Nov. 18, 2010
Day one finals results from Tennessee Invitational
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed day one of the Tennessee Invitational with a strong showing from senior freestyler Kayla Sergesketter.
The Jasper, Ind., native served as the lead swimmer in the 200 freestyle relay and the anchor in the 400-medley relay. Both relays achieved NCAA (B) qualifying times. The 200 free relay team, consisting of Sergesketter, Jenna Newsome, Megan Eppler and Mandy Myers, swam to a time of 1:31.45. The 400 medley relay team of Chatham Penrod, Lindsey Graessle, Myers and Sergesketter clocked in at 3:39.72.
The women’s 400 medley relay team not only achieved an NCAA (B) qualifying time Thursday, they also broke the pool record at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center, the home of the Tennessee Invitational, by nearly two seconds. The previous pool record of 3:41.68 was set in November of 2009 by Alabama.
Sergesketter also achieved an NCAA (B) qualifying time in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.91. Sergesketter’s first-place time in the 50 free was the fastest of her career.
“We had outstanding performances from our relay sprinters and IMers,” head coach Gary Conelly said. “Kayla Sergesketter lit it up with a win in the 50, a life-time best swim, and NCAA B-cut. The women dominated the 100 free relay and the 400 medley relay destroyed the pool record. Both relays were way under the B-cut.”
The women’s and men’s teams swam very well in the 50-free for UK Thursday evening.
Paced by Sergesketter, the women’s side had three swimmers place in the top three, including Eppler in third-place with a time of 23.38, and Myers in fourth-place with a time of 23.40 seconds.
On the men’s side, Chip Aplin won the 50 free with a season-best time of 20.42. Colin Faris, a senior from Maysville, Ky., followed closely behind, finishing in third with a season-best time of 20.52 seconds.
“Chip Aplin and Colin Faris put in two of the best 50s in the country,” Conelly said.
The men’s 200 free relay of Farris, Matt Russell, Stephen Wimmer and Aplin finished in third-place with a time of 1:21.76.
Freshman diver Greg Ferrucci earned a score of 355.25 in the preliminaries of the one-meter diving board Thursday, his highest score of his collegiate career. Ferrucci finished in fourth-place in the one-meter finals with a score of 339.70.
Kentucky is competing in the Tennessee Invitational against host-Tennessee, fellow Southeastern Conference member Alabama, and Atlantic Coast Conference member Virginia Tech.
The women’s side finished day one of the invitational in third-place with 246 points. Virginia Tech is in first-place after day one with 307 points, Tennessee is in second with 296 points, followed by Kentucky in third and Alabama in fourth with 221 points.
On the men’s side, UK finished day one in fourth-place with 159 points. Alabama leads with 375.5 points, followed by Tennessee with 280.5 points and Virginia Tech in third with 230 points.
Prelims for the Tennessee Invitational will begin each day at 10 a.m. ET with finals following at 6 p.m. ET.
Day two finals of the invitational will feature the 200 medley relay, 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, women’s one-meter diving and men’s three-meter diving.
“Tomorrow should be an even better day,” Conelly said. “We are expecting good swims in all the 100-stroke events as well as the 200-free. The 200 medley relays should be a lot of fun.”
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for more news on the Tennessee Invitational and the UK swimming and diving teams.
