Jan. 29, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky swimming and diving teams will host Cincinnati and Vanderbilt’s women’s squad on Saturday at the Lancaster Aquatic Center. The meet is slated for a 1 p.m. ET start. Prior to the start of competition UK will honor its senior class of 15 athletes.
The meet is the final dual meet competition and home action for the 2009-10 season. Kentucky will next be in action at the SEC Championships in Athens, Ga., beginning Feb. 17th.
Kentucky’s senior class of Elvis Burrows, Alex Forbes, Kyle Greene, Warren Grobbelaar, Marco Iemmola, Justin Max, Eric McGinnis, Casey Miller, Travis Muzzillo, Megan Pulskamp, Chris Richard, Kevin Ryan, Anna Sirmon, Julio Vallette and Sydney Witzky will compete for the final time in front of their home crowd. The senior class has comprised to claim four top-20 national finishes, 24 All-America distinctions and 32 top-16 individual finishes at the SEC Championships.
Saturday’s competition will have several promotions for Kentucky fans throughout the meet. There is free admission to the event. The first 50 fans will receive a free UK water bottle. The first 75 students to enter the Lancaster Aquatic Center will receive Papa John’s pizza. Rally towels will be available, and fans will have the chance to win t-shirts and a meal from Qdoba.
The meet against the Bearcats and the women’s squad from Vanderbilt will mark the third consecutive Saturday the Blue and White have been in action. Last week against Louisville the Wildcats notched several NCAA `B’ qualifying time standards.
The UK women opened the meet with a victory in the 200-medley relay behind an NCAA `B’ qualifying time standard. Kentucky clocked in a time of 1:41.79 behind the quartet of juniors Chatham Penrod and Lindsey Graessle, Pulskamp and junior Jenna Newsome.
Penrod paced the field with a first-place finish in the 100-backstroke. The junior edged the field while earning an NCAA `B’ time standard with a time of 55.61. Penrod then took her second event of the day with a win in the 200-back by clocking in at 2:00.82 to lead the field.
On the men’s side, the Blue and White placed second with the squad of Greene (23.62), sophomore Matt Russell (25.28), Burrows (21.35) and McGinnis (19.42) in the 200-medley relay. Despite the second-place tap the quartet did achieve an NCAA `B’ time standard by clocking at 1:29.67.
McGinnis and Burrows led the field by earning the top two slots in the 50-free, and both also achieved an NCAA `B’ time standard in the event. McGinnis touched the wall in 20.02 while Burrows came in at 20.07.
Burrows would then lead the 1-2 finish for the Blue and White in the 100-fly. Burrows claimed a time of 48.90 to lead the pack and Grobbelaar took second with a clip of 49.04.
On the boards, freshman John Fox won the three-meter event with a score of 324.08, nearly 20 more points than the next finisher. After a first-place finish on the three-meter, Fox also earned valuable points with a second place score on the one-meter. He turned in a 282.23 mark on the one-meter for a solid all-around day.
For the most up-to-date information regarding the Kentucky swimming and diving squads please visit UKathletics.com.
