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Old habits are hard to break.

For Tennessee captain Christine Magnuson it's swimming fast.

For Michele King it's tying.

Magnuson and King each qualified for the NCAA 100-yard freestyle championship race Saturday at Ohio State's aquatic center.

Magnuson grabbed the No. 5 spot as Auburn's Karen Denby set the pace in 47.92 seconds.

King's place in the final didn't come as easy. She and Auburn's Emily Kukors each swam the qualifier in 48.54. King was awarded the eighth qualifying spot because she had a faster leadoff leg in 400 freestyle relay qualifying.

In the 100 freestyle championship race, Magnuson moved up to third (48.15), a night after winning the 100 butterfly. King also improved her standing, taking sixth in 48.26. Arizona's Lacy Nymeyer won the 100 in 47.50. Denby was fourth.

Magnuson and King teamed with Carly Mathes and Brittany Nauta to qualify fourth in the relay, the meet's final event. But the Lady Vols swam almost two seconds slower in the championship race and finished eighth, one spot behind Georgia. The Lady Dawgs, who qualified eighth in the relay, took seventh.

Tennessee scored 179.5 points, the most since 1996 when they had 186, and finished in eighth place - its highest finish since 1989 when Dave Roach's team was fourth.

Arizona won the team title with 484 points and defending champion Auburn was next with 348. Then came Stanford (343), Texas A&M (315), Cal (291), Florida (277.5), Georgia (198), Tennessee (179.5), Michigan (130) and Indiana (120).

Magnuson won the SEC 100 freestyle last month and King finished in a tie for third.

Guess who tied King? Denby.

UT freshman Aleksa Akderfelds (16:07.20) placed ninth in the 1,650 freestyle, which was won by Southern Cal's Lauren Boyle in 16:01.80.

Two more NCAA records fell Saturday - Southern Cal's Rebecca Soni in the 200 breaststroke (2:06.11) and Arizona's 400 freestyle relay team with a 3:12.13.

Florida's Gemma Spofforth (1:50.70) won the 200 backstroke and Oregon State's Saori Haruguchi the 200 butterfly (1:52.39).

Lady Vols coach Matt Kredich was elated with his team's performance.

"Tonight I thought we raced really well," he said. "For Michele to get faster again and Christine get third (in the 100-yard sprint) was great."

For Magnuson, who swam on the U.S. National team last summer in Japan, her next goal will be seeking a spot on the U.S. team for the 2008 Olympics.

Magnuson has some of the world's fastest times in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, which she swam at the SEC meet last month in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

King is another who hopes to earn a U.S. team spot in the freestyle sprints or 100 breaststroke.

"This has been an incredibly rewarding season for Jen (assistant Jennifer Arndt)," Kredich said. "We've seen a big change in the culture of the team and we haven't had to push it. It's been a rewarding year because the team has taken over protecting the culture - which is attitude, work eathic and accountability, whereas before we felt like we had to push it.

"The identity that this team has created is something that all of Tennessee should be proud of."

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.