Tennessee vs Georgia
- January 23rd, 2022
- Athens, Georgia
- SCY Dual Meet
- Team Scores
- Men: Georgia 169.5 Tennessee 129.5
- Women: Tennessee 163 Georgia 135
- Full results
The University of Tennessee traveled south to Athens, Georgia on Saturday for an SEC showdown. The Tennessee women left Athens victorious, while the Georgia men emerged victorious over the Volunteer men.
Men’s Meet
The Georgia men topped Tennessee for the third consecutive year, with their stout sophomore class leading the way.
Sophomore 500 free NCAA Champion Jake Magahey won two individual events on Saturday, the 200 and 500 free, and also finished in second in the 1000. Magahey’s day started with the 1000, where he paired with teammate Tommylee Camblong for a 1-2 Georgia finish. Camblong, a sophomore classmate of Magahey from France, took the win in 9:06.67 to Magahey’s 9:10.97. Magahey, a native of Dacula, Georgia, then returned to win the 200 free, the very next event, in 1:35.76. Magahey closed out his day with a win in the 500, winning in 4:22.80.
Those swims are Magahey’s first races since early November after he notably missed Georgia’s mid-season invite with a non-COVID illness.
Georgia’s other superstar sophomore, Luca Urlando, also won multiple individual events, sweeping the butterfly races on Saturday. In his signature event, the 200 fly, the Sacramento, California native led wire to wire to win by over a second in 1:44.41. In the 100 fly, Urlando also won by over a second, touching in 46.37. Urlando’s season bests stand at 1:42.09 in the 200 fly and 45.61 in the 100, both from Georgia’s dual with Florida.
The Bulldogs also featured a high-profile freshman return, with Reese Branzell swimming in his first meet in months after spending time out with illness. Branzell anchored Georgia’s winning 200 medley relay in 19.54, and split 43.67 on their winning 400 free relay. Individually, Branzell swam the 200 free in 1:38.75, but then put up a massive 43.97 to finish second in the 100 free.
Both of the Manalapan, Florida native’s individual swims were just off of his lifetimes and he should provide a massive boost in the spring semester for the Bulldogs. His South African classmate Matt Sates, the SCM World Junior Record holder in the 200 free, 400 free and 200 IM, will also debut for the Bulldogs soon and should be a shot in the arm for a team that finished fourth at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Leading the way for the Volunteers was freshman sprinter Jordan Crooks, who swept the sprint freestyles. Crooks, a native of the Cayman Islands, started his day with a win in the 50 free in 20.02. He followed up that win with another first place finish in the 100 free, touching in 43.84, just ahead of Georgia’s Branzell.
Tennessee’s breaststroke group also continued their impressive season, with senior Jarel Dillard winning the 100 breast and tying for the win in the 200 breast. The Hendersonville, Tennessee native dominated the 100 breast, touching in 52.47, nearly 9 tenths ahead of classmate Michael Houlie. He later returned to tie teammate Brett Champlin in the 200 breast, with both touching in 1:57.73. Dillard currently sits 11th in the NCAA in the 100 breast with a 51.68 and 24th in the 200 breast with a 1:54.58.
Other individual event winners:
- 100 back: Sam Parker (Georgia): 47.90
- 1 meter diving: Bryden Hattie (Tennessee): 350.48
- 200 back: Ian Grum (Georgia): 1:43.58
- 3 meter diving: Bryden Hattie (Tennessee): 381.45
- 200 IM: Zach Hils (Georgia): 1:46.82
Women’s Meet
The women’s meet was a tale of two halves, with the Bulldogs dominating to start the meet, but Tennessee storming back after the first break to win the meet.
The Georgia Bulldogs started off the meet with a narrow win in the 200 medley relay, with the quartet of Eboni McCarty, Harri Evans, Dakota Luther and Gabi Fa’Amausili just outtouching Tennessee, 1:39.17 to 1:39.25. Georgia got out to a quick start and held an almost full second lead at the 100, but a 23.67 fly split from Ellen Walshe got the Lady Vols back in the race before Fa’Amausili held off Tennessee’s Jasmine Rumley for the win.
The Lady Volunteers struck back in the 1000 free, with All American Kristen Stege winning in 9:42.33, 7 seconds ahead of Georgia star freshman Abby McCulloh. Stege was out quick, turning three seconds ahead of McCulloh at the 200 point and essentially holding that lead for the remainder of the race.
Georgia would go on to win the next five events, with freshman Briana Roberson winning the 200 free in 1:46.91, her freshman classmate Eboni McCarty winning the 100 back in 53.27, junior Zoie Hartman winning the 100 breast, senior Dakota Luther winning the 200 fly in 1:56.20 and sophomore Maxine Parker winning the 50 free in 22.42, giving the Bulldogs the lead heading into the meet’s first break.
Hartman, Luther and Parker are all several-time All Americans for the Bulldogs, while Roberson and McCarty are both part of a deep and talented Georgia freshman class, which was ranked 6th in the nation heading into the season.
Georgia picked up where they left off after the break, with Parker, a native of Bannockburn, Illinois winning the 100 free in 49.24 to complete the sprint sweep. After Parker’s second win, however, the Lady Vols stormed back, letting Georgia win only one event the rest of the way.
Tennessee freshman Summer Smith started the comeback, leading a 1-2-3 Lady Vol in the 200 back. The Agawam, Massachusetts native touched first in 1:56.91, with teammates Danika Katzer and Bayley Stewart touching in 2nd and 3rd.
Tennessee’s second half charge was led by freshman Ellen Walshe who won both of her individual events in the back half of the meet. Walshe led a 1-2-3 Tennessee finish in the 100 fly, touching first in 52.91, ahead of teammates Trude Rothrock and Mallory Beil. The Irish National Team member then returned in the very next event, the 200 IM, to win a showdown with Georgia All American Zoie Hartman, 1:57.47 to 1:59.71.
The Lady Vols also finished 1-2 in the 400 free relay after Georgia DQ’d both their A and B relays. Tennessee fifth year senior and Slovenian Olympian Tjasa Pintar had the field’s fastest split with her 49.19 anchor on Tennessee’s A relay, with Texas A&M transfer Emma Carlton putting up an impressive 49.79 on the second leg of Tennessee’s B relay.
Other individual events winners:
- 3 meter diving: Grace Cable (Tennessee): 309.08
- 200 breast: Zoie Hartman (Georgia): 2:10.68
- 500 free: Julia Mrozinski (Tennessee): 4:47.99
- 1 meter diving: Meghan Wenzel (Georgia): 294.75
Tennessee returns to action on Saturday when Division II Carson-Newman visits Knoxville for senior day, while Georgia will welcome Emory to Athens next Saturday.