H2Okie women win, men place second at Volunteer Invite

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After the third and final day of competition, the Lady H2Okies came out on top, winning the Volunteer Invitational with a final score of 1,118 points. No. 11 Tennessee took second with 918 points, followed by Kentucky with 850 and Alabama with 745. The No. 23 Virginia Tech men finished second with 975.5 points, behind No. 16 Alabama (1,191). No. 15 Tennessee came in third with 932.5, and Kentucky finished fourth with 566.

In the first platform competition of the season, Logan Shinholser set a new pool record, earning 436.90 and taking home the gold medal. Ryan Hawkins earned the silver with a 361.90. Cara Murnan then won the event for the women, earning a 246.20 and helping to achieve a H2Okie sweep of the platform event.

The women’s team earned four second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in the final session of competition. Erika Hajnal took second in the 1650 free with a B cut time of 16:10.60, followed by Lauren Ritter in third with a B cut time of 16:28.45. Brittany Boone earned her first B cut time of the season, placing second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:58.91.

Katarina Filova earned the silver medal in the 100 freestyle, swimming a B cut time of 49.97. Meaghan Holloway and Erika Hajnal then finished second and third in the 200 butterfly, swimming a 2:00.85 and a 2:01.62, respectively.

Charlie Higgins was the final male swimmer to earn a top-three finish for the H2Okies, finishing third in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:48.45.

Overall, the H2Okies earned seven titles in the three-day meet. Both teams earned first-place finishes in the platform diving event. Erika Hajnal earned three titles, winning the 500 free and the 400 IM and swimming a leg of the first-place 800 freestyle relay. Katarina Filova, who also participated in the record-setting 800 free relay, earned the fourth swimming title for the women in the 200 free, and Charlie Higgins earned the only men’s swimming title in the 100 backstroke. Additionally, the H2Okies set four new pool records.

The Volunteer Invitational was the H2Okies’ final meet of 2010. The season will continue after winter break, when the H2Okies head to Atlanta for the Yellow Jacket Invitational on January 3, 2011.