Lady Vols finish 13th in NCAA swimming

Freshman Gabrielle Trudeau of Tennessee placed fifth in the consolation final of the platform competition and 13th overall Saturday at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in College Station, Texas.

She finished with a score of 285.15 points at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium and became the 10th Lady Vols diver to earn All-America honors under diving coach Dave Parrington.

"It was very pleasing to see Gabbi bounce back after having a subpar first couple of days here," Parrington said. "She maintained a positive outlook, got tough and came up strong on the platform. I told her I couldn't be more proud of her. To come to her first NCAA championships and get All-America honors is a great experience and the lessons she's learned here will be hugely beneficial next year."

The Lady Vols scored 107 points to finish 13th. It's the fourth straight season Tennessee has finished in the top-15 at the NCAA championships - all coming in Lady Vols coach Matt Kredich's first four seasons. UT had accomplished that feat only once before (1994-97).

California was first with 411.5 with Georgia was second (400.5) and Arizona third (389).

Meanwhile, the 400-yard free relay of freshman Jenny Connolly, junior Michele King and seniors Brittany Nauta and Katie Gehring finished fourth in the consolation finals in 3 minutes, 15.96 seconds for 12th overall.

The foursome finished third in their heat in the prelims in 3:15.91, the second-fastest in school history. King led off the relay by setting the UT record in the 100 free (47.93). The old record was 48.08 set by Christine Magnuson at the 2008 SEC championships.

"We had four great performances on the relay tonight," Kredich said. "All four were right on their personal-best splits ever. We have a whole lot to look forward to for next year's NCAA meet. We learned a lot at this meet that will help us out a year from now."

Also, sophomore Aleksa Akerfelds was 27th in the 1650 free in 16:18.91.

Men's Tennis: The fourth-ranked UT men's tennis team advanced to the finals of the Blue Gray Tennis Classic by defeating No. 30 Auburn, 4-2 at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Ala.

The Vols (12-3) play No. 24 Alabama in the championship match today.

UT won the doubles point, including an 8-5 victory by Matt Brewer and Bryan Swartz at the No. 3 position.

UT had singles victories by John-Patrick Smith, Boris Conkic, Matteo Fago and Christian Hansen.

Men's Golf: UT trails co-leaders South Carolina and Florida by one stroke heading into today's final round of the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.

The Vols, who started the day up by three, shot 5-over-par 293 and are at 4-over 580.

Freshman Darren Renwick matched his career best with a 2-under 70 and move into a tie for 11th with teammates Robin Wingardh (75), who was tied for the lead after the first round, and Chris Paisley (73) at even 144 and four shots back.

Also for UT, James Brannen (75) is tied for 40th at 148 and David Holmes (75) is tied for 56th.

Men's Track: The UT men's track and field team got its outdoor campaign off to a good start Friday by winning eight events and posting four NCAA regional qualifying marks at the Bulls Invitational in Tampa, Fla.

The meet capped four days of training in Southwest Florida.

"We had a good week," UT coach Bill Webb said. "We trained hard, conditioned and made some technical improvements, but I think we were a little worn out by the heat at the end of the week. We managed four regional qualifiers and ended up with a pretty good spring break."

Regional qualifiers included Charlton Rolle, who finished second in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.07, John Hewitt, who won the 400 hurdles in 52.47, Joseph Franklin, who won the 800 in 1:50.20, and Nick Panezich, who won the shot put in 58 feet, 8.75 inches.

Rowing: UT opened its spring rowing schedule, dropping two close races to Minnesota on Lake Loudoun. The Lady Vols sported revamped lineups from last season and incorporated six novice rowers into the shells.

"I want to give Minnesota a lot of credit, they were just solid today," UT coach Lisa Glenn said. "They executed some great racing and I think we were a solid competitor for them in the varsity eight and the second eight and we're looking to bring the four up to that level. This was really good racing on the part of both teams, particularly in the varsity eight and the 2V8+ races. Minnesota was obviously strong and dominated the overall event."