Nov. 16, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Kentucky’s men’s and women’s swimming teams held steady in Day 2 of the Volunteer Invitational on the campus of the University of Tennessee with both teams sitting at second place heading into the final day of competition.
The men (684) still trail the Volunteers (801) but lead Duke (486) after two days of competition. After sitting in third place after the first day of action, the Kentucky women (565) have jumped ahead of Duke (465) and continue to lead Colorado State (519.5) while trailing Tennessee (868).
“It has been a surprising meet,” said Kentucky head swimming coach Gary Conelly. “We have struggled a little in the prelims but our finals have really been special with lots of big drops and life time best swims.”
Kentucky continued to struggle for the second day in a row in the first session of the day during the preliminary events, but they more than made up for it in the evening.
For the men, as he’s done all season long, sophomore Lucas Gerotto had a big day to lead the Wildcats. He helped guide UK to a second place finish in the 200-medley relay (1:30.67) along with Ramon Walton, George Greenhalgh, and Chris Lott. He then bested his season-low time in the 100-butterfly for the fourth meet in a row in which he has won the event, finishing with a 48.29. He then swam the final leg of the men’s 800-freestyle event to help take down the Vols alongside Matt Roman, Scott Crosthwaite, and Travis Green with a winning time of 6:42.59.
Gerotto also grabbed third place in the 100-backstroke (48.86) ahead of teammates Tripp Crosthwaite (50.60) and David Lee Duggins (50.84).
Sophomore Julia Gerotto continues to impress for the women with another win on Friday, taking the women’s 400-individual medley (4:19.23).
Freshman Katilin Jones had a big swim taking third place in the 100-backstroke. Her time of 55.76 was the fastest time for a Wildcat this season in the 100-backstroke event and the tops of her career.
The Cats fared well in the 100-butterfly as well with senior Mandy Myers grabbing second place (54.23) followed by sophomore Christina Bechtel (54.27) in third.
Kentucky’s women helped cap off a strong day in the pool with second and third place finishes in the 800-freestyle relay with times of 7:32.33 and 7:32.35 respectively.
Both teams have done a great job of setting themselves up for a strong third day in Knoxville.
“There were a lot of other great swims,” said Conelly. “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s swims because we seem to just be getting faster as the meet goes on.”
On the diving side, the beat goes on for junior Greg Ferrucci. Ferrucci pulled out a victory in the 3-meter springboard on Friday with a final score of 410.90. Thursday, Ferrucci won the men’s 1-meter diving event. He will go for the sweep with platform diving scheduled for the third day of competition on Saturday.
The Cats will look to have a strong finish and try to catch the Volunteers as they head into Day 3 of action in the Volunteer Invitational. Action gets back underway Saturday at the Jones Aquatic Center at 10 a.m. ET. The swimming finals will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET, while the men’s and women’s platform diving events will start at 2 p.m. ET.
For the latest updates on the Kentucky swimming and diving teams continue to check out UKAthletics.com.
