Tennessee
Jordan Crooks, Mona McSharry Tally Season-Best Times in Tennessee's Sweep of LSU
Tennessee vs. LSU
- Jan. 27, 2024
- Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center
- SCY (25 yards)
- PDF results
- Team scores
- Men: No. 6 Tennessee 196, LSU 104
- Women: No. 10 Tennessee 204, No. 23 LSU 94
Jordan Crooks continues to make remarkable times seem routine.
The Tennessee junior clocked a blazing 18.80 in the 50-yard freestyle, a season-best 45.18 in the 100 butterfly, and two impressive relay splits to lead the No. 6 Volunteer men past SEC foe LSU, 196-104, on Saturday.
Only Florida sophomore Josh Liendo (18.61) has been faster in the 50 free this season than Crooks’ 18.80 this weekend. Crooks, the defending NCAA champion, leads the nation with a season-best 18.40.
Crooks’ 45.18 in the 100 fly knocked just over a tenth of a second off his season-best mark (45.30), moving him up to 11th in the NCAA. He also split 19.92 on the fly leg of Tennessee’s 200 medley relay (1:24.34) — not far off his 19.27 split from NCAAs last season — and 41.87 leading off the Vols’ 400 free relay (2:51.54).
Crooks’ season-best 41.03 in the 100 free ranks 2nd in the NCAA behind Liendo (40.90). Only 11 swimmers have been under the 42-second barrier so far this season.
The most exciting race of “Senior Day” came in the 1000 free, where Tennessee senior Rafael Ponce de Leon Castilla erased a half-second deficit over the last 50 yards with a blistering 24.41 split to overtake LSU freshman Silas Beth (8:57.49). Castilla ended up reaching the wall in a lifetime best of 8:57.18, the fourth-fastest time in program history and the third-fastest in the SEC this season.
Tennessee sophomore Gui Caribe also dazzled with a 19.03 free anchor on the Vols’ 200 medley relay, a 100 free victory in 42.60, and a 42.53 split on their 400 free relay (2:51.54) that posted the 10th-fastest time in program history. He ranks 8th nationally in the 100 free this season with a 41.66.
Vols sophomore Martin Espernberger dominated the 200 fly (1:43.64) by nearly three seconds. He has been almost two seconds faster this season with a 1:41.78 that ranks 10th in the NCAA.
Tennessee freshman Nikoli Blackman earned the first individual win of his collegiate career in the 200 free (1:36.10). Vols junior Landon Driggers had a busy day with wins in the 200 back (1:45.37) and 200 IM (1:47.41) along with a 4th-place finish in the 100 back (47.72). Senior diver Bryden Hattie swept the 1-meter (366.15) and 3-meter (400.35) springboard events.
“I think Rafael (Ponce de Leon Castilla) had a tough opponent who had a good swim last week,” Tennessee associate head coach Rich Murphy said of Beth. “We knew that coming into this meet it was going to be a big task to come out with a win. I think coming out of that medley relay having success there, Rafael set himself up and he cares a ton about the team. It was really cool to see him get the win, and I also think that propelled into the efforts that we saw from Nikoli (Blackman) in the 200 free. That really got us going, and I think it was really cool to see the first half of the meet how we asserted ourselves into the competitive aspect of the day.”
The Tigers were led by senior Mitch Mason, who picked up 1st-place finishes in the 100 breast (53.20) and 200 breast (1:58.65) along with a 4th-place showing in the 200 IM (1:51.23). LSU also got an individual victory out of junior Griffin Curtis, who captured the 100 back crown in 47.72. Croatian freshman Jere Hribar threw down a pair of impressive performances in the 50 free (19.39) and 100 free (43.11), but both took 2nd place behind some tough competition in Crooks and Caribe, respectively.
Women’s Recap
Tennessee senior Mona McSharry and junior Josephine Fuller showed off their versatility with two individual wins apiece to power the No. 10 Vols past LSU, 204-94.
McSharry began her afternoon with a win in the 50 free (22.12) before going on to dominate the 200 breast in a new season-best time of 2:06.63. The 23-year-old Irish Olympian ranks 5th in the NCAA this season in the 200 breast and 13th nationally in the 50 free (22.01).
Fuller triumphed in the 200 IM (1:57.11) and 200 back (1:53.97), slightly off her season bests that rank 9th (1:55.37) and 23rd (1:53.97) in the NCAA this season, respectively.
Tennessee freshman Camille Spink also had a big day, taking the 100 free title in 48.03 before ripping a personal-best 1:44.63 in the 200 free en route to 2nd place behind junior teammate Brooklyn Douthwright (1:44.04). Spink’s previous-best 200 free time stood at 1:43.82 from December of 2022. Fellow freshman Emelie Fast also impressed with a 2nd-place showing in the 200 breast (2:09.28, seventh-fastest time in school history) and 3rd-place effort in the 200 IM (2:00.69).
Similar to the men’s side, the 1000 free came down to the wire with Vols junior Kate McCarville (9:50.38) edging junior teammate Lauren Wetherell (9:51.99) by less than two seconds. Tennessee also got individual victories out of senior Elle Caldow in the 100 back (52.75), junior Julie Mrozinski in the 500 free (4:42.77), and fifth-year Kailee Morgan in the 100 breast (1:00.69).
“I thought our women’s team and our whole combined team did a great job with their performances today,” Tennessee associate head coach Ashley Jahn said. “So proud of our seniors in how they have led this team and how they swam at the meet today. I’m really proud of how everybody else honored the seniors with their performances as well.
“(Camille Spink and Emelie Fast) had great performances,” Jahn added. “They’ve both been getting better at a lot of things this year, and it was nice to see them take a couple of elements that they wanted to execute, get a little more confident in their race plans and execute those today in a competitive environment.”
The Tigers got multiple 1st-place finishes from senior diver Montserrat Lavenant on the 1-meter (302.48) and 3-meter (327.28) springboard events. In the pool, LSU was led by runner-up finishes from sophomore Sofia Sartori in the 200 fly (1:57.74) and 200 back (1:56.01), Michaela de Villiers in the 50 free (22.47), and freshman Sabrina Lyn in the 100 fly (55.00).
Tennessee
Nashville’s Eastpoint Neighborhood groundbreaking marks largest affordable housing project in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville’s newest neighborhood is starting to take shape. The Fallon Company broke ground on the Eastpoint Neighborhood, which developers say is the largest affordable housing project and investment in Tennessee right now.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell says the mixed-use development is designed to benefit all families, accommodating incomes from $20,000 to $80,000 a year. In addition to housing, the development will include upgraded parks and green space, on-site childcare, and retail space.
“This is gonna be how we build Nashville’s next great neighborhood,” O’Connell said.
“We’ll have upgraded parks and green space, it will literally have on-site childcare here,” O’Connell said. “Basically all the ingredients that happen in a great neighborhood are going to be here.”
The development comes as many Nashville families struggle to make ends meet.
“They’re working jobs that are $10, $12 an hour jobs and they cannot afford basic living expenses,” Tony Turntine said.
Turntine and his family are success stories of UpRise Nashville’s free career training program. Through that experience, he has seen firsthand how getting to a better life requires studying, working, mentorship — and help with housing.
“The affordable housing that gives them an opportunity to come out of some of the really lower income neighborhoods they’ve been in and have better, quieter, more wholesome places to live,” Turntine said.
“If people can afford a better opportunity, we see everyone blossom from it. It’s a great day,” Al Brady with UpRise said.
Turntine says the tough choices Nashville families face are real.
“Whether I’m gonna pay the car out or whether I’m gonna get food for the kids,” Turntine said.
Now living and thriving in a new opportunity, Turntine has made it his mission to help others get there too.
“We’re living in a better neighborhood now — we actually just moved last weekend to a house twice the house of what we were in before,” Turntine said. “When you make different choices in life, that gives you different opportunities.”
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Amanda.Roberts@NewsChannel5.com
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
101st Airborne veterans get Purple Hearts years after an insider attack
As we honor those who have served our country and made the ultimate sacrifice, it is also heartening to see the military right a wrong. Chris Davis brings us the moving story of a Purple Heart ceremony two decades in the making. It’s worth a watch.
A heartfelt thanks to all who bravely serve.
– Carrie Sharp
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A new Tennessee law aimed at protecting utility customers from the growing energy demands of data centers will take effect in July.
The legislation comes as more than 60 data centers power artificial intelligence and other cyber operations across the state, with about one-third located in the greater Nashville area. As the race to build and power AI infrastructure accelerates nationwide and globally, Tennessee lawmakers say they’re working to ensure ratepayers are not saddled with the added costs of serving these massive facilities.
“We want to have data centers. But we want to put guardrails around that to protect our ratepayers,” said state Rep. Ed Butler, R-Rickman, during a legislative committee hearing in March.
Under the new law, data centers must pay for any new infrastructure required to support their operations, including substations and other power-related upgrades. Utilities are prohibited from passing those costs on to residential and business customers.
“In the rural areas they’re putting a lot of these. And we have had a lot of increased utility bills,” said state Rep. Dennis Powers, R-Jacksboro, during the same March committee hearing on the legislation.
Powers questioned if data centers could be contributing to ratepayer costs. That question wasn’t clearly answered. Regardless, legislators voted the measure through, and Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law to help prevent that from happening.
“If there was a substation that was needed to be put in to provide power for this data center, then the data center would pay for the substation,” Butler said during the hearing.
As communities across Tennessee consider proposals for new data centers, and new laws to regulate (or contain) them, some local leaders remain opposed to bringing the facilities to their areas.
“I don’t think they fit in Robertson County, and definitely not in my community,” said Cedar Hill Mayor John Edwards, who is proposing a two-year moratorium on data centers in his city.
Electric providers and utilities are also preparing for future demand. The Tennessee Valley Authority reports data centers currently account for about 18% of its industrial power load, a figure that’s predicted to potentially double by 2030.
The new law also allows utilities, including TVA, to establish a separate customer or rate class specifically for data centers, providing an additional safeguard against shifting costs to other customers.
As energy demand continues to surge, state lawmakers say the goal is to ensure Tennessee stays competitive, while families and businesses do not see higher electric bills because of data center expansion.
Data center advocates, meanwhile, say many facilities generate much of their own power on-site and use advanced cooling systems that require little or no water.
If TVA moves forward with creating a separate customer or rate class for data centers, FOX17 will continue to follow those developments.
OKLAHOMA CITY – Sometime during the top of the second inning of Tennessee softball’s matchup with Texas Tech, the ABC broadcast cut out due to technical difficulties.
According to the broadcast, a power outage at Devon Park was responsible for the technical difficulties. Viewers on ABC instead got to watch “Squeeze Play” with whip-around coverage of NCAA baseball regionals.
The broadcast didn’t return until the last out to end the third inning.
The No. 7 seed Lady Vols (48-10) are playing No. 11 seed Texas Tech (58-7) on May 30 for a spot in the Women’s College World Series semifinals.
Viewers missed out on Karlyn Pickens sitting down the Red Raiders in order and then a fantastic diving catch by second baseman Emma Clarke in the third inning.
Tennessee also loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning, but Clarke popped up to the first baseman, who then collided with Clarke on the baseline in order to make the catch to end the inning.
A win would send Tennessee to its third WCWS semifinals appearance in the last four seasons. A loss would drop it into an elimination game against No. 8 seed UCLA on May 31 (7 p.m., ABC).
The Lady Vols will also face their former third baseman Taylor Pannell, who transferred to Texas Tech after a breakout season for Tennessee in 2025.
Tennessee upset No. 2 seed Texas, the reigning national champions, with a 6-3 win to open the WCWS on May 28.
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
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