Fleshner tops Helms in 3-meter

Round one goes to Aaron Fleshner. The defending SEC 1-meter champion from Alabama defeated Tennessee standout Ryan Helms in the 3-meter event during the first day of the Tennessee Invitational Thursday night at the Allen Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

Fleshner broke the pool record with 429.10 points. Helms, who held the previous record of 418.50, finished second at 398.50.

"Aaron and I are good friends that go back a long way," said Helms, the 2009 SEC Freshman Diver of the Year. "We have done some synchronized diving together. Every time we go head-to-head, it is really fun because he is great competition."

Alabama, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky are competing in the three-day event with Tennessee.

Kentucky leads the women's division with 326.5 followed by Virginia Tech (277), Alabama (234) and the Lady Vols (229.5). On the men's side, Kentucky is first with 362, followed by the Vols (278), Alabama (237) and Virginia Tech (186).

"It was a great head-to-head," said UT diving coach Dave Parrington. "Aaron was banged up a little from hurting himself while practicing a new dive, but he got up and scrapped with the SEC Champion.

Alabama's Carrie Dragland won the women's 1-meter diving with a narrow victory over Tennessee's Gabrielle Trudeau. Dragland finished at 302.40 with Trudeau at 292.30. Jody McGroarty of UT was third at 273.55.

"Gabrielle had a career high today and continues to show improvement which is very pleasing," said Parrington. "Jody continues to develop and dive well."

In swimming events, Alabama's Mark Randall set a new pool record in the men's 500 freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 17.46 seconds, breaking the previous best held by Tennessee's Geoff Sanders (4:17.46).

The Vols gained some momentum in the final event. UT's Ricky Henahan, Brad Craig, Mike Derocco, and Ed Walsh set a NCAA B-cut time of 3:16.81 with a win in the 400 medley.

"It was a nice end, picking up a win," said Vols coach John Trembley. "We're not where we want to be right now. Kentucky is a competitive, friendly rival. It's fun to be chasing."

Aleksa Akerfelds set a B-cut time in the women's 500 free prelimis at 4:51.95. She went on to finish sixth in the finals (4:53.03).

"We had some really good swims and some swims that seemed a little desperate," Lady Vols coach Matt Kredich said. "We have a lot more events to swim over the next two days and a lot more opportunities to learn. Our goal is to get better every meet. Our intensity was good today, but our focus needs to be better."

The Lady Vols were also second in the 200 free relay (1:34.16) and Michele King finished second in the 50 free (23.09).

Benjamin Dishong is a freelance contributor.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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