Three School Records Fall on First Day of OSU Invite
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three school records were rewritten and two NCAA automatic qualifying times surpassed as the Kentucky swimming and diving program wrapped up its first day at the Ohio State Invitational on Friday evening inside the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
“Overall, we had some good swims today,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “The two highlights of the day for us were Asia in the 200 IM and Isaac in the 500 free, with two really great performances in those events. I was pleased with both the men’s and women’s performances today, but there’s a lot of meet left and we’ll try to be better tomorrow.”
At the end of day one, the Kentucky women are third in the team standings with 186 points behind Ohio State (206) and NC State (200.5). The men’s team is fourth with 128 points behind NC State (342), Ohio State (232.5) and Notre Dame (220.5).
Sophomore Asia Seidt was the only Wildcat to post an NCAA ‘A’ cut on Friday, touching the wall in 1:53.84 in the 200 individual medley to lower her own school record in the event. Her previous record in the event was 1:55.02, which she posted at last year’s Southeastern Conference Championships.
Kentucky’s second NCAA automatic qualifying mark of the night came as senior Bridgette Alexander, freshman Bailey Bonnett, Seidt and junior Geena Freriks teamed up to win the 400 medley relay in 3:32.31.
Senior Isaac Jones put himself in good position to make the NCAA Championships, breaking his own school record in the 500 freestyle twice on Friday. In the morning session, Jones broke the school record with a time of 4:14.77 to give him the top spot in the finals where he lowered the mark once again to 4:14.74 and finished second overall.
The third school record of the day was set by sophomore Glen Brown as he finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:45.28. He shaved 1.73 seconds off his prelims time, moving up five spots from his morning swim to reset his own school record.
In the women’s 500 free, three Wildcats finished in the top 10, led by Freriks who finished second with a time of 4:38.91. Sophomore Ali Galyer was fourth in 4:42.30 and junior Meredith Whisenhunt finished ninth in 4:50.34. Junior Paige Kelly won the ‘B’ final, going 4:46.06.
UK will be back in action Saturday at 10 a.m. with the preliminary sessions. Saturday morning’s events will include the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, women’s 1-meter diving and men’s 3-meter diving. The finals will have the same events along with the 200 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
