. native then won the 200 breast with a NCAA B cut of 2:10.13 – the sixth-best time in the country.

Shelby Koontz notched the other swimming win for the IU women, touching the wall in the 200 fly with a time of 1:59.67.

Kennedy Goss posted a pair of NCAA B cut times, placing second in both the 200 free (1:47.69) and the 200 back (1:56.66). Christine Jensen also recorded a NCAA B cut, placing second in the 100 fly with a time of 54.30. For the IU men, Ali Khalafalla touched second in the 50 free with a NCAA B cut mark of 19.66 that ranks as the fourth-best time in the country this season.

In the diving well, Jessica Parratto continued her strong start to the season, notching a pair of NCAA Zones qualifying scores. Parratto won the 1-meter dive with a score of 302.35 and took second in the 3-meter with a total of 297.20.

Olympians Michael Hixon and James Connor made their season debuts for Indiana, posting NCAA Zones qualifying scores in both events.

Hixon won the 3-meter dive with a total of 404.00 and took second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 408.85. Connor placed third on both events, totaling a 390.30 in the 1-meter and a 387.50 in the 3-meter.

In the relay, the Hoosier women won the 200 medley relay, as the team of Ali Rockett, King, Jensen and Grace Hasketttouched the wall with a time of 1:38.20. The men’s 400 freestyle relay of Khalafalla, Samy, Bruno Blaskovic and Pieroni won with a mark of 2:55.04.

The No. 1/7 Indiana Hoosiers men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be back in action on Thursday, Nov. 9 when IU hosts Cincinnati and No. 14/10 Notre Dame in a double-dual meet in Bloomington, Ind. at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center.

Press Release – Tennessee:

Knoxville, Tenn. — The Tennessee women swept and the men split in a double dual meet against Indiana and Kentucky on Friday at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

With five event victories and plenty of second- and third-place finishes throughout the meet, the Tennessee women (4-1, 1-1 SEC) defeated Indiana 166-134 and Kentucky 170-130. The Tennessee men (4-1, 2-0 SEC) beat Kentucky 216-84 but lost to top-ranked Indiana 165-135.

Sophomore Erika Brown led the way for the Lady Vols on Friday, winning the 50-yard freestyle (22.65 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (52.61). She also took second in the 100 freestyle, which was won by sophomore teammate Stanzi Moseley (49.35).

On the women’s side, Tennessee also got victories from Ana Celaya Hernandez on 3-meter springboard (316.30) and the 400 freestyle relay team in 3:20.85.

The Vols won four events on the men’s side, highlighted by a two-win day by sophomore Taylor Abbott. Abbott swept the distance races, taking first in the 1000 freestyle (9:07.14) and the 500 freestyle (4:25.63).

The Vols’ team of Braga Verhage, Peter John Stevens, Ryan Coetzee and Kyle DeCoursey opened the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay (1:26.22), just beating out Indiana at the wall.

Tennessee also got individual victories from junior Matthew Dunphy in the 200 breaststroke (1:59.45) in a close race against Ian Finnerty and redshirt junior Colin Zeng on the 1-meter springboard (414.35). Senior Sam McHugh took three second-place finishes in the 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and 200 IM.

INSIDE DIVING: The men’s diving competition featured three NCAA champions and two Olympians. Junior Colin Zeng recorded his second 400-point score of the season, placing second in the 3-meter springboard in 400.70. NCAA champion and U.S. Olympian Michael Hixon won in 400.70.

Zeng took first over Hixon in the 1-meter springboard (414.35).

Freshman Ana Celaya Hernandez earned her first college win in the women’s 3-meter (316.30). In the women’s 1-meter, Hernandez was second and Rachel Rubadue was third.

UP NEXT: Tennessee returns to the road for a dual meet at Louisville on Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern.

QUOTES

Head Coach Matt Kredich

(Opening Statement)
“If I look at the whole picture, we took some big steps forward today. Especially when we lose a close meet, it’s easily to look at places where we could have done better and that’s one of the benefits of competition. We definitely see some places where we could have been better. I really like the identity of our team and how it’s grown into a strong, whole group idea of being a team of competitors. We don’t back off. We win close races and we’re starting to show some depth too. That’s a change especially for our men’s team but I’m also seeing it on the women’s side too. We’re having a lot of young people step into leadership roles and even people like Matthew Dunphy when he took on a big 200 breaststrokers and he showed a lot of heart and won that race.”

(On Erika Brown and Taylor Abbott‘s two-win days)
“They’ve both stepped up this year and become really aggressive competitors. Erika continues to be someone we rely on in races. The 50 free. The 100 free. She’s developing into an extraordinary sprinter. Taylor appears to be on a mission as well this season. He learns from every race. You can see him getting better every week both in training and in meets.

Diving Coach Dave Parrington

(On men’s events)
“First of all, the men’s 1-meter was a really good event. It was good to see Colin step up and win against a phenomenal field of divers. There were four guys in that event were top eight at NCAAs in the finals. Just to see them lift their competitive edges. Liam had a tough one. He threw two dives we haven’t gotten off until today. He was feeling it a little bit and those were the two dives he happened to miss. Colin’s victory was fantastic. Same on 3-meter. Some really good stuff. He didn’t get the win but it was a really good event. Our young guys did some good stuff. It was good to see Will Hallam in his first competition for the University of Tennessee.

(On Hernandez’ first college win)
“I would describe this as a breakout day for her. As a freshman, she had a tough opening meet at Auburn on the road. She came back and has worked diligently on her mental game, working with Dr. (Joe) Whitney. She was extremely composed today. … Rachel had a really strong day. She was second on 1-meter and third on 3-meter.

Press Release – Kentucky:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Kentucky swimming and diving program dropped its first road meet of the season on Friday afternoon, falling to Indiana and Tennessee. The No. 15 UK women’s team (2-2, 1-1 SEC) tightly competed, but ultimately fell to the No. 12 Volunteers 170-130 and the No. 8 Hoosiers 155-145. The men’s team (1-2, 0-1 SEC) was defeated by top-ranked IU 223-77, and by No. 15 Tennessee 216-84.

“A little disappointed with how we performed today,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “We had to be really good today against two really good programs and we were just kind of average. Average doesn’t win.”

“Ali Galyer was awesome today and Asia Seidt was great, turning in some of her best in-season times that she’s ever done. So, those were kind of the stand-outs on the women’s side. I thought Glen Brown and Jason Head competed well today for the men today. So there’s always some positives, but we need to be a little better top to bottom and we’ll get a chance to do that next week.”

Seidt was a top contributor for the women’s team, posting three individual victories and as many NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the outing. The sophomore swept the backstroke events in the process, first winning the 100-yard backstroke in 53.33 before taking the 200 back in 1:55.98. Her final individual win came in the 200 individual medley, with a time of 1:58.83.

Galyer had a pair of wins in the meet, touching the wall first in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle races. In the 200 free, the sophomore out-touched IU’s Kennedy Goss to take the victory with a ‘B’ cut time of 1:47.57. She also edged out Goss in the 500, winning with a time of 4:50.81.

Junior captain Geena Freriks added a victory for the women’s team in the 1000 free, coming in at 9:58.23. She also added a third-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 4:54.30.

On the men’s side, Brown had a second-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:38.25, coming in only behind Olympic gold medalist Blake Pieroni from Indiana. Sophomore Jason Head came in third behind Brown in the 200 at 1:39.06. Brown added a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.30.

In a stacked men’s diving field that included five All-Americans, two NCAA national champions and Oympians, junior captain Seb Masterton led the UK men on both the 1- and 3-meter springboards. He turned in a fourth-place finish on 1-meter with a score of 369.00, and finished fifth on 3-meter at 358.05.

The Wildcats will be back in action Nov. 3-4, traveling to Carbondale, Illinois, to take on Southern Illinois, Northwestern and Missouri in a two-day quad meet, Nov. 3-4.

For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at UKathletics.com.