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Captains Magnuson, Wolfe win at SEC
Lady Vol breaks meet record in 100 butterfly
Just call her Madam Butterfly.
Tennessee Lady Vol Christine Magnuson is the new owner of the SEC 100-yard butterfly record.
On Friday night at the University of Alabama aquatic center, the senior leader of coach Matt Kredich's Lady Vols took it from Georgia's Mary DeScenza, who set the mark in 2004.
Magnuson, the team captain, won her second individual event in two nights with a 51.00-second swim -.70 of a second faster than DeScenza's record.
Michael Wolfe, the Vols' captain, also won his only individual race of the night - taking the 100-yard backstroke in 47.36 seconds - .05 faster than Florida's Rexford Tullius.
It was a record-breaking night, especially for the women. Magnuson accounted for one of four -Auburn's Ava Ohlgren (400 individual medley) and Emily Kukors (200 freestyle) and Florida's Gemma Spofforth (100 backstroke).
The men established one - Auburn's Alexei Puninski in the 100 butterfly.
While he didn't win, the Vols' Octavio was fifth in the men's butterfly race - just hours after being hospitalized because of flu-like symptoms. Alesi qualified third in prelims (46.96).
Coach John Trembley also got big-point swims from Nolan Morrell and Jonas Persson in the 200 freestyle - second and fourth, respectively. Morrell 's 1:34.29 was .06 of a second off the winning time.
The Lady Vols' Michele King qualified first in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.82) but Kara Denby of Auburn (1:00.37) and Georgia's Kelly McNichols (1:00.43) beat King to the wall in the championship race.
Magnuson qualified first in the 100 butterfly with a clocking of 51.48 seconds.
While Magnuson, who represented the U.S. in Japan last summer, is an excellent sprint freestyler, she says the "100 butterfly is my favorite event. She said she planned on "getting t done in the morning (qualifying) and then do it again at night. We're having a great meet so far and anything can happen."
Magnuson's victory was the fourth of the meet for the Lady Vols, who had three Thursday (50 freestyle, 3-meter diving and 200 freestyle relay)
Magnuson said of her Thursday night swims: "The competition in the SEC really brings out the best in everybody. The final heat of the 50 freestyle is an amazing group of women.
"The relay was amazing," she said at UT press release. "All four of us (including King, Carly Mathes and Brittany Nauta) brought everything we had. It was incredible."
Freshman Aleksa Akerfelds, who was third in the 500 freestyle Thursday, finished third in the 400 individual medley (4:13.12) as Ohlgren won Friday's opening event in 4:05.78.
"Aleksa's swim (in the 500 free) was not a freshman swim," Kredich said. She just took charge of that race from the beginning and was not afraid to be in the front of some really heavy hitters. She gets better with every swim."
The Lady Vols finished fith in the 400 medley relay. Because swimmers are limited to the number of races, he used three freshmen on the relay which had a time of 3:43.70.
Notes: Lauren LeRoy's 3-meter diving title is the 28th in the SEC that his UT divers have earned since joining the Tennessee staff in 1990.
Akerfelds began the morning session by breaking the oldest record in the UT record books, the 400 IM. Her 4:15.28 wiped out the 4:15.57 by Stephanie Brinser at the 1989 NCAA Championships.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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