Gators edge Vols in dual-meet finale

Tennessee's dual meet season in men's swimming ended on a sour note Friday with a 159.5-140.5 loss to Florida at Gainesville, Fla.

"Hats off to the Gators," said UT coach John Trembley. "It was a hard fought meet by two great teams."

Despite the loss, Trembley said swimming at Florida was a good learning experience headed into the SEC Championships on Feb. 18-21 at Auburn.

"It was good for this team to be in a combative environment," said Trembley. "We'll see more of the same when we go to the SEC's in few weeks."

The Vols had their share of outstanding performances.

Sophomore Carl Jones swam the 1,000 freestyle in 9 minutes. 9.88 seconds to put him fourth in the UT record book at that length.

Brad Craig won both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes in 54.42 and 1:57.85 respectively.

Jonas Persson won the 50 and 100 freestyles, 19.84 and 42.93.

Nolan Morrell went 48.25 to take the 100 backstroke.

Michael Muscari finished first on the 3-meter board.

Men's Track: Tennessee's Michael Ayers is in second place with 3,028 points after the first day of the JRF Multi-Event Challenge at Clemson, S.C. He trails Clemson's Miller Moss (3,092).

Ayers ran a career best 7.11 seconds in the 60 meters.

Women's Track: Lynne Layne ran the 60 in 7.46 to finish fourth at the Penn State National Invitational in University Park, Pa. She had the Lady Vols' top finish in the indoor meet that continues today.